And so the tables turn...

I had the strangest experience while traveling back from Beijing yesterday... Over the past 6 months, I've had to grow accustomed to people shoving past me, just to get to the door before me; masses of people shoving through tiny subway doors, only to get stuck in the doorway; people outside of buses pushing me, to pack us in tighter, so they might fit on the bus too; watching foreigners grow more and more angry with every passing minute as Chinese jump to the fronts of lines...

Yesterday, this tiny world of mine was turned upside down. I was waiting next to the gate for yet another delayed flight at the Beijing airport. Ever since the accurate boarding time, a long line had been formed leading from the gate, all the way through the waiting area. In my mind I thought, "waiting in that line is a complete waste of time, everyone around me is just going to cut anyways." Apparently, the 10-15 Chinese-speaking foreigners around me (old-hands at living in China) thought the same way, as none of them were waiting in line either. As soon as boarding began, the crowd of foreigners made a bee line for the gate. Meanwhile, all of the Chinese people who had been seated around me, were all finding their way to the back of the line. (gasp) To make matters worse, I heard Chinese people commenting about the foreigners that had all just cut in line, and were not being considerate of those who had been waiting for their rightful turns.

...what is the world coming to? Have all of the government-sponsored TV, radio, and billboard ads pleading for Chinese to become more "civilized" and "cultured" actually worked? If a city of tens of millions of people can be flexible enough to adopt new mannerisms, then perhaps it's time for the expats to follow suit...toss out the learned behaviours, and give the Chinese another chance to impress your open mind.