A disgusting behavior

Welcome to the customs and traditions of Viet Nam.   

I guess you haven't seen them relieving themselves (men and women) along the side of the road or in a park. Maybe you are sensitive to the sight of druggies or working girls and boys plying their trade out in the open. That's just life in the big cities.

Fortunately for me, I don't see it as much in the countryside

LSP123 wrote:

While I can appreciate that it may be good to clear your nostrils of dirt particles for ease of breathing ; the problem of this is a lot of locals like to do this in public. I find this really belly wrenching and disgusting and really wish to tell them off. Lack of manners ? What do the rest think?

Native Americans also do that.

I avoid preaching at most people here.

Tell us something good that's happening in spite of that.

I know a few educated people here and a lot of uneducated ones.
I see this behavior only in uneducated people.
Some of it is part of cultural habits and is still a kind of status symbol for uneducated people, like for example the loud collecting the spittle (is there a term for it?) to spitting on the floor (even if it is a carpet floor).

In my opinion all the bad behaviour come from uneducated humans. Driving a motorcycle without a suitable helmet, spitting or emptying one's nose while riding a motorbike, honking instead of thinking, throwing the waste while riding a bike, urinating everywhere, becoming all trash (food leftovers, beer cans) under the table, music with more than 100db, constantly offering the foreigner to drink the beer empty in one train, loud karaoke excesses, smoking in public places (e.g. In the elevator), waste incineration, waste disposal somewhere in nature, and, and, and.

Even if many people do not associate the chaos on the street with education, I am convinced that it has to do exclusively with education.
Just watch the people on the motorcycles. You will immediately see a difference.

By the way, the educated people who I know here are also upset about the behaviour of the uneducated people.

Just a little anecdote:
I took once in Saigon a taxi which was driven by a woman. It was at 5 o'clock in the evening in the rush hour and she didn't use the horn once. And I didn't have the feeling that we were on the road longer than usual.

I would like to point out that I have nothing against uneducated people. In some countries, most uneducated people had no possibility to help it.
The above is just a perception and not a condemnation.

LSP123 wrote:

... I find this really belly wrenching and disgusting and really wish to tell them off. Lack of manners ?  What do the rest think?

I think you haven't traveled enough. Every culture has different standards, and yes, you will demonstrate very bad manners if you scold someone for common behavior.  Better to treat people in other countries as equal but different, especially when you are the visitor. There are lots of things that surprised me, also in India, Philippines, Indonesia. Daily I can't believe what I see in food carts, but my wife's family can't believe the American food that I sometimes score and bring home (mac 'n' cheese!).

Besides you might be living in a glass house. You don't smoke, wear short pants, drink alcohol, eat meat, pet dogs, kiss your mate, chew gum, or swear in public, do you? Because those behaviors will disgust millions of people in a civilized country like the US to say nothing of Asia.

I can accept such behavior of uneducated people but I was levelling at so called local graduates and those even holding managerial posts. It may be culture but with education, you should know better manners and courtesy not to engage such while having a conversation or even during a meeting!

Ever notice males with nine short cut nails and a very long pinky nail?  A utilitarian solution to a universal problem. 

OceanBeach92107 wrote:

LSP123 wrote:

While I can appreciate that it may be good to clear your nostrils of dirt particles for ease of breathing ; the problem of this is a lot of locals like to do this in public. I find this really belly wrenching and disgusting and really wish to tell them off. Lack of manners ? What do the rest think?

Native Americans also do that.

I avoid preaching at most people here.

Tell us something good that's happening in spite of that.

A few years ago,  I  am walking with a Chinese friend in a large Chinese area of NYC (Flushing).
I had to spit, so as always, I went to the curb ro do so,  to spit in the gutter.
My Chinese friend (only in the USA for 10 years at that point) turns to me in astonishment and says,  she thought only Chinese spit in the street.

Now,  as to blowing your nose,  without a Kleenex,  more than half the world does it like in Vietnam, so the real answer is either:
Maybe you should get out more or
Don't leave home.

Hello, Wxx3 blowing' your nose is ENTireLY different from 'digging' your nose. Read carefully before you condemn or comment!

LSP123 wrote:

Hello, Wxx3 blowing' your nose is ENTireLY different from 'digging' your nose. Read carefully before you condemn or comment!

Actually, in your OP you said:

"clear your nostrils of dirt particles for ease of breathing; the problem of this is a lot of locals like to do this in public"

One could ASSUME you meant "digging", but (as in my reply) one might also be thinking of someone holding one nostril closed while blowing the other nostril, preferably into the street so as to avoid THIGV and his Chinese friend on the sidewalk. 😉

Exactly. Why did I qualify my heading 'A disgusting ...' so as to differentiate from common nose blowing. While I know in a forum like this, there are educated and uneducated expats, the latter's comments make for interesting reading, but also show shallowness and not worthy of further comment.

The truly educated ones don't need to constantly remind people how classy and educated they are.

LSP123 wrote:

Exactly. Why did I qualify my heading 'A disgusting ...' so as to differentiate from common nose blowing. While I know in a forum like this, there are educated and uneducated expats, the latter's comments make for interesting reading, but also show shallowness and not worthy of further comment.

What's "common"?

Using a handkerchief or a napkin/tissue?

That wasn't implied in your OP.

Because you did write "disgusting" you allowed the reader to infer you were being disgusted by actually seeing boogers blown out of nostrils.

If you are so sophisticated, please learn to use the quote function as do other civilized posters.

And stop being "picky".

It's snot important anyway...

If you use a cloth handkerchief to blow your nose and subsequently put it back in your pocket,  that's pretty disgusting.  What happens the next time you put it up by your face?   Holding a finger on one side and blowing it out in the gutter is probably a lot better if you look at it objectively.   Just try to avoid the sidewalk.

This is another classy guy.
https://www.reddit.com/r/VietNam/commen … er_boring/

THIGV wrote:

If you use a cloth handkerchief to blow your nose and subsequently put it back in your pocket,  that's pretty disgusting.  What happens the next time you put it up by your face?   Holding a finger on one side and blowing it out in the gutter is probably a lot better if you look at it objectively.   Just try to avoid the sidewalk.

My grandmother told me that a man does not carry a handkerchief to blow his nose.

A man carries a handkerchief to offer it to a lady

🥰

Saw a woman a few days ago on back beach in Vung Tau squatting next to the kiosk she works in. There was a toilet just 5 mts from her, old habits are hard to kill.

The only time I scolded a Vietnamese citizen is when she suddenly turned right on the road without using the signals on her motorbike (or not even waving her hand) and I almost rammed her. That's bad behaviour even for Vietnamese standards and I was quite upset.

You can take the boy out of the country but you cannot take the country out of the boy.

Yoda0807 wrote:

You can take the boy out of the country but you cannot take the country out of the boy.

I've more often heard that statement applied to Thai bar girls.

colinoscapee wrote:

Saw a woman a few days ago on back beach in Vung Tau squatting next to the kiosk she works in. There was a toilet just 5 mts from her, old habits are hard to kill.

Perhaps she was just trying to avoid the smell. Public restrooms can be abysmal. There's a Japanese scientist that has isolated a cocktail of 3 kinds of bacteria that is called bokashi. It is being used by public workers as a spray to disinfect public restrooms in India. The bacteria "eat" the urine and render it odorless. The bokashi can also be used to compost kitchen scraps including meat and fats, odor-free.

This is not to say I don't find some behavior repugnant, including how some Asian men treat Asian women.

Jim-Minh wrote:

colinoscapee wrote:

Saw a woman a few days ago on back beach in Vung Tau squatting next to the kiosk she works in. There was a toilet just 5 mts from her, old habits are hard to kill.

Perhaps she was just trying to avoid the smell. Public restrooms can be abysmal. There's a Japanese scientist that has isolated a cocktail of 3 kinds of bacteria that is called bokashi. It is being used by public workers as a spray to disinfect public restrooms in India. The bacteria "eat" the urine and render it odorless. The bokashi can also be used to compost kitchen scraps including meat and fats, odor-free.

This is not to say I don't find some behavior repugnant, including how some Asian men treat Asian women.

The restroom is only a year old. She was in full sight of everyone walking along the beach pathway. I doubt hygiene was her issue, more about habit.

colinoscapee wrote:

Jim-Minh wrote:

colinoscapee wrote:

Saw a woman a few days ago on back beach in Vung Tau squatting next to the kiosk she works in. There was a toilet just 5 mts from her, old habits are hard to kill.

Perhaps she was just trying to avoid the smell. Public restrooms can be abysmal. There's a Japanese scientist that has isolated a cocktail of 3 kinds of bacteria that is called bokashi. It is being used by public workers as a spray to disinfect public restrooms in India. The bacteria "eat" the urine and render it odorless. The bokashi can also be used to compost kitchen scraps including meat and fats, odor-free.

This is not to say I don't find some behavior repugnant, including how some Asian men treat Asian women.

The restroom is only a year old. She was in full sight of everyone walking along the beach pathway. I doubt hygiene was her issue, more about habit.

Maybe she saw foreigners using it...

OceanBeach92107 wrote:

colinoscapee wrote:

Jim-Minh wrote:

Perhaps she was just trying to avoid the smell. Public restrooms can be abysmal. There's a Japanese scientist that has isolated a cocktail of 3 kinds of bacteria that is called bokashi. It is being used by public workers as a spray to disinfect public restrooms in India. The bacteria "eat" the urine and render it odorless. The bokashi can also be used to compost kitchen scraps including meat and fats, odor-free.

This is not to say I don't find some behavior repugnant, including how some Asian men treat Asian women.

The restroom is only a year old. She was in full sight of everyone walking along the beach pathway. I doubt hygiene was her issue, more about habit.

Maybe she saw foreigners using it...

I doubt many foreigners use it, hardly see any around that kiosk.

colinoscapee wrote:

OceanBeach92107 wrote:

colinoscapee wrote:

The restroom is only a year old. She was in full sight of everyone walking along the beach pathway. I doubt hygiene was her issue, more about habit.

Maybe she saw foreigners using it...

I doubt many foreigners use it, hardly see any around that kiosk.

I think I need to remember to add the #sarcasm hashtag...

😉

OceanBeach92107 wrote:

colinoscapee wrote:

OceanBeach92107 wrote:

Maybe she saw foreigners using it...

I doubt many foreigners use it, hardly see any around that kiosk.

I think I need to remember to add the #sarcasm hashtag...

😉

Yes, sometimes people post and are dead serious. The smiley face can usually show that its not serious.