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I think what you're describing is the same thing as in Denmark. There's a sort of cargo cult egalitarianism which completely misses the point that one person ca
by mseebach 14y ago
I think what you're describing is the same thing as in Denmark. There's a sort of cargo cult egalitarianism which completely misses the point that one person can be paid to service another person without them being unequal (on a human level).
I've heard people talk about your supposed obligation to engage in a conversation with a taxi driver, or it being impolite to talk on your mobile phone in a taxi. It's bizarre and completely counter productive in societies as dependant on service industries as ours.
- mtrimpe 14y agoAre you Danish by origin? I am well aware that this perspective is completely incomprehensible to Americans, but for us it's just a value embedded very deeply into the fabric of our culture. I highly doubt that it's counter productive though, as I doubt that society is harmed by expecting you to treat your taxi driver like a fellow human being of equal value, nor that it's bad to have the same expectations of your waiter as you have of your neighborhood college going kid who's just a bit too full of himself. And yes; we are aware we're chasing away tourists with our service. We're like the French in that respect, as most of us wouldn't mind a little less tourists in town. :)
- mseebach 14y agoYes, I'm Danish. My point is that I can treat a taxi driver friendly, respectfully and as a fellow human being without treating him like a friend who's doing me a favour. I'm not worried about tourists, they are plenty scared by the cost of living already, I'm worried about a culture where you don't say "no, I need someone else to do this task for me, my time is better spend on something else". When you're uncomfortable getting in a taxi, you're not going to hire a secretary for your office and then your productivity suffers.