Opinion / Liu Shinan
Habit of impatience tarnishes civilization
By Liu Shinan (China Daily)
Updated: 2005-12-07 06:27
There is one thing I have never understood since my childhood: movie and
theatre goers always leave before the end of the show.
I loved movies when I was young and always watched until the last minute
of the motion picture, enjoying the ending music or song. But many -
most, actually - adults did not seem as interested by movies; they got up
from the seats and began to leave even when the movie was still going on
though the scene was suggesting the end. I couldn't understand why they
would sacrifice enjoying the last few minutes of the movie. I thought I
would probably be that way when I grew up.
Later, when I became an adult, I learned that they quit earlier because
they wanted to break away from the slow-moving crowds leaving the cinema.
But I still couldn't see the benefit of withdrawing a few minutes
earlier. "What's the point of saving those few minutes at the cost of
missing the end of the movie?" I thought. In fact, most of the audience
were still caught up in the slow-moving crowds except the few who had
left earliest and the few, like me, who stayed behind relishing the
ending of the movie.
Sometimes I felt a little bit ashamed for indulging in entertainment like
a child.
I have not been to a movie or drama theatre for many years, so I didn't
know if there was any change to that habit of early quitting. But what
happened last Friday evening convinced me that such a habit still
survives.
The whole team of the China Art Troupe of Handicapped People was going on
to the stage for a final chorus after an evening of impressive, touching
performances of singing and dancing when some audience members began to
leave. It was reassuring that about half of the audience stayed,
applauding the handicapped performers' response to the curtain calls.
Early quitting of audiences is definitely a rude demonstration of
disrespect for artists on the stage. I believe these audiences did not
mean to show disrespect when they left in haste. They did so only out of
a habit of impatience, which has become intrinsic in the traits of some
of our nationals.
Instances of this impatience can be seen in every aspect of our society.
It is especially evident in the riding of any vehicle of transportation
ranging from buses to lifts to the underground railway. People often
swarm in front of the door trying to elbow their way into the vehicle
without waiting for the people inside to get out first. The haste is
completely meaningless for there is usually not an empty seat to be taken
and, in most cases, the vehicle is not too crowded.
Such impatience sometimes tarnishes the image of us Chinese in an
international environment.
For various reasons, I have travelled abroad many times in the past three
years. Every time the plane landed at the airport and began to taxi to
the terminal, a number of passengers stood up to open the luggage
compartment long before the plane came to a complete halt. They were all
Chinese. The foreigners there remained seated, watching silently and
shaking their heads.
Such a scene appeared every time I took a flight. I swear I am not
exaggerating even in the least.
I really don't understand why these compatriots of mine were so
impatient. The hatch door wouldn't open until the plane completely
stopped in place. What's the point of standing in the aisles with heavy
luggage on the shoulders? Why not remain seated comfortably until the
stewardess gives the go-ahead for disembarking?
Such a move of impatience may not be out of an ill intention - in most
cases it is a subconscious act, but it disrupts social order and slows
our progress towards civilization.
(China Daily 12/07/2005 page4)
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