From: lulu@guinan.ucr.edu (david lu)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.taiwan
Subject: Re: Many ugly Yankees!!
Date: 17 Aug 92 04:46:13 GMT
Organization: University of California, Riverside

In article <cyen.713874972@ponder> Jesse writes:
>Hi folks, if you love our country, please finish reading this.

Yes, I do.  And I shall finish reading this.

>   I don't know how many Chineses feeling the same way about Americans.
>If you have the same feeling, you should call "them" yankees. You know
>yankees are another species of pigs.  Listen, I just said "them" in stead
>of all.

I hope by using "them," instead of "all," you are only talking about
a small group of individuals.  Nevertheless, I think very few people in
the world are deserving of being labeled "another species of pigs."

>   I saw many Americans have no sense of traffic rules. "They" left the
>turning signals keeping on but never turn. "They" threw stuff out of cars
>in highway. "They" turned right with left turn signal. "They" walked through
>without paying attention to cars. "They" used high beam in two way traffic.

I would think that when people left their turn signals on, they do so
because they simply forgot to turn it off, and not a practice that they
do regularly or purposefully.  Throwing garbage out of the car is
unexcusable and against the law.  So is jaywalking.  And while using
high beams in two-way traffic is not against the law (I don't think),
it shows that the driver is very inconsiderate.

However, traffic in Taiwan is even worse.  I'm not just talking about
the sheer number of cars, but the lack of respect the drivers give to
traffic laws.  People run red lights, they go against the traffic in
a one-way street, they park where they feel like, and the motorcycles
cut in and out with little regard for cars.  I've been driving in the
US for 7 years now.  I do not *dare* to drive in Taiwan.  When was the
last time you went back there?  If you haven't been back in the last
five or six years, you'd be amazed at how much Taiwan has changed.
 
>  I saw many Americans work very inefficiently. "They" always made mistakes
>even a Chinese kid won't make. "They" won't process your business until you
>request again and again. 

I'm sorry to hear that.  If possible, you should probably tell them
your complaint and bring your business to another competing firm.
For monopolies like government agencies and utility companies, they
usually have a complaints department or ombudsman that you can talk
to.

>  I saw many Americans tell lies.  What "they" promised you is very easy to
>forget. "They" smiled in front of you and kicked your ass in behind.

Yes, Americans do tend to "forget" verbal promises.  That's why in
the States, you always ask for everything in writing.  Again, tell
them about your problem and tell them that you are registering a
complaint with the local BBB.  Bring your business to a competing
firm.

If you truly believe that you have been mis-treated, then by all
means bring your complaint to the appropriate government agency.
If you have a complaint against the government itself, contact the
media.  They are always interested in blame-the-government-red-tape
kinds of stories.

>  I have many facts to prove what I have said. But I don't think it suits to
>say here. My point is that many Chinese in Taiwan don't know the facts that
>Americans have such dark side. They think the moon in US is bigger and brighter. 
>  Every time the traffic in Taipei is discussed, the chaos is due to 
>an unreasonable excuse:"We are Chinese."  They don't know Americans are as
>same as Chinese.  Why is USA what it is now?  The spirit of being proud of
>their nation is one of the main reasons. Maybe it's also a shortcoming, too.
>Anyway, this kind of spirit is what Chinese need. 

>  If you will go back to Taiwan in future, please don't forget to tell our
>folks that Chinese are never worse than Americans.  Give our folks more
>confidence.  Please do it for me and for you.  God bless our motherland, no
>matter which party governs, no matter what name it will has.

Unfortunately, this is true.  Some people do have this tendency of
feeling that Western things/ideas are always better.  However, I don't
think the solution to this problem is to tell everyone that "Chinese
are better than Americans."  Yes, we should have national pride, but
to say that one race is better than another will simply generate
racial feelings that are uncalled for.  Americans *are* better than
Chinese in a lot of things, high technology is just one of many.
What the Chinese people need to do is say, "Hey, we can do that too
if we try hard enough," and then they should go and do it.

>  Thank you for your listening.

And thank you for an enlightening article.

>Jesse C Yen

			- David

-- 
---==lulu@ucrengr==---  just another bewildered college undergraduate.
David T Lu, Amateur Thinker: lulu@ucrengr.ucr.edu, {ucsd, uci}!ucrengr!lulu
"I seem to be having tremendous difficulty with my lifestyle."
					- Arthur Dent, Hitchhiker's