Anyone else got any quips about Taiwanese cutting into lines and how you’ve dealt with it.
Has happened to me numerous times. One that comes to mind was at the airport check in. I was on my home for Xmas last year and was the next in line to check in… A Poe faced, nose in the air Taiwanese business man type just barges past me to the vacant counter wich I was inbound for so I politely reminded him to ‘pai dway’ (make a line) He sort of grunted and headed for the counter so I thought ‘screw you’ and cut back in front. Meanwhile, the check in guy has seen this and as we both arrived at the checkout simultaneusly he’s unsure who to attend to.
I just said, ‘excuse me, i was here before this guy cut in’ and put my documents on the counter. Mr Cut in wasnt so impressed and said something derogatory in chinese. He’s still trying to shove his passport on top of mine and has almost moved me aside with his arm (just like in McDonalds!) so i had no choice but to ‘move him aside’ with my 85 kg frame…I was served first.
The point is, I won!! You would think that some manners would have been used on his behalf…If Taiwanese want to be cutting edge and modern, they might want to get their shit together. Being able to build good computers doesnt equate to affluence!
Anyone else peeved off when tis happens??
Happens all the time. My advice is to pick your fights. If you really feel wronged do what you gotta do. If it’s not a big deal let it slide. But you are right, Taiwanese people seem to be lacking in the manner’s department.
Taiwan people are very competitive. That is one of the reasons why they are some of the most successful on the planet. They will race you to the counter. Another reason why they are successful is that they cut corners and laws and manners and can be cold bastards. They could care less about your evil eye and stares after they win the race. Whoever is first wins. Screw manners, nice guys finish last and they could care less what you think of them because you have no impact on whether they or their family fails or succeeds. Now if you happened to be someone they want guanxi with, or you were one of their customers, etc…it would be a different matter.
One last thing, Taiwan people also hate to lose face. If you point out really loudly not to cut in line (in Chinese) he or she might be so embarassed that they actually walk away. I have done this before and the people have been so mortified they actually left McDonalds, another actually left the post office. Kind of made me feel like the asshole then. Also be careful, they might have such a good excuse that it is you that ends up looking really bad as they might just want some ketchup, and are not really butting in line. They also might be so eleoquent in their native language that they make you look like a fool and aren’t embarassed at all.
Anyway, be careful to make sure they weren’t actually there first. As far as them beating you to the counter at an airport, that is almost acceptable. They could even actually run and cut in front of you if you weren’t actually there yet and it might be considered acceptable by a lot of people here. Of course the guy knows he is an asshole and so do the people around him, but he did you beat you to the counter?! In that case, you couldn’t even say you were there first. So keep your eyes open and prepare to speed up or block, or if you lose, just push them out of the way like you did. Watch out for the kung fu guys though and don’t stoop so low as to race the old ladies to the seats on the train or bus, just let them push you aside and give them the seat. You will be an old fart one day too and you will understand when you have a 60 minute ride ahead of you you don’t want to stand.
I wonder if people get this in Japan? Is it really just Taiwan or is it just a trait of really crowded cities.
I think it is Chinese Confucian values which are the culprit. Some things can be blamed on the crowds, but others I think have more to blame by people’s attitudes. However, I see see things changing over time as people travel and are otherwise educated whether by us big noses, movies, or something else. It does seem to be getting a little better.
If you want to see it really bad, go to China! Oh my, it is awful there, also many times in China the guy cutting in line is a professional paid by someone else to by his ticket, etc.
However, in British culture educated Hong Kong it is better. Although, I don’t have much experience in HK outside of HK Island, TST, Jordon, Hunghom and Mongkok.
be thankful now they have the “pick a number” system everywhere–when i first came here it was open warfare. the mrt has done a good job of educating its passengers
god, cutting in line is orders of magnitude worse in mainland china than in taiwan. i can’t recall the last time someone cut in front of me in taiwan. but living in beijing or nanjing, every freakin’ day was a battle (and a losing battle at that). what we bug me the most was not when it would be at a place like a train station, where there are long lines and you’re prepared to fight for your territory, but at a little street vendor selling buns or whatever. you’d be waiting for the person ahead of you to complete their transaction, you’d sneeze, and then some freakin’ nongmin would be in front of you. argh! starting them down is usually a lot more satisfying than trying to chew them out.
Saffron,
It wouldn’t happen in Japan; if anything, the two people would stand there imploring the other to please go first.
Hobart, I agree with your point about face. I recall being at the airport not long ago and having a tour group behind me. One guy and his wife come right up to the counter and proceed to stand, elbows on the counter, in front of the check-in agent while I had turn to put my bag on the scales. Since he looked like a good ol’ boy from down south, I asked him if this was his first trip outside of Taiwan. He was pretty proud to respond loud enough so all his friends could hear that it was. Then I told him that there was one thing he should know about airports; that you have to line up at the check-in counter! Poor guy; his friends laughed at him, but he definitely got the message.
CK
The best thing is just step in front of everyone and if they try talking to you, just pretend you don’t understand. And then if they start speaking English to you, answer in German. They usually give up after a while.
Sometimes the old “your shoe’s untied” trick works too.
People forms lines in Taiwan?!? News to me.
I actually had a experience once when I missed my out bound flight from CKS airport because I was politely waiting in the queue until a counter girl called me, while other people rudely cut in front.
Of course once I missed the flight the counter girl asked my why did I just “cut the line.”
This things I do for a complementary stuff from the airlines.
What also peaves me is the fact that people rush to an open seat on the MRT without any consideration of who’s “next”. I was standing in front an occupied seat which then became available after a few stops. This woman then rushes right in front of me and plops herself down. She gives me this apologetic look and I just roll my eyes at her. She knew it was impolite yet she went ahead and did it anyways. Sheesh!
I think that is part of the problem. People know it is impolite, yet they don’t care. As long as they are getting what they want, as long as their needs are being met, they don’t care about you.
I have to laugh everytime a Taiwanese person I meet asks me, “Aren’t Taiwanese so nice and polite?” I usually have to refrain from laughing in their face. If it someone I know well, I will tell them, no I don’t think they are polite and proceed to explain why.
I think the other part of the problem is this whole issue of face. (Without trying to get off-topic… )people here worry so much about not causing someone to lose face that they don’t object when people do something impolite. I remember, once, seeing an old guy on the MRT who lit up a cigarette… clearly a (at least, legal) no-no. Though many people were obviously upset with him, by the expressions on their faces, no one would go up and say anything to him.
In the States, someone would have told him (and probably none too politely) to put out the cigarette. Here, they just stared at him and scowled. My assumption is they didn’t think it would be polite (i.e., it would cause him to lose face) to tell this old geezer that he was being impolite and illegal.
Because of this, people know they can get away with almost anything. Just do it and no one will say anything to you, for fear of causing you to lose face. But, I see nothing wrong with politely telling the person they are being rude, even if others hear it. I don’t care if they feel it is causing them to lose face. In my opinion, they were being rude and deserve to lose face. Maybe next time, if they are so worried about face, they won’t do it.
yeah… yeah… I know… I’m not being very tolerant of another culture. Well, I haven’t been out of this country for a year. I’m sick of it. Can’t wait for my vacation in 2 weeks.
Flame away… 
There was this one old grey pompadour wanker who elbowed his way onto my shuttle bus yesterday. Thing is, locals don’t often say anything to each other about this behavior and OBVIOUSLY the kids are never educated, so it’s culturally ingrained.
I’m just afraid when I’m back in the real world soon the “scrambling” and “shoving” will have become part of my nature and I’LL be deemed a pushy shitbag!
Plus, it appears I’ve come down with a bad case of Tourette Syndrome recently! :bluemad:
Yeah, reverse culture shock is embarrassing. I knew I’d been in HK too long when I went back to Sydney for a holiday and caught the train. As it arrived, I immediately hustled my butt to stand right in front of the doors, then looked around sheepishly, because no-one else had even bothered moving and I was ridiculously close to the train as well 
I went to London for a holiday during the same period and people were declining to get on the tube because it was ‘full’. I was thinking, ‘geez, what’s the problem, you can SEE the yellow safety line, can’t you? Good for another five people, minimum! Maybe ten!’ 
Oddly enough, I still DO think Taiwanese people are really polite as a general rule. I guess what they aren’t is ‘courteous’
[quote=“Hobart”]
You will be an old fart one day too and you will understand when you have a 60 minute ride ahead of you you don’t want to stand.[/quote]
Hobart,
While it’s true that we will all, if we are lucky, reach old age, I still think that it sucks how some of these older people behave. Once I was on the train facing a 3 hour ride when some old smuck sat in my seat and refused to get out of it. I guess what pissed me off was that I had such a long way to go and I had paid more money to have a seat. I tried being as polite as possible but the guy looked out the window and ignored me. He finally got up when he realized that I was going to keep making a scene and bothering him.
Yes, I hope to grow old one day but I hope I do so with more class than some of these old idiots seem to have.
Hey Cableguy, was your Chinese perfect enough for him to understand that you paid for that reserved seat. Was it good enough that other people sitting around you could hear that too.
Imagine this, you are on the Northbound train from New York to Boston a good 3 hours ride. No seats so you sit in the reserved seats. A Chinese guy comes up to the reserved seat you are sitting in and says a bunch of jibberish in Chinese. You simply ignore him and he might go away, if he doesn’t go away, get up and give the darn Chinese guy his seat.
Hahahaa…I might do the same thing the old man did. Now if he politely asked me in English just loud enough for others to over hear, I think I would be out of that seat in a second apologizing.
You know there was on incident of cultural faux pas where I was in the wrong and the Taiwanese girl didn’t say anything. I bought a train ticket not knowing it was not a seated ticket. The girl didn’t say anything till I got up and explained nicely the whole concept of seat and non-seat tickets on the train.
I guess a lot has to do with how crowded Asia is compared to most Western cities. Everytime I come back to the States I keep thinking that I’m in a ghost town where everything closes too early.
Agreed, I get a lot of reverse culture shock upon returning to the USA and seeing such few people, even in cities like NYC!
No doubt; I really realize what an agressive driver I’ve become when I get behind the wheel back home 
CK
Actually, I didn’t speak to him at all except to say hello and then I showed him my ticket. I pointed at the seat number above him and at his seat and then at myself. I think that and seeing the ticket left no doubt in his mind whose seat it was.
Actually, I would not be ignorant enough to ignore someone like that since I know I don’t belong in that seat.
[quote]Hahahaa…I might do the same thing the old man did. Now if he politely asked me in English just loud enough for others to over hear, I think I would be out of that seat in a second apologizing[/quote][/quote].
Why does the person need to be super polite to you when you know that you are sitting in their seat. If the person were a young guy and not some old idiot, then they might get a smack in the head for not moving. The old guy just used his age to take advantage of others.