Cultural Norms

Well, we have had a big break here as I found little time to blog while the kids were home from school for the summer and then we spent three weeks back in Maine. I have a whole crush of things to write about, and we'll see if we can get to them now.

At any rate, I thought I'd restart with a little observation that struck us over the head on our way back to the States...

We were working our way through the scrum of travelers crushing around the gate to get on the plane in Zurich when I overheard some Americans complaining about how rude it was that people weren't waiting in line. I turned and smiled to Laura, because this is just one of those things we've learned to live with. Whether planes, trains or buses, you just have to push your way in there. But, I got to thinking, is it really rude that they don't queue like Americans and Brits? It's not really impolite, I don't think, if it's not a part of the culture to queue. It's just different. I admit, it really bothered me at first, but now I'm accustomed to it....

The next day, we were driving through Boston and I nearly had a heart attack when the light turned green at my first intersection and there were another 2-3 cars that crossed my path, running their red lights. I guess I can remember that Americans drive through really yellow lights, and even red lights. That's why there's a period of time where both lights are red, right? But, I'd forgotten how bad it was. Or, maybe it's just really bad in Boston. Or, maybe people have continued to drive through later and later since we arrived in Europe? Laura and I continued to watch in astonishment, wonder, and sort of horror at each intersection as we waited for a few, well, really, a lot of, moments after each of our next lights turned green as a stream of cars continued through the intersection.

In Europe, I've gotten used to these things -->

They indicate that the light is about to turn green and cars are ready to roar through the intersection the moment their light turns. Many real Swiss actually begin rolling through the intersection while the light is still yellow/red. I can only imagine what would be the disastrous result if these worlds somehow "collided" and the norms were thrown together on a mass scale.

So, is it rude to cruise through intersections many seconds after a light is red? It's just a cultural norm, right? Still, I'd rather not have to adjust to cultural norms too often where the too-late adjustment results in death, injury, or a hefty accident bill! Our friend, Alan, tells us that Switzerland is going to make us soft. Alan, if you only knew, it already has!

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P.S. Another cultural adjustment: In Switzerland, our children have become accustomed to simply walking out into the crosswalk without looking for cars coming (they stop for pedestrians here, even if the pedestrian simply walks right onto the crosswalk without looking, because they all do). This makes visits to cities like Boston or Paris pretty nerve-wracking for the parents!!!