Turkpilot, the crowds are getting to me too. It’s worse at certain times of the year, and lately (Easter?) it was especially bad. Most often it’s worst around major holidays, especially the Chinese holidays, when mainlanders flood into the city.
For people who have never experienced the daily human crush it might seem a trivial complaint, but the longer you stay the more it grinds you down. You just can’t escape the shoving, the pushing, the blocking, the endless chattering of a million voices wittering on in an alien language. The ignorant self centred behaviour which you eventually come to realise is deeply symptomatic of their utter disregard for the rest of humanity. That’s THEIR coping mechanism. To them - nobody else exists. They are alone in a crowd, day dreaming, weaving randomly, staring at their phone screen, diving out of doorways into your path. They never give way. Never ‘filter through the traffic’. There’s no ‘pardon me’ or ‘excuse me’ or ‘sorry!’. They hold their ground, they’ll walk through you if you don’t step aside. They’d step over you if you dropped dead on the floor.
The worst part is you eventually start to act like they do. It’s the only way to make progress down a street! By pushing back. Give them the evil eye. A fit of hoarse coughing and sneezing works a treat - they’re all hypochondriacs and they’ll run a mile from your germs.
Anyone planning to work in Hong Kong should read this Blog. Have a good dig around. It’s hilarious. But sadly, all too true.
https://ihatehongkong2.wordpress.com...guest-speaker/