[Slick]

This thread has been discussed in such detail I have nothing to add,
Though did read someone suggesting that people will bend over backwards for us in the future. That thought process is disturbing. The fact that we might become major manory spenders doen't entitle us to behave badly.


I have a couple of experiences (of many) to share -

1. Singapore - Me and wife were walking towards Tapines Mall. Ahead of us were two, good looking, singaporean girls. Two young Indian guys, looked like they were from rural India, walked past us in urgency and overtook the girls just before a traffic signal.

Now the girls stopped a good 8 feet away from the road at the signal. The guys, now ahead of the girls, turned around facing the girls with their back to the signal(road) and ogled the girls with smiles on their faces.

Me and my wife were shocked to see this.


2. Air India - Mumbai to Singapore night flight- A guy in the seat right in front of me got drunk and became progressively loud and rude the more he drank.
The Air India Staff, observing the situation, refused to serve more drink. The guy (looked like a man with some labour contracting company) started threatening of reporting the crew. He was apparently a frequent flier and had contacts. The male crew was visibly nervous and seemed to be giving in.

I got up and walked to the galley and wrote a complement letter for the male crew and suggested that if he got a complaint against him he could also show the complement letter. (my wife was a crew and I was aware that a complement letter on the same flight helps in case of a complaint).

The crew thanked me and then sternly warned the man in front of me that he would have to tie him up as he was becoming a security threat. The drunk guy, embarrassed and scared, fell fast asleep after that. In fact he was super quiet during boarding off the flight

- Slick

[StepUP!]

Well well well, I recall so many instances wherein I faced / witnessed unruly, uncouth, rude conduct by Indian brothers and sisters.
To name a few:

• A person's profession is crucial in deciding how he or she is treated by others. To name a few - Cab drivers, maids, waiters, security guards. The tone or arrogance of people while talking to them just amazes me. I feel very bad for them.
• What gets on my nerves is - person rushing to board elevators without waiting for people to get off. This is observed irrespective of person's educational status, age, gender, location etc.
• I still do not understand why almost all people stand as soon as flight lands and frantically grab their luggage. Switch on their phones. Then they stand for 20 mins or so till the gates are opened. I see herd mentality here.
• In food courts, while you are sharing a table with your friend, he is away to get his food, from nowhere some dude appears and just takes his chair.
• This is new - checking your phone in the restroom while peeing. Yuck!
• Just push through in public places without saying 'excuse me'. Move on as if nothing happened even if you brush, nudge or push someone in the process.
• Indians don't deserve anything which comes free. It gets exploited EVERYWHERE.
• Indians love to flout rules - traffic, public space smoking, littering etc.
• When in India, keep on fighting or show racist behavior towards person's complexion, language, state, cast etc. and when outside, all are brothers.
• During my stay at Frankfurt, some of my colleagues who had never visited Gurudwara before, started to visit. Reason? To avail free lunch (lungar)

On a different note, I had bitter experiences in Paris when I was on a trip.

• Just outside louvre museum, we went for souvenir shopping where we were royally thugged by the lady shop owner. She swiped our card before we could calculate total amount and when confronted, she threatened us of police
• My colleagues' wallet was stolen. She lost her money, cards and most importantly, her passport and visa. We went to police station to lodge a compliant. It was a shabby place wherein we were made to wait. After an hour we were told they can't take complaint unless their boss arrives who was out. They didn't know by when he was expected. We were so perplexed but no apathy, no one bothered to console us. We simply left the place without availing any help. I felt unnecessarily we criticize Indian police. They all are the same around the world.

[adi_gt]

Originally Posted by StepUP!

I faced / witnessed unruly, uncouth, rude conduct by Indian brothers and sisters.
To name a few:

• I still do not understand why almost all people stand as soon as flight lands and frantically grab their luggage. Switch on their phones. Then they stand for 20 mins or so till the gates are opened. I see herd mentality here.

This is not specific to Indians. It is common across all nationalities etc. The reason as I see is to stretch the legs and come out of that pigeon hole of a seat (read economy class). Why it doesn't happen in interstate buses and long distance trains ? Because no one sits in that same cramped space for hours.

[Sheel]

Originally Posted by kiku007

But then what the hell, unless the airlines charge for it, the misuse will continue.

I sincerely hope airlines will do a check of some sort. My parents, both suffer from walking disability, my Mom has severe rheumatoid arthritis and Dad has a hip replacement surgery. They both are ~80 years of age. I always ask them to tip the attendants and they do it as well.

Chargeable or not, but it is shameful to mask your good health in lieu of some laziness.

[KL01toKA03]

Originally Posted by Sheel

I sincerely hope airlines will do a check of some sort. My parents, both suffer from walking disability, my Mom has severe rheumatoid arthritis and Dad has a hip replacement surgery. They both are ~80 years of age. I always ask them to tip the attendants and they do it as well.

Chargeable or not, but it is shameful to mask your good health in lieu of some laziness.

I guess the reason why some people ask for the wheelchair is because there is very limited means to get assistance from the airport/airlines even if we are ready to pay.

I remember the time when my 70+ year old grandmother had to travel to USA (I think in 2000/2001) to help her grand daughter. They were willing to pay any reasonable amount to get he safely to the destination. She knew no language other than Malayalam, and no other family member could travel at that time. I did not contribute in the decision making process at that time due to my age, but I remember that they asked for wheelchair assistance for her. She was perfectly healthy, but she had never seen an airport till then. It would have been a risk to let her handle the journey without help.

I do not know of anyone else who has used the service, but I feel that there should be an option to buy (for a reasonable cost) assistance at airports. I do not know if such a service is available now, but even if it is available, there is limited visibility for that.

[avisidhu]

Originally Posted by StepUP!

............
My colleagues' wallet was stolen. She lost her money, cards and most importantly, her passport and visa. We went to police station to lodge a compliant. It was a shabby place wherein we were made to wait. After an hour we were told they can't take complaint unless their boss arrives who was out. They didn't know by when he was expected. We were so perplexed but no apathy, no one bothered to console us. We simply left the place without availing any help. I felt unnecessarily we criticize Indian police. They all are the same around the world.[/list]

This is unfortunately a common occurrence across most Europe, even in terms of the response from Police. Taking care of your belongings should be adhered to far more strictly in Europe, than even in India if I may say so. Others may know why pick pocketing is so prevalent in EU, but have come across way too many incidents with colleagues and friends over the past decade (including myself once) in France, Spain, Germany etc.

Originally Posted by adi_gt

This is not specific to Indians. It is common across all nationalities etc. The reason as I see is to stretch the legs and come out of that pigeon hole of a seat (read economy class). Why it doesn't happen in interstate buses and long distance trains ? Because no one sits in that same cramped space for hours.

Trust me that's not the main reason. If it were, you wouldn't have the same behavior in a Chandigarh to Delhi flight which is barely half an hour. Although would agree that in a long haul flight most people would want to rather stand up, irrespective of nationality.

....................
I often recall once particular incidence. On an excursion in Thailand, we had a group of 8-10 people from Turkey who behaved quite boorishly (for instance, grabbed all the eatables the moment these were set on the plate, without bothering about anyone else. Very similar to those videos of food being looted at political rallies).

Rather than being upset, I told my wife I'm actually happy I now know it's not just Indians who behave like this

[quickfox11]

Everyone, irrespective of their nationality, should evolve over time. Period.

Instead of sharing where others were guilty, I will share where I was. Once in some mall in Dubai, I walked towards a lift and once it opened, I just got inside with my friend. There was an European couple with kids and a stroller, already waiting among others. There wasn't a queue as such since there were 2 lifts and people were loitering around waiting for any one to open. Once inside, the guy with kids told us that they were waiting before us. By Indian standards there was still room enough to squeeze them all, or may be not. However, I acknowledged and stepped out.

I learnt to respect the right of admission of those who have been waiting before us.

Could this be taught in school? Yes. But can it be implemented in India? Hell NO! It's always a race. Saw a lane empty by few inches on road, get in. Now the other one started moving faster, start poking your nose there. Saw an elevator opening, rush, push others, get in, and start punching the 'close' buttons so others can't get in. Examples are endless. We are talking about b'fast buffets. What about buffet at Indian functions? Seen that mountain of food on plates in single serving? We are always afraid we will not get enough - and that's coz others are also stacking up! Hording mentality resulting in vicious circle.

Even while driving, when I am waiting on a ramp for the car ahead to manage the slope and go ahead, my colleagues and even my dad would ask me to honk. And sometimes, even reach towards it to do it themselves. I flash lights if its even a little dark to disperse crowds if I am driving inside and a hospital while they want me to honk. I slow down to let a people cross while cars behind me honk.

Was I always like that? No. I learnt by observing others whose behavior made me feel good. I tried to evolve. And that's what I expect from my family members and friends when I follow these unsaid, probably self made rules.

One major issue we have, and may be other countries too, is the happiness we get by conning someone! It's thrilling to sneak an extra loaf of bread or getting more than what you deserve, making you better than others. Why else would you boast about getting an extra meal, beating the traffic by probably 30 seconds by zigzagging, or by burning that clutch plate of the rented vehicles?

Next would be our ego. God, can we be anymore proud! Of what? Not really sure. May be our intelligence. Point out a mistake in someone and be ready to hear their weirdest counter arguments, which is also mostly illogical.

At Kuala Lumpur airport, an Indian lady, may be in her mid 40s was kinda dragging 2 carry-on bags which looked heavy. My wife asked her if she could help her carry one of them. She just said 'oh no no' and started walking in another direction as if we implied that she is not capable of carrying it or she is weak or something. And while coming down on escalator, she could not lift them both to walk off of the last step, fell, she and her bags blocked the whole last step. The only way to avoid fall for the following passengers was to jump off the second last step of the moving steps with their luggage, which is not easy unless you are an avenger. Or may be step on their luggage. Result, 5 more passengers tumbled over, including her husband, till one of them finally dragged her and the stuff out of the way.

And those countless times when I have been told before entering restaurants outside India that they don't have vegetarian food! And the scenes in those 'Indian' restaurants - people shouting from tables across to confirm order within their large groups while grown up children shouting at the waiting staff for water, salt, sugar, god knows what!

We have also got our patriotism wrong! We are the least patriotic people when at home turf where it matters the most. Destroying public property, breaking rules, littering around for someone else to clean. An once we are out, we became the flag bearer of Indian culture, which is nothing but an excuse to hide behind for our behavior.

[srvm]

I just wish to add 2 pictures which tell my experience:

Mavinakere Temple near Hassan in 2016 (pic courtesy BHPian procrj taken from his wonderful thread (Red Dwarf's monsoon diary - Exploring new roads of rural Karnataka in a TUV300)





I went there 3 days ago. Here is the same place:



Enough said

[kiku007]

Originally Posted by Sheel

I sincerely hope airlines will do a check of some sort. My parents, both suffer from walking disability, my Mom has severe rheumatoid arthritis and Dad has a hip replacement surgery. They both are ~80 years of age. I always ask them to tip the attendants and they do it as well.

Chargeable or not, but it is shameful to mask your good health in lieu of some laziness.

That's my worry. The people who REALLY need the services like in your parents case may stand to loose because of non-availability of personnel/equipment.

Originally Posted by KL01toKA03

I guess the reason why some people ask for the wheelchair is because there is very limited means to get assistance from the airport/airlines even if we are ready to pay.

I remember the time when my 70+ year old grandmother had to travel to USA (I think in 2000/2001) to help her grand daughter. They were willing to pay any reasonable amount to get he safely to the destination. She knew no language other than Malayalam, and no other family member could travel at that time. I did not contribute in the decision making process at that time due to my age, but I remember that they asked for wheelchair assistance for her. She was perfectly healthy, but she had never seen an airport till then. It would have been a risk to let her handle the journey without help.

I do not know of anyone else who has used the service, but I feel that there should be an option to buy (for a reasonable cost) assistance at airports. I do not know if such a service is available now, but even if it is available, there is limited visibility for that.

Singapore Airlines has something called as Meet and Greet. I had used it one time when my parents travelled via Changi Airport through to Australia for the first time. I requested Singapore Airlines to guide them during transit. The concierge met them at Arrival Gate and gave them step-by-step instructions on how to reach the next terminal. It has nothing to do with disability assistance and it's just about guiding them to reach their connecting flight on time.

Once they got the confidence, they were fine with further journeys even across other cities. Heck, the next time I saw my dad assisting another elderly Indian couple on their maiden trip.

Changi Airport also offers another service for a fee wherein they can ferry the passengers to their next gate. Please check here,
https://www.singaporeair.com/en_UK/u...eet-and-greet/
https://www.satsaffinity.com/singaporeair/Default.aspx

Let's face it, first time air travel can be flustering for elders. There are many ways to help them through this journey. Example: Book flights with a minimum of 2.5 hours of transit time and not less; give them printed instructions on immigration, customs, transit procedures including on how to connect to Airport Wi-Fi; give them the local currency notes of the transit airport country; make them travel light and don't treat them like international grocery smuggler etc..

Wheelchair should not be our choice if they are mobile.

[silverado]

Uncivic behavior is simply not acceptable.
Apart from that, there are things mentioned in this thread which are really hilarious.

Going abroad is viewed as sort of achievement ( For vacation or for work ) even today.
We feel we have paid a lot of money ( When viewed in INR ) and we expect quite a lot in return.

Take for eg : A Family who has never been abroad, they try to save ( or take loan on emi ) for this Trip abroad.
There could be people who have never been on a flight and suddenly are flying abroad.

With so much anticipation, once you are on that trip people want to make that trip totally paisa vasool come what may. And this leads to many things which have been discussed here.

[KL01toKA03]

Originally Posted by kiku007

The concierge met them at Arrival Gate and gave them step-by-step instructions on how to reach the next terminal. It has nothing to do with disability assistance and it's just about guiding them to reach their connecting flight on time.

Once they got the confidence, they were fine with further journeys even across other cities. Heck, the next time I saw my dad assisting another elderly Indian couple on their maiden trip.

Wheelchair should not be our choice if they are mobile.

In the case of people who do not understand English, the concierge might not be of much use. I do agree that wheelchair should be limited to people who cannot walk. However, there should be some means to help people who are "airport disabled" (that is, people who need help/are scared to use airports). I'm thinking of something similar to how airlines handle baggage. There should be an option to hand over people at airport gates with an assurance that someone will take care of tracking them, and ensuring that they end up at the intended destination. That will prevent misuse of wheelchairs to a certain extent.

[vibbs]

Originally Posted by KL01toKA03

In the case of people who do not understand English, the concierge might not be of much use. I do agree that wheelchair should be limited to people who cannot walk. However, there should be some means to help people who are "airport disabled" (that is, people who need help/are scared to use airports). I'm thinking of something similar to how airlines handle baggage. There should be an option to hand over people at airport gates with an assurance that someone will take care of tracking them, and ensuring that they end up at the intended destination. That will prevent misuse of wheelchairs to a certain extent.

I know something of that sort is available with few airlines. A couple of my friends have sent their Kids home from Gulf via this route.
The kids are handed over to Airline officials at the airport and they accompany and complete all formalities in the airport finally handing over to the Air hostess. SImilarly at the destination, they are picked up from the aircraft and taken through all procedures finally before finally being handed over to the relatives at destination.

Children under 7 years age have been sent to hometown by this mode when the parents have not been able to accompany them.

[kiku007]

Originally Posted by KL01toKA03

In the case of people who do not understand English, the concierge might not be of much use. I do agree that wheelchair should be limited to people who cannot walk. However, there should be some means to help people who are "airport disabled" (that is, people who need help/are scared to use airports). I'm thinking of something similar to how airlines handle baggage. There should be an option to hand over people at airport gates with an assurance that someone will take care of tracking them, and ensuring that they end up at the intended destination. That will prevent misuse of wheelchairs to a certain extent.

It's available for children as detailed below. I've seen that in Emirates. The children were given a tag that they had to wear during the entire journey. I don't know if that's the practice even now.

You can read more here, https://www.emirates.com/english/bef...ed-minors.aspx

For adults, may be the foreign settled children should take damn ownership and travel with their "airport disabled" parents unless it's a medical emergency. They should wonder how their parents dropped them in their grand parents town/villages couple of decades back. They took time off.

Originally Posted by vibbs

I know something of that sort is available with few airlines. A couple of my friends have sent their Kids home from Gulf via this route.
Children under 7 years age have been sent to hometown by this mode when the parents have not been able to accompany them.

This is correct. My cousins used this service of Emirates.

[mayankk]

Indian tourists can be best judged from what they do at and to Indian destinations. The himalayan destinations filled with lays wrappers and bisleri bottles are tell tale signs. I once saw a couple of french folks walking past a Tempo Traveler which had a family from the plains. The women and the kids had thrown out wrappers and bottles from the windows forming a sort of perimeter around the van. These two "tourists" picked up these 5-6 pieces of garbage and deposited it in a huge trashbox that was not 10 meters from the bus.

Another case of absolute boorishness I saw was on my last visit to goa at Varca or benaulim beach. South goa is mostly filled with foreign tourists. One woman who was walking along the beach in a bikini was stopped by an Indian lady, randomly, because she wanted to take a picture with her. Because she was wearing a bikini. And she did grab hold around her shoulder while the man happily clicked away. All the while that she was saying no and squirming away. Pathetic.
We are not misunderstood. The majority of us misbehave, and the perception is more or less fair. However, if you behave properly, you can prove yourself to be the exception and be treated well. I do.

[deadguy25]

Originally Posted by srvm

I just wish to add 2 pictures which tell my experience:
Mavinakere Temple near Hassan in 2016 (pic courtesy BHPian procrj taken from his wonderful thread (Red Dwarf's monsoon diary - Exploring new roads of rural Karnataka in a TUV300)
Attachment 1904881
I went there 3 days ago. Here is the same place:
Attachment 1904882
Enough said

This says it all. We do not have to go abroad to mess things, we can do it right here. Find anything beautiful, ensure it is littered.
Correction has to start at home. No other way.
But then, that is difficult because most of the adults set such horrible examples to their kids.