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I live in a tourist town. It's an old city with very narrow streets and sidewalks everywhere. It's filled with foreign visitors all year long, each month changing nationalities as the 'home holidays' change with the seasons. This means there are always groups of visitors walking around the Old City, visiting the different temples, markets, and other places of interest... and stopping in the middle of the sidewalks to spread out their maps and try to figure out where they are. But with very narrow sidewalks, they are constantly blocking the pedestrian flow! I was always taught that when I want to stop in a pedestrian area to move to the side so as NOT to block the flow. Isn't this taught in other countries? It's getting to the point where many who live here are getting 'sidewalk rage,' the pedestrian equiv of road rage. Today I had to step out into the street four different times to get around groups of Chinese tourists.
I'm more than happy to help lost souls find their way... In fact, I even carry a few free tourist maps to give away when I see people standing off to the side trying to use the tiny maps in guidebooks... The key words being 'standing off to the side.' (Actually, I actively LOOK for lost Swedish girls to help... ) But the majority don't stand out of the way. The other day one group was stopped right at the bottom of an escalator blocking the exit. You can't imagine the mess that created. Yet they stood there for a good 4-5 minutes looking at their maps, ignoring the people bumping into them trying to clear the escalator! Don't other countries teach manners? Or is it just that the cultures are so different that in their home countries they don't think about others?
Stitchawl
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