Brown.Eyed.Girl
Ideal_Rock
- Joined
- Jun 4, 2008
- Messages
- 6,893
So from a few of my posts, some of you may have picked up that I''m in Japan for the summer. I had an incident today in the subway that pretty much upset and shocked me at how RUDE people can be. Everyone that I''ve had personal contact with have been more than generous, nice, kind and helpful. People in the subway, though, seem to be a different breed. There''s a lot of pushing, shoving, elbowing aside (by women and men alike) to get to a seat first, etc. It''s one of those things I''ve always joked about (like, "haha, didn''t expect that") but I guess bothered me more than I thought. Well, things came to a head today. I was sitting next to this man on the train and had my legs crossed. I didn''t realize that it''s considered impolite here to do so, but 1) I wasn''t invading anyone''s space; 2) I was dressed in work clothes, which means knee-length skirt and blouse; and 3) I wasn''t even close to showing anything inappropriate (and I say this after seeing girls wearing micro-minis, short shorts, etc.). About three other women around me were sitting and had their legs crossed. Apparently this guy had a problem with mine.
So he starts speaking to me. That''s okay at first. Tone was not harsh, but I don''t understand Japanese. I kept saying so. He became more and more vehement. Started gesturing towards my legs. I kept trying to turn away and read my book. He kept talking. Finally he tapped me on the leg, and pushed to get my leg off of my knee. I''m in shock. I simply can''t believe he actually touched me. So being in shock I uncrossed my legs, but a few minutes later, the train got crowded and it became uncomfortable to sit that way so I recrossed my legs. This time, he starts yelling at me, kept saying something about "Japan" (nihon is the only word I understood), and then kicks (not hard but definite) my foot with his (the foot that is crossed, sorry this is getting confusing). At this point, my temper snaps. It''d been a long muggy day and I was already frustrated from atrocious subway behavior (btw, I''ve lived in Boston, Chicago and Madrid, and nothing like this has happened). Basically, I was really offended (come on! I have no clue what he''s saying and he''s touching me???) so I started yelling at him in English, told him that if he touched me again, there would be hell to pay, and leave me alone. He kept yelling at me. Finally, I got out of my seat and stood the rest of the way on the other side of the compartment. I was really shaken by this. Sure, there have been rude experiences, but I''ve never really been "targeted" as a foreigner since I''m Asian and blend in. I was in shock.
Sorry for this long long post. I just felt so unhappy that something like this partly ruined what has been a great time here so far. Now, I''m kind of feeling like, I''ve been here long enough and I''m done with this country and I''m ready to go home. I know it''s just one person and not representative of any group...but it left a bad taste in my mouth.
For those of you who made it this far through my story, thanks so much for taking the time to listen/read.
Vent over...
So he starts speaking to me. That''s okay at first. Tone was not harsh, but I don''t understand Japanese. I kept saying so. He became more and more vehement. Started gesturing towards my legs. I kept trying to turn away and read my book. He kept talking. Finally he tapped me on the leg, and pushed to get my leg off of my knee. I''m in shock. I simply can''t believe he actually touched me. So being in shock I uncrossed my legs, but a few minutes later, the train got crowded and it became uncomfortable to sit that way so I recrossed my legs. This time, he starts yelling at me, kept saying something about "Japan" (nihon is the only word I understood), and then kicks (not hard but definite) my foot with his (the foot that is crossed, sorry this is getting confusing). At this point, my temper snaps. It''d been a long muggy day and I was already frustrated from atrocious subway behavior (btw, I''ve lived in Boston, Chicago and Madrid, and nothing like this has happened). Basically, I was really offended (come on! I have no clue what he''s saying and he''s touching me???) so I started yelling at him in English, told him that if he touched me again, there would be hell to pay, and leave me alone. He kept yelling at me. Finally, I got out of my seat and stood the rest of the way on the other side of the compartment. I was really shaken by this. Sure, there have been rude experiences, but I''ve never really been "targeted" as a foreigner since I''m Asian and blend in. I was in shock.
Sorry for this long long post. I just felt so unhappy that something like this partly ruined what has been a great time here so far. Now, I''m kind of feeling like, I''ve been here long enough and I''m done with this country and I''m ready to go home. I know it''s just one person and not representative of any group...but it left a bad taste in my mouth.
For those of you who made it this far through my story, thanks so much for taking the time to listen/read.
Vent over...