OK, I guess Vienna is not the perfect city. I have been dumbfounded by the constant rudeness observed when I'm out and about. They tell me that it's just the culture so get used to it. I don't think I will ever get used to it. Yesterday on the bus a woman lost her balance and fell into a man sitting in the seat in front her. He never put his hands up to help her and never changed the sullen expression on his face. She was so apologetic, but he did not even acknowledge her. Then a young woman got on the bus with an elderly woman who was moving very slow. Just as the younger woman was about to sit near the elderly woman another woman grabbed the seat. The younger woman asked her if she could move over one seat, but the woman said very brusquely, "No!"
As I was coming out of the ubahn station yesterday I decided at the last minute to ride the bus the five blocks to our apartment. As I exited the bus a woman was hurriedly pulling (literally) an older woman with a cane onto the bus. The older woman lost her balance and was going down just as I was able to catch her from the back under her arms and keep her from falling. After she gained her balance she continued up the steps and neither of them ever looked back to say a word to me.
A friend from the US who has been here three years told me that the first year she was here she finally had her fill. A man cut in front of her and slammed her with his grocery cart. She just lost it and reached into his cart, picked up an item and threw it on the floor. I think she even surprised herself!
Greg told me today that he had a conversation with a Canadian at work who was saying this was the rudest city he had ever experienced. He said that the mentality here is that if you need help you'll ask and if you give help unasked then don't expect it to be appreciated or acknowledged. I guess all of this is just beyond my comprehension!
I think Jesus expects us to show kindness and that is what I will attempt to do while living here. Just don't you dare cut in front of me at the grocery store! :)
Different cultures are TOUGH!!!! I just don't know what to say except that I am praying for you and I know how discouraging it can be. Not everyone was raised with good ole' southern charm!! Hang in there and know that there WILL be someone who is really going to appreciate your kindness soon. Write about it when it happens.
ReplyDeleteWhy did I have it in my mind that all those European cities were so genteel and civil? Good for a dose of perspective, I guess. The ever-springing optimist in me says just-you-wait and see what your acts of kindness accomplish in that city, while the realist in me thinks, 'you might not ever get your satisfaction that way'. But I guess, ultimately, that's not what matters, is it? Someone going against the grain of a culture is always going to be noticed, maybe not acknowledged, but noticed, and probably thought upon in the secret recesses of the rudest mind, where Jesus is silently waiting with a little pin in His pocket, to prick the conscience and start a revolution.
ReplyDeleteKeep it up, Karen. That city needs you.
--Teri.