People...you gotta love them...

MiSO

The day I left Lovina I was having an early breakfast at the hotel and I overheard the table next me. A mother telling her about 7-year old child:" Oh no, don't use so much salt, salt is bad for you, you can get a heart disease and then you'll die..."Euhm... also a good morning to you, Ma'am...!Then I travelled by shuttle bus to the South, and I especially chose for a shuttle bus instead of a private ride so I could chat with my fellow-passengers during a 3 hours drive to Kuta.There I was, with a single white female in the front seat, a young Japanese couple behind me and a (n over)ripe, sweet American couple next me. I was looking outside and enjoyed the beautiful view. It was all so nice and peaceful, I was even daydreaming. Then the man next me started talking, he was reading the Bible, out loud... After 15 inutes he was still reading... and we all had to witness that he was God's believer. The (smart) girl in front of me put her Ipod in her ears. And I, I felt disturbed and got annoyed. I started having a conversation with myself (I have schizophrenic tendencies): - " Nah MiSo, maybe this is the old man's morning ritual, don't be so intolerant and impatient.." * "..But-but... we have to share one space, and he's taking too much of it... he didn't even ask us if we'd mind him reading out loud..." - " If it bothers you that much...ask him nicely to stop..."But how do you stop a man in trance?So I didn't do a thing.After an hour (if not more) he stopped reading, but then... he started praying. Out loud...Wow...A very good morning to you, Sir... **********I wonder what you, yes you, would have done in a situation like this. Would you've kept your mouth shut and endure all this, or would you've asked him politely to keep this special moment with God to himself?People...you gotta love them...! :wink: And I do... with all my heart... so much I could strangle some of them sometimes... :wink: Peace 'n Love,MmmiSo

fordprefect

An extremely menacing "if looks could kill" glare directed at the moron/subject while donning the pmp/earbuds. Other than that, not much to be done.

Jimbo

Why noy just plotely ask him to stop explaining it is disturbing you?

MiSO

He seemed to be needing it Jimbo, that's why... Or it was just me being a wimp... :wink: :D Situations like this make you think about boundaries, and how we all have to share the same space, 1 car, 1 city, 1 country, 1 world, 1 universe...Deep eh... haha..

ronb

I wonder what you, yes you, would have done in a situation like this. Would you've kept your mouth shut and endure all this, or would you've asked him politely to keep this special moment with God to himself?[/quote]Well - a truthful answer is I would have been quiet, just absorbed my mind elsewhere because I avoid confrontations. But if anyone else said anything then I would support them.

gilbert de jong

holy (pun intended :lol: ) sh*t...ok everybody is entitled to his or her own believes, but if it's starting to invade my personal space, like you described MiSO, first attempt : I would kindly ask him to stop 'sharing' his reading-skills...if no reaction from his side, the second attempt : tell him to stop poluting my (and other passengers) ears with boring stories, and adding to that that if he doesn't, I'll take your holy book and make you really consume it (eat it). If that doesn't help...wich I doubt. I wouldn't really do that ofcourse(making him eat his holy book), I would just tell the driver to stop and gently remove the reader from the car/bus. He can take the next bus that comes along, and in the mean time can read to the monkeys. Everybody happy, all passengers can enjoy their trip down south, the driver can concentrate on driving again.

MiSO

GdJ, hahaha... can't stop laughing, crampy tummy muscles, tears in my eyes... Now I am the one who's disturbing internetting people next me... :lol: Well, I could have done this, but then I had been sitting 3 hours in a car filled with tension... The couple was nice btw, nothing wrong with them (except for the...)Btw, I don't think you (GdJ) actually would have done this...It is interesting how we all would react on a situation like this, to see the person behind the nickname.Public transport... always an adventure...

gilbert de jong

""Btw, I don't think you (GdJ) actually would have done this..."" It was a guy who was reading out loud wasn't it? trust me, I would have...if pushed or bothered, I change into dutch gil 8) .but like you said, it was 'public transportation' and I haven't used that for ages :oops: , so I wouldn't encounter such a situation.Before anybody jumps at the opportunity...yeah airplanes are public transporatation too, but thank god :lol: , people like MiSO met in the car don't travel business class :lol: .

widder

what really bugs me about people like that is they take advantage of other peoples' good will. If he had been reading out loud, and then maybe started reciting, something crappy, it would be sooo much easier to ask him to stop, but because people here in general respect religion, even if it's not their own, he decided to go for it. I think I would have tried to change seats first of all, and if there were no empty ones, I would have asked him to do his thing in church or in private.

motormouth

I would also have said ...please be quiet.....or start yelling back at himReminds me of a situation I had while traveling for 6 hours in Sumatra 2 years ago, except I couldn't get a word out of these blighters.Arrived in Sth Sumatra and was looking for transport to take me 6 hours north to Krui, a surf area in Sumatra. A french couple said why don't we share the cost and go together...sure I said. Well these miserable sods did not say a word for the whole trip!!! The only time the guy uttered a word was about 1 hour from our destination. We started our decent down a mountain, I saw signs of a swell in the ocean, excited I said , I reckon we should get some waves this afternoon, grumpy guts replied...I know???What a response. To make matters worse, his wife sitting in the back wouldn't put up her window, so we all sweltered the whole trip.When I paddled out in the water that afternoon I passed old happy sack, I nodded and said hello, he just looked straight passed me and kept paddling.As you say, some people

MiSO

...Before anybody jumps at the opportunity...yeah airplanes are public transporatation too, but thank god :lol: , people like MiSO met in the car don't travel business class :lol: .[/quote]" Thank Ggod.." :D But people come in all sizes, also in Business Class. BC is no guarantee, G.And Motormouth, I can blame the other for not being considered, but I could have opened my mouth as well... I should have actually, because now he thinks "he can get away" with it.

gilbert de jong

I have travelled alot...and my experience is that people who travel bc or higer do have respect for each others privacy and personal boundaries (that's why they pay extra for the bigger seats :wink:), no matter what size they are :) .And I think most people who travel BC, would travel with a taxi/hired car with chauffeur, so the BC traveller would not encounter such a person as you did :) .personal story and not related to the topic, so stop reading if you're not interested :) ...back in NL about 6 years ago... there was a group of orange dressed people, shaved heads and played music even worse then a gamelan orchestra :lol:, they passed the coffeeshop I was currently at (no not smoking, but working) and they decided to "set up shop" next to my terrace (5tables) wich were at the time occupied by paying customers..people started leaving, so I went to what seemed the boss of the group and asked him kindly to find another place to practice his music and enjoy his religion...on wich he replied that he had every right to be standing there and playing his music...and I said sure you have that right, but you are making my customers leave, and that's a no-no, but I'm a man of options... either move your group yourself to the nearest subway-entry, or you and your group will get a free swimming-course in the dutch canals...(btw, I wasn't alone anymore when I said that,maybe he and his group were some kung-fu sh*t monks so had some "help" behind me :lol: ) anyways, he decided to leave and hasn't been bck since....Moral of the story...if something bothers you, open your mouth...some people live in their own little world and have no clue that it might be disturbing anyone...unless you tell them :)

MiSO

gilbert de jong

""I have seen the wealthiest people behaving like ...well...trash...?"" In a Plane???

MiSO

Ah...oh...ohke...I got to stick with " public transport". No Sir, not in a plane.

hinakos

I may have asked him if it was one single life changing event that lead him to be at this point in his life (LSD overdose, wife running off with best friend, severe beating/near death experience), or reflection on a squandered life that lead him here.It can be interesting to engage these kind of people as to what brought them to be where they are at right now, although its usually one of the above, whether they admit it or not.I could have used the christian time line ( around 2500BC to present = earths conception to now) and asked him explain things like carbon dating, the formation of oil and gas below the earths crust (and its associated time line), and a few other hard to answer questions.Then might have told him about some opportunities to do the lords work in places like Malang, Solo, and Banda Aceh.Failing that i would have told him that faith of any kind is something we hold within and are at peace with, not something we parade around so we can feel better about ourselves before we go to sleep. That'd be a kinda nasty thing to do to someone who's probably just partied himself into dimentia. I probably would have said nothing.

JohnnyCool

I'm not sure what I [i]would[/i] have done. I know what I would have [i]liked to do[/i]. But this is not my country (nor the Bible reader's either). What about the bus driver? You [i]could[/i] have told him that the person was giving you a headache. Or, that you suspected him of being a Christian terrorist with maybe a bomb onboard. Ask the driver when the bus will stop next, get off and demand your money back (or get a credit for the next bus). Ask the Bible basher to get off the bus at the next stop and maybe he could get some [i]krupuk[/i], break it into thousands of pieces and feed the village (may not work if the village is predominantly into fish).Situations like this make you think about boundaries, and how we all have to share the same space,1 car,1 city,1 country,1 world,1 universe...[/quote]You left out one husband/wife, one internet connection, and most importantly, one God!You [i]might[/i] have asked him if he believes God is deaf. (Was he reading the Old or New Testaments?)But how do you stop a man in trance?[/quote]Cold water in the face has been known to work. Even a kind of "Why don't you shut the f*** up"? Or, one more verse and you'll really understand about turning the other cheek.BTW - I don't really understand the reference to "salt" at the beginning of your post. Anything to do with Sodom and Gomorrah, pillars of salt, etc?Watch out in future. You [i]might[/i] have been sitting next to "god" without knowing it. Although I doubt that "god" would sit on a bus and read advertising copy to perfect strangers. Then again...I'm not sure about that.Like a recent song goes..."God is bigger than one religion". :cry:

gilbert de jong

one more verse and you'll really understand about turning the other cheek.[/quote] :lol: , that's a good one JC.

MiSO

Nice post JC."God is bigger than 1 religion" That's a beautiful one. And this is also one of the reasons I am not religious. I personally believe in god on a micro and macro-level, but absolutely not in religion. And as for the religion-thing goes: I don't see how this works for all of us. All I see is separation and superior behaviour to one and other (religion) Or am I missing out something...? As for the salt: It was an other salt..euh fault...euh story. The Bible-reader was just a nice old man, I think no-one could have been harsh to him.And who knows, perhaps he was God in disguise... but it wouldn't have made any difference for me, as I am a heathen...[i]"What if God was one of us?Just a slob like one of usJust a stranger on the busTrying to make his way home"[/i]J. Osbourne

chilli

Nice post JC.[i]"What if God was one of us?Just a slob like one of usJust a stranger on the busTrying to make his way home"[/i]J. Osbourne[/quote]If we all had this thought in mind the world would be a kinder place...