Public Behavior

All the while living here, I've been intrigued with public behavior.

Swiss schools teach children they are part of society and stress the elaborate customs of their in-group, such as formal greetings, upon entering or leaving a space you've inhabited, like a cafe. Passing someone on the street, a Swiss of your neighborhood is apt to acknowledge you properly, in rituals open to, more or less, strangers. Sort of the way we might make the rounds at a dinner party, making sure we say good-bye before leaving unannounced. It evokes more than "hi" or "bye," but ends there, too; deeper conversations are reserved for the smaller circle of friends.

Put differently, individuals negotiate public and private spaces which tangibly exist, where that line seems to have somewhat collapsed in America; the clearest example being talk radio, where the omnipresent private has overtaken the public.

However, this level of commitment seems entirely lacking in more anonymous settings here, such as entering an elevator in large malls, or doors of a bus or airplane, or, say, maneuvering your shopping cart in a supermarket. I've been startled when knocked into by other carts without the slightest apology. On the Saturday after Good Friday and before Easter Sunday, it was bumper cars all the way at Migros!
By contrast, in my America, people WAIT until the elevator empties, before entering. Other situations regulate the problem (Swiss post offices and banks have numbered ticket dispensers), but someone here needs to introduce the concept of a "line."

Many Swiss aren't used to anonymity, since their communities are still very intact; but drop into a large big box store outside their neighborhood, and their good manners curiously drop, too. It's as though they can only "do village" or the highly cultivated manners of mealtime.

Some of this is simply the reality of living in a densely populated area. Not a big deal, but can impact your perception of rudeness. We noticed in Japan, where personal space is almost non-existent, you are likely to be jostled, when making your way through a train or subway corridor. And after 3 years, we were back in the States, where an invisible buffer zone seemed to surround everyone; if I approached within 3 feet to someone on a sidewalk, I'd usually get that "back off" glance.