22 January, 2009

On being uncivilised

When we used to live in UK, Hubby often claimed the British people were uncivilised. It usually happened when he see rubbish in the bus or people tossing trash in the street. He saw once an used nappy in the bus and keep on telling me this story.

In my opinion, things are not much better in Piraeus. It is true that the buses are usually cleaner in Piraeus than in Birmingham and you never seen people smoking either cigarette or marijuana. You don't see teenage mums in training wear pushing baby-buggies with cigarette in their mouths.

However, you see the streets filled with rubbish, not because the passers-by toss small rubbish, but because workmen do not collect the refuse, dog walkers never carry bag for dog drops, and flyers left in front of buildings brown off by the wind.
People in general do not look civilised either. If you go to supermarkets, no one ever say "hello" or "you're all right?" (this is how they say "how you you?" in Midlands). If you hear "thank you", you are lucky. You are not supposed to say "hello" or "thank you" to bus drivers. They rarely say "sorry" when they rub your shoulder on the street.

As friends or acquintances, the Greeks in Piraeus (just to avoid the generalisation) behave differently, but as strangers, they are often rude and impolite. I don't understand why Hubby thinks the British are less civilised.

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