Before making aliyah, I was told Israeli's didn't know how to stand in line. When my fiance and I first arrived in Haifa, we didn't notice the line situation because at the bank and post office you took a number, sat and waited for your turn. At ulpan, during breaks, people queued up nicely for their turn at the toilet. We did notice that people tended to crowd onto the bus, and push their way in. I can definitely understand why. First, is to get a seat. Second, is to be seated before the driver thrusts forward as if he's driving a race car; so that anyone who has not braced themselves is tossed unceremoniously across the length of the bus.
At the grocery store, however, it has indeed become apparent Israeli's do NOT have line etiquette or common sense. Here's an example, we were at the produce market picking up some oranges and corn on the cob. The store is very crowded, not so much with people, just because it is small and narrow. The store offers supermarket size shopping carts, but there is not enough room in the aisles for one cart and two people. When I go there during the day, the customers line up in such a way where the aisles are blocked but the egress is open. Once customers have finished paying, they can push the buggy outside, take their packages and go.
When my fiance and I were at the store the other evening, the line situation had changed. Customers were lined up so the egress was blocked by people standing in line with their buggies meaning no one could get in, and after the customer had paid couldn't get out. Everyone would have to stand back to make room for the customer to exit the store. Except they wouldn't do that, they squeezed tighter so the person who just paid had to go around the entire length of the store to another egress which was also blocked by people standing in line.
Stupid me, I didn't realize the line situation had changed and went to stand in line like how they do it during the day, only to be greeted by people staring me down with dirty looks because they assumed I was trying to cut in. When I figured out where end of the evening line was, my fiance and I were talking about the line situation and how it didn't make sense. Although I was speaking in English, the guy in front of me must have realized what I was saying was not exactly flattering and he gave me one of those, "I'll kill you with my evil glare," looks. The whole thing was rather disconcerting.
I tell you, you notice something and then all of a sudden you see it everywhere. The other day, I had seen a mother allowing her little girl to pee in the park in front of everyone: boys, girls, dirty old men. Well, when we were in Jerusalem, I saw a grown man taking a pee outdoors as casual as if in the privacy of his home. The thing is, he wasn't peeing in a park, he was peeing by some shrubbery at the mall. Another time we saw a mother supervising as her little boy sprayed the sidewalk. That evening, sure enough, as we were walking home through the park there was yet another little girl peeing in the garden, her father helping her pull her pants back up.
Anyway, we needed a few more groceries and stopped at the Super-sol we call Emu. Super-sol is a grocery chain that can be found everywhere in Haifa. The ones located at the malls are quite large -- and by American standards would be considered a regular size grocery store -- while others like the one near our apartment, are rather small. We call the Super-sol by our house Emu because we inadvertently bought roast emu thinking it was chicken. Only after getting it home and seeing the size of the "chicken" wings, did we realize that was no chicken. Ever since we have been very careful to ascertain that chicken is actually chicken.
At the Super-sol people will try and cut in line. They'll do that by inching their cart in front of yours. You really have to stand your ground or lose your place. Here's the odd thing, though. Someone will be in line, leave their cart and be gone for a long time, and come back and expect to still have their place. My fiance and I are nice, we'll let people back in.
Now that we have been here longer, we have noticed that even in places where you take a number instead of standing in line, you have to be careful to hold your place. When you're number comes up, you better be at the cashier or else somebody else will move in and claim your spot. That happened to my fiance a couple of times. The first time he didn't know what was happening, but the second time someone tried that, he demanded his rightful place. When in Israel...
No comments:
Post a Comment