Originally Posted by
jiejie
Mike, individual Chinese can behave completely differently when helping you figure something out on the street, vs scrambling for a scarce commodity like an empty taxi at rush hour. Jekyll and Hyde. And this would happen regardless of your smile, your stress level or lack thereof, etc. In cases where too many people all want a restricted resource, things can get ugly and your only recourse is sometimes to jump in there and duke it out. Visitors with financial resources can hire a private driver. (though the car will get stuck in the same traffic)
I was making a general case about needing assistance, not racing for the last cab in town.
I don't think the Chinese have a monopoly on duking it out for scarce resources. I'd just read in so many places about people being scammed in this way or that, and in general to be suspicious of everybody, and I just didn't see that. But the elevator thing... pushing the "close door" button the second you get in, regardless of others waiting. What's with that?
