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I do find them a bit interesting, because they point out things I see as "normal" and have never thought twice about, but apparently can be weird for foreigners

I do find them a bit interesting, because they point out things I see as "normal" and have never thought twice about, but apparently can be weird for foreigners. For instance how we in northern countries leave babies unattended in prams outside during winter. I've never considered that as something off, but then reading stories from other countries about our "crazy behavior" is a bit funny.

stevekemp 4y ago
I moved to Finland, and became a parent. There were many surprises that I encountered with both of those actions - leaving the baby outdoors was definitely one of them. But I was certainly willing to trust my wife, and other locals, when they said it was both common and reasonable.
- busterarm 4y ago
  That particular culture shock ends up much worse in reverse, unfortunately... https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/nov/26/anette-sorenson-denmark-new-york-baby-left-outside https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/nov/26/anette-soren... https://www.reuters.com/article/us-restaurant-baby/swedish-woman-who-left-baby-outside-restaurant-investigated-idUSTRE77E62O20110815 https://www.reuters.com/article/us-restaurant-baby/swedish-w...
tveyben 4y ago
Wasn’t s nanny arrested for doing this in New York …? /a Dane (still) living in Denmark :-) Edit - yes she was; I see the link is further down this thread…
scottLobster 4y ago
Well as someone who lives in a city who's violent crime just spiked, and wasn't exactly ideal before said spike, I've encountered enough unstable people on the street I wouldn't be comfortable leaving my baby outside a restaurant period, regardless of the weather. It's not that there's some mustache-twirling baby-stealing cabal out there, it's that some people are just mentally ill/batshit crazy and do batshit crazy things. Even if they'll get caught, even if there's no rational benefit. They'll hurt themselves and bring you/your loved ones along for the ride. They're likely less than 1% of the population, but around enough that statistically you have to worry. Similarly, if some stranger on the street asks me for the time I'm 90% sure they're just trying to get me to pull out my phone so they can snatch it, particularly if there's more than one of them. The idea of living in a densely populated non-gated area where you can have zero fear of absolute strangers is alien to me. It's like saying there's a road you can drive down where no one ever tailgates, road rages, drives drunk or cuts off each other and everyone does a perfect zipper merge when required, and it's so consistent you can drive without worrying about any of the above on a daily basis. Craziness.

stevekemp 4y ago

I moved to Finland, and became a parent. There were many surprises that I encountered with both of those actions - leaving the baby outdoors was definitely one of them. But I was certainly willing to trust my wife, and other locals, when they said it was both common and reasonable.

busterarm 4y ago
That particular culture shock ends up much worse in reverse, unfortunately... https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/nov/26/anette-sorenson-denmark-new-york-baby-left-outside https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/nov/26/anette-soren... https://www.reuters.com/article/us-restaurant-baby/swedish-woman-who-left-baby-outside-restaurant-investigated-idUSTRE77E62O20110815 https://www.reuters.com/article/us-restaurant-baby/swedish-w...

tveyben 4y ago

Wasn’t s nanny arrested for doing this in New York …? /a Dane (still) living in Denmark :-) Edit - yes she was; I see the link is further down this thread…

scottLobster 4y ago

Well as someone who lives in a city who's violent crime just spiked, and wasn't exactly ideal before said spike, I've encountered enough unstable people on the street I wouldn't be comfortable leaving my baby outside a restaurant period, regardless of the weather. It's not that there's some mustache-twirling baby-stealing cabal out there, it's that some people are just mentally ill/batshit crazy and do batshit crazy things. Even if they'll get caught, even if there's no rational benefit. They'll hurt themselves and bring you/your loved ones along for the ride. They're likely less than 1% of the population, but around enough that statistically you have to worry. Similarly, if some stranger on the street asks me for the time I'm 90% sure they're just trying to get me to pull out my phone so they can snatch it, particularly if there's more than one of them. The idea of living in a densely populated non-gated area where you can have zero fear of absolute strangers is alien to me. It's like saying there's a road you can drive down where no one ever tailgates, road rages, drives drunk or cuts off each other and everyone does a perfect zipper merge when required, and it's so consistent you can drive without worrying about any of the above on a daily basis. Craziness.