Tourists

I’m sure at some point you’ve been a tourist. Whether it’s in a state next to you, a city you’re visiting for a business trip or a country you’ve always dreamed of vacationing in…we’ve all been one. The question I propose is, how do you act as a tourist?

Now I’m not asking you if you stop in the middle of the street and take a picture because I think we’re all guilty of that…but I’m asking – how do you act towards people?

While in NYC and Maine I had many occasions to observe humans released from their caged-in worlds. I witnessed co-workers being absolutely rude to cab drivers, managers getting wasted with non-managers, people going out of their way to say good morning to security guards, foreigners asking where the recycling bins are, local shop workers giving dirty looks and attitude to innocent customers, cops giving directions to lost visitors, non-English speaking people being made fun of, “upper class” tourists bumping into others as if they had the right to, doors being dropped in others faces, lines getting cut, old people holding hands…you name it and I probably saw it these past 2 weeks.

So I wonder (and I ask you) how do you act when you’re away from home and the people that you see on a daily basis? Do you take a vacation from your manners or morals? Do you try harder than usual to be a “good” citizen? Do you accept others ways of life or secretly (or maybe not secretly) mock them? And are tourists rude because of how they actually are or because of the way others are to them?

I’d love your feedback