Come On Now, Let's All Be Civilized

In the years leading up to the Beijing Olympics, the bigger cities saw a movement towards being more 文明 (wén míng), which is roughly translated as "civilized" or "cultured."

So, if somebody spits out the window of a bus onto the street (or onto a person walking down the street)... or disregards the line at the bank... or is seen urinating onto the side of a building... you might hear somebody say, "哎呀，真不文明啊。" (āi yā, zhēnbùwénmíng ā), which means, "Aiya... so uncivilized."

But, while I have heard about this movement in Beijing or Shanghai, I haven't felt like we've encountered this 文明 movement so much here in our city. Until I came across this sign today while heading to the post office in the middle of downtown. There is a big and busy intersection, and trying to cross this road is not for the uninitiated. And even though they have had this four-way underpass all along, people still like to play Human Frogger to get from the shopping center to the post office.

What was funny to me was that, right after I shot this picture, crossed the underpass and was about to turn the corner to head back upstairs, I heard someone yelling, "Woooooooooo!" Just as I turned the corner, I saw a grown-man sliding down the side of the stair path (it's flat, for bikes and luggage) in his slippery shoes, having the time of his life. And if I hadn't reacted quickly enough and dodged him, he would have slid right into me and knocked me over. At least he took the underpass, unlike those uncivilized people up on street level.