Korean Job Discussion Forums

[NCdan]

So I walked into McDonalds today and even though there were line markers set up, the Koreans completely disregarded them, and I couldn't even tell who was and wasn't in line: there was just a big herd of them mashed together with no order whatsoever. But McDonalds is nothing compared to Home Plus on weekends: I won't even try to get milk when I see what appears to be a rioting mob in front of the milk section. Why is the concept of standing in a line so difficult for Koreans to comprehend? I don't know whether to fall on the floor laughing, walk away in disgust, or start punching my way through the crowd when I see Koreans' total ineptitude at standing in line.

I try to drill the concept of standing in line into my kids' heads, and the smart ones get it to some extent, but the dumb ones remain clueless and will simply cut in front of everyone and smash their textbook down on top of the person's textbook I'm currently correcting. How can we expect workplace conditions to improve when Koreans can't understand something as simple as standing in line?

[Rusty Shackleford]

Gosh, relax guy. Don't get so worked up about something you can't change.

[Radius]

when in Korea, do as the Koreans. . . barge your way through, too =) have fun!

[Hyeon Een]

[redaxe]

All the Mickey D's I've been to in Korea have been more organized than in the U.S. They have two lines here, one for ordering, and one for waiting for your food once you've ordered. Plus you have a number on your receipt. How much more orderly can you get?

Koreans will cut in lines so they can be with their friends though, that's just something you have to live with here.

If you want to see people who can't understand the concept of lines, go to China.

[Xuanzang]

Lines for samples are can be hit or miss at Costco. Sometimes, an queue forms and others it is a free for all a la Jurassic Park.

[jhuntingtonus]

[Richard Krainium]

And I thought this was gonna be another thread about drugs.

[nycbabyblue67]

I don't think that this is an issue peculiar to Korea or Korean people. I'm from NYC and deal with this kind of crowding and chaos every day! I chalk it up to 9 million people living on a group of small islands. Get a helmet.

[NCdan]

The thing that bugs me is the complete disregard for order and personal space. When people get behind you in "line" in Korea, they don't get behind you, they practically glue themselves to your back. I hate standing there, moving half an inch back and bumping into the person behind me. I know, I know, it's a different culture, but it's a culture of complete rudeness.

I probably wouldn't even have made this post if I didn't observe the behavior in my kids. I deal with kids as young as four, and when I first got them they had no order whatsoever, and who could blame them, as they were just following the example set by the Korean adults that they saw? I noticed that once I made them start standing in line, they actually began to like it, and when one of the dimmer students crowded them or cut in front of them, they got pretty pissed. I'm just baffled at how a culture can not understand something as simple as a line and requires foreigners to teach them how to do it. Why? What is wrong with these people? I have never witnessed another culture so befuddled by the concept of a line. I can just picture one of my kids being brought to run errands with his or her mother and telling his or her mother, "Oma! Likey this. Stand here. Oma! No cut. No cut."

[nycbabyblue67]

[Old Gil]

Twice as sweet as sugar, twice as bitter as salt/ And if you get hooked, baby, it's nobody else's fault, so don't do it!

[littlelisa]

[Old Gil]

Koreans will say that Koreans are rude and Korea is a rude society. The awareness is there. They just don't say anything most of the time about it.

[JamesKChurch]

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