Having lived in West and East of the globe for considerable time, I can deduce that a lot can be said about people of a region if you just observe closely on how they behave while driving on the road.
The roadways and the traffic is what the people in it make it the way they are. The behaviour does not only stay on the road but it percolates into the daily life or it could be other way round. One thing is for sure that the two are closely related.
What I observed in the West that the traffic is quite organised, it is very predictable and hence they are able to move fast. If one person does something unexpected, the whole system breaks down. The highway accidents tend to be fatal because they are high speed and often people are at loss to handle any exception that is posed to them. If I draw a similarity to the Western way of life, it is similar. People follow predictable path. They rarely struggle with life's basic necessities and the life is quite organised. The trust factor in people is very high as in they expect everyone in their chain of influence to play out their own part. Teacher is supposed to teach, doctor's heal, bankers and lawyers do their own stuff etc. Everything works nicely until one of them doesn't do the job expected out of them. It throws an exception and people get hurt. One rouge banker or a bad doctor can do unimaginable harm to so many people before getting caught.
Not all is bad in the system. Most of the time it works and does not impact the people at large. Like in a highway, people stick to their respective slow or fast lanes and are normally happy with their choices. If someone wants to make a lane change, they indicate by flashing the respective indicator and gradually ease into the new lane, preserving the predictability. The promotions, the advancement and the retirements are hence very predictable and known to people around them. There are exceptions here too, You have someone in the fast car who will criss cross and speed away without concern to others. These are highflier who take advantage of predictability and simplicity of others. These are by far fewer in the system and usually short-lived.
The right of way is to pedestrians. If they see someone on the corner of the road, they slow down and let the person cross the road. So little people get respect. There are more cars on the road than people on foot so easily minority wins here and there is a general consensus to respect little people and preserve that minority.
In US to be in particular one finds congestion and fast lane changes in metros. People are eager to move forward. Midwest and rural areas are very laid back. They respect people on the road and have low desire to make fast lane changes. Their choice of life are also simple and their approach very relaxed.
Now lets turn to East, manly India. The traffic comprises of less roads, more people. The automobile composition is more two-wheelers than four and a combined number of people on foot. So the hierarchy is obvious. People on foot have to give way to two-wheelers who in turn and have to give way to four-six-eight wheelers in that order. The bigger the vehicle, the more weightage. Minority wins here too since the cars and the trucks/buses are in minority compared to people on foot and two-wheelers. Each man to himself, the traffic is not predictable. In order to move ahead, the person at the back can honk and overtake you from anywhere. The person in front can turn left from rightmost lane or vice versa without indicating their choice. The race is on. The resources, namely, the road is less and the journey is the same for everyone. Hence there is a mad dash to be first. Me-First. Well, some wise man said, ''when everyone tries to be fast, everyone arrives late." Guess, the wise-one is still stuck in traffic. The me-first attitude is there everywhere. In queues, in education, in business or any services. People are looking for deals, exceptions or any short-cut so they can win. How can one win when everyone is trying to do the same thing. People trying to talk to their long lost aunt to save a few bucks on blood test. People looking for online coupons for movie tickets to spa services. Talk to anyone in your area of influence and tell them you paid retail price for your shoe and all hell will break loose. People try to give advice on how you could have saved 10% if you had just talked to them about their favourite shop.
The simple thing is to relax and use the available resources wisely. If you move slow, everyone can actually move fast. But how do you really get this message across. The difference between East and West is palpable. In West, people making exception are frowned upon, looked down upon and nobody tries to imitate them. In East, if the exception becomes a norm because it appears that the person making any exception is winning. In the end everyone arrives late.
My Goal here is not to provide a solution. It is something that everyone knows and can solve. It requires individual will and a firm belief that they are part of the solution, part of the chain who can individually make a difference if they follow what they feel is right. Exceptions will always be there. Sometimes they win sometimes they lose but they should remain exceptions.
The roadways and the traffic is what the people in it make it the way they are. The behaviour does not only stay on the road but it percolates into the daily life or it could be other way round. One thing is for sure that the two are closely related.
What I observed in the West that the traffic is quite organised, it is very predictable and hence they are able to move fast. If one person does something unexpected, the whole system breaks down. The highway accidents tend to be fatal because they are high speed and often people are at loss to handle any exception that is posed to them. If I draw a similarity to the Western way of life, it is similar. People follow predictable path. They rarely struggle with life's basic necessities and the life is quite organised. The trust factor in people is very high as in they expect everyone in their chain of influence to play out their own part. Teacher is supposed to teach, doctor's heal, bankers and lawyers do their own stuff etc. Everything works nicely until one of them doesn't do the job expected out of them. It throws an exception and people get hurt. One rouge banker or a bad doctor can do unimaginable harm to so many people before getting caught.
Not all is bad in the system. Most of the time it works and does not impact the people at large. Like in a highway, people stick to their respective slow or fast lanes and are normally happy with their choices. If someone wants to make a lane change, they indicate by flashing the respective indicator and gradually ease into the new lane, preserving the predictability. The promotions, the advancement and the retirements are hence very predictable and known to people around them. There are exceptions here too, You have someone in the fast car who will criss cross and speed away without concern to others. These are highflier who take advantage of predictability and simplicity of others. These are by far fewer in the system and usually short-lived.
The right of way is to pedestrians. If they see someone on the corner of the road, they slow down and let the person cross the road. So little people get respect. There are more cars on the road than people on foot so easily minority wins here and there is a general consensus to respect little people and preserve that minority.
In US to be in particular one finds congestion and fast lane changes in metros. People are eager to move forward. Midwest and rural areas are very laid back. They respect people on the road and have low desire to make fast lane changes. Their choice of life are also simple and their approach very relaxed.
Now lets turn to East, manly India. The traffic comprises of less roads, more people. The automobile composition is more two-wheelers than four and a combined number of people on foot. So the hierarchy is obvious. People on foot have to give way to two-wheelers who in turn and have to give way to four-six-eight wheelers in that order. The bigger the vehicle, the more weightage. Minority wins here too since the cars and the trucks/buses are in minority compared to people on foot and two-wheelers. Each man to himself, the traffic is not predictable. In order to move ahead, the person at the back can honk and overtake you from anywhere. The person in front can turn left from rightmost lane or vice versa without indicating their choice. The race is on. The resources, namely, the road is less and the journey is the same for everyone. Hence there is a mad dash to be first. Me-First. Well, some wise man said, ''when everyone tries to be fast, everyone arrives late." Guess, the wise-one is still stuck in traffic. The me-first attitude is there everywhere. In queues, in education, in business or any services. People are looking for deals, exceptions or any short-cut so they can win. How can one win when everyone is trying to do the same thing. People trying to talk to their long lost aunt to save a few bucks on blood test. People looking for online coupons for movie tickets to spa services. Talk to anyone in your area of influence and tell them you paid retail price for your shoe and all hell will break loose. People try to give advice on how you could have saved 10% if you had just talked to them about their favourite shop.
The simple thing is to relax and use the available resources wisely. If you move slow, everyone can actually move fast. But how do you really get this message across. The difference between East and West is palpable. In West, people making exception are frowned upon, looked down upon and nobody tries to imitate them. In East, if the exception becomes a norm because it appears that the person making any exception is winning. In the end everyone arrives late.
My Goal here is not to provide a solution. It is something that everyone knows and can solve. It requires individual will and a firm belief that they are part of the solution, part of the chain who can individually make a difference if they follow what they feel is right. Exceptions will always be there. Sometimes they win sometimes they lose but they should remain exceptions.
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