slivir Wrote:I agree with a lot of the stuff he said actually...

Ofcourse they are true, but the issue is that they are so tiny and insignificant that it wasn't worth a page long rant. Every country has annoyances, I'm sure I could write a 5 page whine about england but I still love the UK.

Christ getting approached by kids asking to use you mobile phone when you know they are gonna steal it but wont leave, CHAVS, not being able to leave anything unattended for 1 minute. those are real country annoyances. That guy should just grow up and smell the roses.

And get annoyed by little stickers? maybe he has anger issues. I was just confused at what the hell they were for.

Also some of the stuff is clearly just his own like and dislike; saying that One Piece is worse than Dragon Ball Z is just fanboyism, not anything approaching an objective look at how manga has declined. It's the same old "cartoons were better when I was a kid" thing that you hear all the time.

Jarvik7 Wrote:Having stickers on something you buy from a konbini > getting killed for your shoes/cellphone

hmm, I wonder why Futureblue's linked FEER article didn't mention the murder rate in NYC? Come to think of it, neither article mentioned the war in Afghanistan either. [/sarcasm] :p

Babyrat Wrote:And get annoyed by little stickers? maybe he has anger issues. I was just confused at what the hell they were for.

So was he. I think that's the point. I picture more of an eyerolling peaceful protest. He puts the sticker on his receipt to silently point out two of the several reasons the sticker policy isn't a good one. [He knows it's futile - the store will] stick to the sticker policy anyway. [He knows he's being ridiculous.] :-)

[The frustration of foreigners and Japanese dealing with bureaucracy, regulations, change and decision-making isn't a new topic. Some characteristics of it do seem unique to Japan and the delays sometimes create very real problems. That FEERs article probably talks about it. It has more personal relevance to many than murder statistics. Maybe some folks are occasionally reduced to silly private acts of rebellion just for a bit of relief?]

Babyrat, people might enjoy your commentary on life in the UK. It's apparently a popular genre - even for locals. It doesn't require comparing or hating countries.

Did either of you notice Nestor's youtube link? -Seinfeld points out how strange it is that people often say "Having said that," and then proceed to contradict what they just said. What a trivial thing to keep talking about. It must really bug him. He didn't mention Afghanistan either. [/more sarcasm, sorry]

[edits]

I fail to see any contradiction in my post. All I was pointing out is that everyone has annoyances with their country, but they don't write a massive page about it. And if you have to, at least write some more significant things, not about stickers and people yelling.

But then again I am awful at writing anything that makes a tiny bit of sense on forums, its a special ability of mine. So if I come across as complete idiot, I'm used to it

your post is perfectly fine. :-) I only described the Seinfeld scene so my comment could be understood without having to watch it. [edit: That said, my post was sarcastic and not clear at all. Maybe the edits help.]

I suggested before that the writer isn't really complaining about stickers and yelling. Those are just absurd symptoms of more significant underlying idiosyncratic aspects of the culture which are getting on his nerves. He says as much. The banal day to day manifestations are more likely to entertain. There's still truth in humour, though. The article's not meant to be comprehensive, objective, comparative or whatever-ive. The tone lets us know we should go elsewhere for that.

Babyrat Wrote:I fail to see any contradiction in my post. All I was pointing out is that everyone has annoyances with their country, but they don't write a massive page about it. And if you have to, at least write some more significant things, not about stickers and people yelling.

You must not look hard enough on the internet.

I could write a one page rant at the fact that I had a meeting about the proper use of paper clips.

Whether it's our own company, our own country, our own friends, our own school, our own government policies, cops, there is always something to rant about and I'm sure that someone out there has written about it.

gyaa I just wasted too much time skimming that ><

he's off the mark on most things but most importantly, chococros are AMAZING.