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Wow, really suprised to see someone else speaking my mind. I went to Australia, from the US, with the perception that Australia was wild country where people w

Wow, really suprised to see someone else speaking my mind. I went to Australia, from the US, with the perception that Australia was wild country where people were free and independent. Sort of like if I lived in rural Arizona or Idaho or something. But what I found was an ultra-tedious nitpicky rules and control mindset. Really turned me off. Just surprised to see someone else say similar.

noduerme 5y ago
I totally expected Idaho, too. That's why the racism didn't seem out of place. But it's like everyone there is obsessed with these little rules and they're all nannys about reminding you of them all the time. Fucking annoying, I agree, and it doesn't even make sense. Wayyyyy out in the bush I did meet people who weren't like that. Met a French guy who was roasting a kangaroo and living out in nowhere with his teenage daughter, totally illegal immigrant on the land. There's some of that. But mostly, fuck, a lot of nitpicking.
- dorkwood 5y ago
  I found people in the US to be just as nitpicky about certain things. Oh, you thought you could cross the road there, even though there are no cars around? You shouldn't do that. You should cross at the stop signs. Oh, you thought you could just walk in the building, go up to the counter and order food? Sorry, you need to walk through the special door, which puts you in the special food-ordering queue. You'll have to leave the building and come back in through the special door.
throwaheyy 5y ago
I've moved from Australia to the US and found the US is much worse at nitpickiness. Sure, you won't get pulled over for going a little bit faster on the freeway in the USA. But in daily life, people much more often will treat you like you're dumb, incompetent, or don't belong somewhere. A couple of examples came up in recent news opinion pieces (both by Americans who have moved to Australia and, coincidentally, both mentioning swimming): https://www.smh.com.au/national/where-the-hell-is-he-what-aussie-surf-culture-taught-this-expat-dad-20210719-p58av8.html https://www.smh.com.au/national/where-the-hell-is-he-what-au... "It went on like that for a while. Praise for the boy. Not a drop of concern. I looked to my right. Baz’s Nippers instructor, Al, a brawny former professional rugby player, was smiling. So were the rest of the Australian parents all around us. I was confused at first, but I could also see in everyone an exhilaration that reminded me of my time covering the war in Iraq during its most violent months. It had been years since I’d experienced that mix of feelings – the electric shock of appreciation for life, the confidence that comes from transcending danger with others, for something that feels bigger than yourself. And it made me realise that, despite a journalism career filled with hazardous assignments, I still had a lot to learn about risk, not to mention child-rearing." https://www.smh.com.au/national/77-shootings-within-a-mile-of-home-why-our-family-left-america-20210623-p583p8.html https://www.smh.com.au/national/77-shootings-within-a-mile-o... "Taking the kids for a swim at an outdoor public pool in New York felt more like a brush with the penal system. You are not allowed to wear any colour other than white, such is the fear of a poolside eruption of gang violence. Men have to wear bathers lined with meshing, and prove to the guards at the gates they are in compliance; a guard carries out inappropriately intrusive inspections. [...] "Any form of reading matter – newspapers, books, copies of The New Yorker – is strictly prohibited. In all, there are more than a dozen regulations that have to be adhered to – and even if you comply with those, there is the Kafkaesque possibility of being confronted with new ones that have seemingly been invented on the spot."

noduerme 5y ago

I totally expected Idaho, too. That's why the racism didn't seem out of place. But it's like everyone there is obsessed with these little rules and they're all nannys about reminding you of them all the time. Fucking annoying, I agree, and it doesn't even make sense. Wayyyyy out in the bush I did meet people who weren't like that. Met a French guy who was roasting a kangaroo and living out in nowhere with his teenage daughter, totally illegal immigrant on the land. There's some of that. But mostly, fuck, a lot of nitpicking.

dorkwood 5y ago
I found people in the US to be just as nitpicky about certain things. Oh, you thought you could cross the road there, even though there are no cars around? You shouldn't do that. You should cross at the stop signs. Oh, you thought you could just walk in the building, go up to the counter and order food? Sorry, you need to walk through the special door, which puts you in the special food-ordering queue. You'll have to leave the building and come back in through the special door.

throwaheyy 5y ago

I've moved from Australia to the US and found the US is much worse at nitpickiness. Sure, you won't get pulled over for going a little bit faster on the freeway in the USA. But in daily life, people much more often will treat you like you're dumb, incompetent, or don't belong somewhere. A couple of examples came up in recent news opinion pieces (both by Americans who have moved to Australia and, coincidentally, both mentioning swimming): https://www.smh.com.au/national/where-the-hell-is-he-what-aussie-surf-culture-taught-this-expat-dad-20210719-p58av8.html https://www.smh.com.au/national/where-the-hell-is-he-what-au... "It went on like that for a while. Praise for the boy. Not a drop of concern. I looked to my right. Baz’s Nippers instructor, Al, a brawny former professional rugby player, was smiling. So were the rest of the Australian parents all around us. I was confused at first, but I could also see in everyone an exhilaration that reminded me of my time covering the war in Iraq during its most violent months. It had been years since I’d experienced that mix of feelings – the electric shock of appreciation for life, the confidence that comes from transcending danger with others, for something that feels bigger than yourself. And it made me realise that, despite a journalism career filled with hazardous assignments, I still had a lot to learn about risk, not to mention child-rearing." https://www.smh.com.au/national/77-shootings-within-a-mile-of-home-why-our-family-left-america-20210623-p583p8.html https://www.smh.com.au/national/77-shootings-within-a-mile-o... "Taking the kids for a swim at an outdoor public pool in New York felt more like a brush with the penal system. You are not allowed to wear any colour other than white, such is the fear of a poolside eruption of gang violence. Men have to wear bathers lined with meshing, and prove to the guards at the gates they are in compliance; a guard carries out inappropriately intrusive inspections. [...] "Any form of reading matter – newspapers, books, copies of The New Yorker – is strictly prohibited. In all, there are more than a dozen regulations that have to be adhered to – and even if you comply with those, there is the Kafkaesque possibility of being confronted with new ones that have seemingly been invented on the spot."