Tuesday, September 05, 2006

Beep away the complains

I have wondered if we are now officially the whine hub of Asia if not the world. Our World class Main Stream Media is always quick to tell us ingrates how we should be gratefull and grovel at our feet with all the goods our government does for us.

Its not all serious worships and grovelling, there are times whereby people use the MS and/or online forum to air their grouses and unhappiness towards the government, the transport company and each other.

Thanks to Mr Apollo of Spug, we now get to see 2 sides of the stories at the same time, no need to wait for a reply or robust rebuttal. If this carries on, we will definetly take our Everitt Road culture to its next step of evolution, online.

For those too lasy to read in SPUG, here it is :

Dinner spoilt by beeping fellow diner
THE other day, I was having dinner with my wife and daughter in a coffee house. It was like any other day when we go to enjoy some good Singapore food, and we were having a fine time until another couple came in and sat a table away.
It wasn't their conversation that caught my attention but the loud non-stop electronic beep sounds that came from the man's PDA. It wasn't that he was playing computer games and he may well have been entering or retrieving some legitimate information from his PDA. However,after the non-stop high-pitched beep sounds went on for what seemed like 10 minutes, my nerves were frayed.
My wife is not the confrontational type and did not want me to speak to the man, preferring to avoid any incident that has even the slightest chance of turning into an unpleasant exchange. I did not expect an unpleasant exchange so I politely flagged the man to get his attention and asked him if he would mind turning the sound down on his PDA.
Imagine my shock when he replied: 'Are you telling me to turn off the sound on my PDA? This is a public place. I can do what I like.'
I composed myself and said: 'You're right, this is a public place. And I am not telling you to turn the sound down but I'm requesting you to.'
This man would have continued polluting the environment with his shrill PDA beeps had his food not been served. By this time, my wife was feeling self-conscious, all the while listening to the man and his companion complaining to each other about us.
What would you have done? Would you have suffered in silence or spoken out? Was I wrong to point out to the man his actions?
I went through the process from thinking he was ignorant, to inconsiderate, to downright rude. Perhaps I should have asked a messenger to take the message, and perhaps the waiter would have told him of the effect of his actions on others around him - but would he have cared what other people thought?
I find it hard to believe how much further we have to travel to arrive at what the Prime Minister has called a gracious society, when we cannot even extend consideration to others by reducing the stress level caused by noisy electronic gadgets. It saddens me that rather than be considerate, this man justified his actions based on his right to do as he pleases.
Indeed, courtesy is uncommon and we have a long way to go before we can call ourselves a gracious society.
David Neo Lian Kong


http://www.mycarforum.com/forum/TO_...528064/#1528064

http://straitstimes.asiaone.com/por...000430a0a0aRCRD

This evening, I went to Great World City for my dinner at the Vietai Restaurant just outside GV Grand Cinema. I was led to a seat which was about 1.2-1.3 metres away from a couple (late 30s) and their 6-7 yrs old daughter.

While seated, from the side of my eyes, I could see the wife beckoning the waiter to come over. When the waitress came over, she questioned... 'Why is the Laksa not clear?' She went on to flip open the menu and said it is not what she wanted. I went on with my nonchalant conversation as the waitress LPPL cart away her bowl of laksa and replaced it with Phad Thai. Less than 5 minutes later, I heard her summon the waitress again. This time, the wife complained why her daughter's Pad Thai has chilli? I took a cursory glance and was bemused as her daughter has devoured almost half her food already!

I just ignored them and ordered my food with the next available waiter. While waiting, I thought I will check on my calendar and do a little house keeping on my PDA mobile phone. While clicking here and there on my HP, I heard a loud voice.. 'Excuse Me! Excuse Me!' Oh, this time, the husband at that table is calling out to me.. in my mind, I was thinking.. now what do u want? He went on to say, 'Stop using your PDA. The beep is irritating me!' I was like, who the fcuk do u think u are? Just cause I am dressed in a polo shirt and look a little shabby doesnt mean I am a push over. I replied, 'This is a common area, I am free to do what I want. How does this affect u?' He went on to say.. 'It is irritating...' I told him off that I don't owe u a living and I have the right to do what I want. *** is wrong with these people? *** is this blatant display of snootiness? Why didnt this asswipe go ask the management to shut the loud music blaring from the speakers of the restaurant? It really pissed me off big time to have met such people who thinks we should pander to their whims and fancy. What would u have done if it happened to u? I am really ashamed to be Singaporean especially one who happened to be a family of complain kings!

http://www.mycarforum.com/forum/gforum.cgi?post=1523020#1523020

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