Comments on: A night at the movies in Saigon

By: odgnut

odgnut — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 16:35:38 +0000

Hi Fiona…thanks for the compliment and the suggestion. I might consider submitting the story when I have more time…but do the Vietnamese newspapers even accept submissions in English? I cannot read or write tieng viet yet.

In regards to the “me first” issue, I don’t think that it’s as simple as letting people know what they do is “annoying”. I think these people know what they do is wrong….it’s just that they personally feel that they are exempted from the rules. For example…motorbike drivers hate automobile drivers…and vice versa….but give the motorbike driver a car and he will aggressively push his way through traffic…honking and yelling at all the stupid motorbike drivers…totally forgetting that he used to be one of them.

It’s nice to hear opinions from young Vietnamese people like yourself though….I have great hopes that in a generation or two people in this country can learn to be more considerate of others when in public. It’s not something that I believe will change overnight…and I still believe that rules can create better behavior if only business establishments have to the courage to implement and enforce them.

By: Fiona

Fiona — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 10:20:45 +0000

Hi!I accidentally found your site on the Thorn tree forum of Lonely Planet yesterday and was very impressed by what you’d written (that is to say “typed”). I’m a 100% Vietnamese person, or more specifically a Vietnamese teenager. The problems you encountered in the theater are now in fact too ubiquitous that everyone seems to never be aware of them. However, I think if you have your story published on a paper eg. Thann nien or Tuoi tre, people will see themselves in it and be galvanized into action. They may not realize what they are used to doing whenever they come to the theater is annoying, but when the matter is elaborated on more, many of them will turn over a new leaf, I believe. If you would be so kind as to spend several minutes editing and sending your story to the papers via email, it will do a lot of good.

By: odgnut

odgnut — Sat, 27 Mar 2010 03:10:44 +0000

You make me seem mellow.

By: Thai Nguyen

Thai Nguyen — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 19:49:50 +0000

I normally ignore queue jumpers, but the one time I was waiting in line at a Citimart… The people I was behind in line were about to get rung up, when a freaking lady jumped in front of them. The two jerks said nothing to her. While the two jerks were being rung up, some dude tried to snake me. I had a serious look on my face and told him it was rude for him to jump in front of me in Vietnamese, when I was next. But he still tries to pay ahead of me. I looked at the two fucktards and the register girl furiously. She can tell I was about to fucking rage, so she rung me up before that guy. Western style market WESTERN FUCKING RULES BITCHES. I gave that dude a dirty look the whole time. Vietnamese people need to grow a sack and not let queue jumpers have their way.

I take a Vietnamese class at the University and right before class the motorbike parking is fucking ridiculous. People everywhere just riding up and trying to fit in the little space fucking over the people who waited patiently. I’m
Vietnamese and I’m starting to dislike Vietnamese people. I’m starting to side with my foreign Korean friends that the Viets are freaking robots.

Anyone ever tried getting customer service, when they mess up your order or leave a rubberband in your food? My friends were at Japanese restaurant and found a huge rubberband in their sushi roll. They wanted a new order, but the waitstaff thought there was no reason to make another,freaking ridiculous. Another time I’m in a cafe and the waitstaff sat us at a crooked unbalanced table. My 80,000 dong coffee gets spilled, they didn’t even bother to sit us at a new table or even ask me if I wanted another coffee. ROBOTS!!!!!

It’s definitely the me first I don’t give a fuck about my fellow citizen mentality, that their parents taught them and is reinforced by all the bad behavior around them.

I’ve been here for four months and I’m ready to leave.

By: odgnut

odgnut — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 06:18:53 +0000

Hi Simon, welcome to Saigon! Interesting theory regarding the “bubble mentality”….you could be right, however that doesn’t explain why a lot of the Vietnamese/Asian people that have lived in the United States for decades….and especially the Vietnamese that left before 1975…behave the exact same way; they weren’t really exposed to the current regime.

By: Simon

Simon — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 18:52:45 +0000

Hi, I happened onto your blog and liked reading it. I’m new in Saigon too, and although I haven’t tried the cinemas, I appreciate your comments about the disruptive audience behaviour. It’s good you try to give them some concessions on why they are they way they are (it’s societal bla bla), but I think you’re spot on to express your own frustrations. Doesn’t mean you’re whining, doesn’t mean you have unrealistic expectations, doesn’t mean you have a negativity disorder. Obviously there are great things about living in Saigon and great things about Vietnamese people, but it’s cool to get the shits with things like that.

It’s also interesting that a simple cinema experience can actually say something about some underlying attitudes as a whole, it could just show some kind of “bubble” mentality which could be a reaction of living for so long with a regime which enforced the “common good”. It might also be linked to some deep programming about self preservation, the way that animals shoulder their way to a trough of food.

By: odgnut

odgnut — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 10:41:48 +0000

Yes I can speak….my vocabulary is not very good though. Trying to teach myself how to read so I can learn more vocabulary on my own.

By: christinenqtq

christinenqtq — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 10:29:22 +0000

Oh, I am very sorry Odgnut. I have big mistake

You are a Vietnamese American, so can you speak Vietnamese?

By: odgnut

odgnut — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 10:22:55 +0000

Hey Christine…thanks for giving us a Vietnamese perspective on things. I know that there are a lot of Vietnamese people that feel the same way you do…now if only we could convince the majority of the people to be as considerate as you are. Your English is pretty good….enough to get your point across.

By the way…this is my blog and I am not Steve. I am a Vietnamese American….Steve’s blog was just linking back to mine.

By: christinenqtq

christinenqtq — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 09:50:20 +0000

I agreed with all of your opinion about “me first” attitude and bad behaviour in the theatre. I am Vietnamese but I really can not eccept the way Vietnamese did, they seems that don’t know how to queue in the line. this happened everywhere, in the supermarket, in the hospital, in the airport,ect, they always elbow someone out of the line…I can’t not understand why lots of Vietnamese did that. And now after having experience I learned that one of the reason is, at the crowded the bad people did that for having the chance to pick your pocket and stolen things if you didn’t pay attention.

And if you saw the rich Vietnamese did that it because they weren’t learned how to queue, someone said Vietnamese must learn the queueing culture. exactly. I hope lots of Vietnamese can read what all of you talk about here and they can think and change their behaviour soon.

About talking in the theatre. Sadly most of Vietnamese did that, not just younger kids, and if they talk on cell they never keep their voice down, sometime they shouted and never care of everybody around them

I really want to discuss more but my english is not good enough so sorry.

Anyway, thanks all of you. through your comment I can understand what you think of Vietnamese

Steve, you should put your helmet inside your bike or hang it on the hook under your bike saddle and then lock