Answers to burning questions we have about Korea

Clearly though, you are simply supplying an anecdote, because it appears that overall such groups do engage in a lot of spitting, otherwise it wouldn't be a global news item.
I don't think it's a good thing either. I simply said that people should have a consistent regard for such expectorations and defecations. Most don't seem to. For them, it simply is "one I think is cute, the other I don't."

Nobody has said this

Hear that, guys? OnNut is on the case :)
Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!

I believe you missed the NOT part.  I just needed to ask one question as I was very curious.  Martino has above confirmed that he has been aggressively making a stance based on an assumption.  He just made it up.  Again.  Merry Christmas!

For them, it simply is "one I think is cute, the other I don't."

Who is this mysterious "them", and how are they relevant to this conversation?

I say let people spit in dingy alleys and the like or into a bush or down a drain and let dogs do what they do.

But if you're going to go after me, I'm going to go after your f*ing mutt or something else you do. You're not the f*ing king. You want to regulate something I do? Fine, I'm going to try to regulate something you do.

Or we could let bygones be bygones and grudgingly tolerate (or in my case, genuinely not give a shit) things like that and live with fewer regulations.

Your choice.

Sure, I'm not in favour of banning spitting by law, though I do think you could make a stronger case for making it socially unacceptable. 

Nobody has said this

What reason then? Please spare me "disease."

What reason then? Please spare me "disease."

The reason for what? What do you think people are arguing?

if nothing else, spitting  is just minging

farting near somebody else is minging, seeing spit on the floor is minging/spitting near someone is minging, throwing litter on the floor is minging, sneezing without covering your mouth is minging, etc, etc. these are just behaviours that most people think is gross and rude

pre-empt: yes i know dogs may sneeze in public without covering their mouth or fart. no, i don't think this is the same as people doing it (or that it's the owner's fault)

Going back to the original topic, it's not so much a question, but the "Can't do" attitude of some Korean businesses can really pull the rug from under you sometimes.

 I'm used to minor displays of this, i.e

"Can I have a little milk to add to the tea?"
 "No."
 "Really?"
"There is no milk."
"Don't you sell lattes and cappuccinos? I can see a caton of milk there..."
"It's not possible."

But today I experienced the most shocking incidence of this so far. I kid you not... a branch of the Casa Mia furniture store turned down an ₩850,000 sale because my building doesn't have an elevator and the delivery guys won't take a sofa frame to the 5th floor. They insisted on a ladder car but it's impossible in my building - the only street-facing windows are tiny. In the two years I've lived here, we've managed to get a bed, sofa, refrigerator, tall bookcase,  washing machine and tv cabinet into the apartment without a ladder car. Yet the two employees dealing with me treated this claim with extreme skepticism and eventually told me that without an elevator or ladder car, they had to forgo an ₩850,000 sale. Unbelievable.

... eventually told me that without an elevator or ladder car, they had to forgo an ₩850,000 sale. Unbelievable.

The staff can only do what they are authorized. That is the root of the issue.

i quite like the casa mia store otherwise. it's the only korean furniture store i've been in where i don't immediately think "everything here is both insanely expensive and also completely rank"

I must admit the term I heard more than I care to remember, 'It's impossible', for the most basic logical thing really got to me. I guess it is because of the 'top down' everything in Korea. No one was allowed to show initiative. That must be so soul destroying for those Koreans who want to think outside the box.

The staff can only do what they are authorized. That is the root of the issue.

Oh, I know. I could be wrong here, but I suspect that the company uses a third-party contractor for deliveries, who set their own policy, and Casa Mia was simply going by what was written in the rulebook. But I couldn't believe that nobody was willing to make a phone call and see if a compromise could be reached in order to make a sale. I also suggested that they could deliver it to the ground floor, and I'd take it up the stairs with a friend, if they gave me a discount. They said no because the sofa was already on sale. Another thing that was impossible.

Going back to the original topic, it's not so much a question, but the "Can't do" attitude of some Korean businesses can really pull the rug from under you sometimes.

 I'm used to minor displays of this, i.e

"Can I have a little milk to add to the tea?"
 "No."
 "Really?"
"There is no milk."
"Don't you sell lattes and cappuccinos? I can see a caton of milk there..."
"It's not possible."

But today I experienced the most shocking incidence of this so far. I kid you not... a branch of the Casa Mia furniture store turned down an ₩850,000 sale because my building doesn't have an elevator and the delivery guys won't take a sofa frame to the 5th floor. They insisted on a ladder car but it's impossible in my building - the only street-facing windows are tiny. In the two years I've lived here, we've managed to get a bed, sofa, refrigerator, tall bookcase,  washing machine and tv cabinet into the apartment without a ladder car. Yet the two employees dealing with me treated this claim with extreme skepticism and eventually told me that without an elevator or ladder car, they had to forgo an ₩850,000 sale. Unbelievable.

My favourite was going to Baskin Robbins. They'd always stacked the ice-cream flavours from top to bottom. So, if you ordered a tub, you'd get flavour 1 at the bottom, 2nd in the middle and flavour 3 on the top. Recently, they'd changed it to stack all flavour sideways. I guess some people like this, I don't.

I asked the server to not stack it side to side but top to bottom. You guessed it... no, impossible. Lady, I'm not asking for a favour or a freebie, just stack the flavours I'm paying for from top to bottom. Like a robot struggling to compute, she just repeats, impossible. Her manager sees the issue and has to come over and treat a fully functioning adult like a damn robot by reprograming it to fulfil such a simple request/telling her to stack the damn ice-cream how I asked.

Aside from critical thinking and creativity that is somewhat discouraged in Korean education, a Japanese guy was discussing how, at a cultural level, the Japanese are generally a very risk averse people. Perhaps a similar hypothesis can be used to explain this behaviour in Korea; people don't want to risk not following protocol to the letter.

My perennial favorite is this one:

*At the cafe counter, having just spied that the Americano cups are enormous and likely to result in a weak, watery coffee*

"Can I have a smaller cup?"

"Americano is this size."

"Yes, I know. Can you give me a smaller cup?"

"No, it's not possible."

"How about this size? You can't put two espresso shots into this cup and fill it with water?"

"I'm sorry, it's not possible."



Or when dining with someone with celiac disease, in a virtually empty restaurant where the chef is relatively unburdened:



"Do you coat your fries in flour?"

"No. Only potato. Wait. Maybe. Yes, flour. Wait, let me ask the chef... Yes, we use flour with the fries."

"Okay, one of us has a gluten allergy. Is it possible to make them without the flour?"

*I peer into the kitchen and see uncoated raw potatoes next to the deep fryer.*

"Let me check with the chef... No, it's not possible."

"You can't do it for someone with an allergy? You just deduct one ingredient?"

"Sorry, it's not possible."

Koreans can be so de rigueur.

But Westerners can too: we go bat crazy when someone opens an umbrella inside. No matter how big the room, no matter how uncrowded or distant the next human may be, it is met with an immediate condemnation. "It could poke someone's out" doesn't explain the degree of reaction in all contexts.

right, so now we're arguing about how to put  ice cream in a tub

this is some next level inanity shit

Slow day at work.

EDIT: Shit, he fixed it. Dmart quoted it, though. heh

Well, this bit of the conversation has been fun, but I think we've milked it for all it's worth.
I'm going to move parts of this thread to somewhere appropriate, so that the rest of us can go back to answering burning questions or whatever.
Apologies in advance for the collateral culling!

why do waegs in korea generally lean too heavy one way or the other re: korea (its gotta be the worst or the best)? it seems like everyone has a pretty strong opinion one way or another. maybe its the same in expat communities everywhere (but i wouldnt know)

You're now resorting to my supposed obsession with brand names (something I've never expressed nor do I agree with) as some kind of possible reason for me having the audacity of asking to STACK A DAMN ICE-CREAM FROM TOP TO BOTTOM; an act requiring no more or less effort than stacking it sideways and no more or less ice-cream. Guess who didn't have a problem with my request? Every other Baskin Robbin I've been to in Korea and I like ice-cream, so I've been to quite a few. If I was a problem customer I'd be posting a new story at least once a week, what's your proof other than the "Oh, Aristocrat likes expensive clothes and wear perfume" joke which is just that... a joke.

Dude, own it. You're Aristocrat. You DO demand a certain level and expectation. Don't apologize for it. You're demanding and difficult as a customer. You're also probably right and your money talks. They may have a good explanation or reason, but that's irrelevant to you. You want it done this way. Make it happen.

But don't try them "I'm easy going and whatever" thing one minute and then be a stickler the next. If you're going to go off on them being inflexible, maybe you should be flexible about them stacking it horizontally. Like there's a point where both you and them could be really stubborn.  You can't say "It's no big deal for them to change it" and then treat them not changing it as a big deal. Either it's a big deal both ways or it isn't. If it's not a big deal for them, it shouldn't be a big deal to you.