Crowd control...

[Don Corleone]

So I was crossing the street on my lunch hour to go hit the salad bar, and I heard it....

*BOOM*, *BOOM* *uhuhahuahaha* *BOOM* *BOOM*....

Somebody had pimped out their ride and put an overdriven bass tube in the back of their car and it was rattling windows for blocks. Now technically, it's illegal, but cops almost never enforce noise violations. I'm sitting there, thinking what an arrogant, bratty cuss this jerk that's driving around like this is. And it got me to thinking... how do people in societies that aren't so individualistic deal with these sorts of things?

I understand that the number of people 'crusing' in their pimped-out Eclipse in say Rome is pretty low, but extrapolate a little... How do people in more community oriented socities deal with obnoxious behavior where somebody is acting as an individual to the extreme... they're engaging in very public behavior and their only desire is to annoy as many of their fellow citizens as possible....

I mean, the types of people that usually do this (and this is NOT a racial statement, I've seen people of all colors, including a hysterical looking Korean kid down in NC) are subhuman. Ask them politely to turn it down and you're more than likely to receive a death threat for your troubles. I'm not small, weak or shy, so typically that's where it begins and ends...but I can see where most women and a lot of smaller men wouldn't even have the gumption to do that.

So, to you Brits, you French, you Germans, you Swedes, you Chinese and you Japanese.... all of you who pride yourselves on being more community minded than we Yanks (which I think is just about anybody)... how do you deal with patently offensive behavior by the individual when it is clear that there will be no help through law enforcement channels?

[Tribesman]

I understand that the number of people 'crusing' in their pimped-out Eclipse in say Rome is pretty low, but extrapolate a little... How do people in more community oriented socities deal with obnoxious behavior where somebody is acting as an individual to the extreme... they're engaging in very public behavior and their only desire is to annoy as many of their fellow citizens as possible....

A potato works wonders , though a banana goes in easier .

[Husar]

Well, we just ignore them or look at them thinking they have a very small peepee...
Yes, we're a bit americanized or urbanized, whatever you think is right.

The Chinese introduced those mobile death busses for these guys, didn't they?
Or maybe the government will have a tank roll over him in the name of the people.

[HoreTore]

Here the cops turn the streets they drive around on into a pedestrian street(that can't be the correct word can it, a street where it's only allowed to walk). Works like a charm

It's usually followed by a small rebellion though, but seriously, who cares about what people driving around in a pimped Volvo 240 thinks?

[Geoffrey S]

You know, I've never really noticed it that much, but when I do it's (non-white) immigrants. But I'd have thought community ties would be stronger there, so why is such behaviour encouraged in such groups? Curious.

[Papewaio]

At a guess ...Leave a prescription for viagra on their window and a swedish penis pump on the bonnet?

[Tribesman]

I've never really noticed it that much, but when I do it's (non-white) immigrants.

How do you know that they are immigrants ?

Then again you may have a point , there is one immigrant fella at work that drives an absolute heap , a multi coloured Fiat Tempera estate that might just be worth as much as 50 euros at the scrap yard . The sound system in it would be worth about 3000 though .
He isn't white either , more of a sort of pinky creamy colour .

[Samurai Waki]

Its like every other car here... bloody SUVs with 20k $ Sound Systems and Hydraulics. If I really, really, really wanted too I could put all of these people under the turf but being an eco minded, friendly individual I just ignore it for the most part. Though the noise ban after 9pm is strictly enforced, and the Police around here drool for the opportunity to slap a 1000 (minimum) to 5000 (maximum) US Dollar fine on the Upper Middle Class wannabe Gangstas. Most take it because they think they can afford it. But the 3rd Fine is an automatic revocation of their license for 2 years.

[Peasant Phill]

Here in Belgium, It's certainly not only the 'immigrants' or to use a better term the third or fourth generation immigrants that drive these cars. There are at least the same amount of 'natives' that pimp their ride with an ear popping sound system.

How do we look upon them? We mostly tolerate them and wait untill they grow out of it.

[naut]

My typical response entails more swearing than is allowed to be shown on the forum.

[Mikeus Caesar]

It's always wiggers who you find driving them. They act tough, but they're all wusses if you threaten them enough.

[Rodion Romanovich]

So I was crossing the street on my lunch hour to go hit the salad bar, and I heard it....

*BOOM*, *BOOM* *uhuhahuahaha* *BOOM* *BOOM*....

Somebody had pimped out their ride and put an overdriven bass tube in the back of their car and it was rattling windows for blocks. Now technically, it's illegal, but cops almost never enforce noise violations. I'm sitting there, thinking what an arrogant, bratty cuss this jerk that's driving around like this is. And it got me to thinking... how do people in societies that aren't so individualistic deal with these sorts of things?

I understand that the number of people 'crusing' in their pimped-out Eclipse in say Rome is pretty low, but extrapolate a little... How do people in more community oriented socities deal with obnoxious behavior where somebody is acting as an individual to the extreme... they're engaging in very public behavior and their only desire is to annoy as many of their fellow citizens as possible....

I mean, the types of people that usually do this (and this is NOT a racial statement, I've seen people of all colors, including a hysterical looking Korean kid down in NC) are subhuman. Ask them politely to turn it down and you're more than likely to receive a death threat for your troubles. I'm not small, weak or shy, so typically that's where it begins and ends...but I can see where most women and a lot of smaller men wouldn't even have the gumption to do that.

So, to you Brits, you French, you Germans, you Swedes, you Chinese and you Japanese.... all of you who pride yourselves on being more community minded than we Yanks (which I think is just about anybody)... how do you deal with patently offensive behavior by the individual when it is clear that there will be no help through law enforcement channels?

Write down car registration plate + Call the police + Wait = Good idea

[Seamus Fermanagh]

A potato works wonders , though a banana goes in easier .

Inserted into the car's exhaust pipe to create a stall or inserted into the driver's left nostril to get his attention?

[Peasant Phill]

[a potato or banana] Inserted into the car's exhaust pipe to create a stall or inserted into the driver's left nostril to get his attention?

The object must be lodged in the nostrils (potato or banana doesn't make a difference) as putting it in the exhaust pipe won't do a thing.*


* The mythbusters proved that the only thing sticking a potato or banana in the exhaust pipe of a car could do was creating an spudgun.

[Ronin]

* The mythbusters proved that the only thing sticking a potato or banana in the exhaust pipe of a car could do was creating an spudgun.

The mythbusters are a little late though....

I proved that years ago when I was a small lad of 12.......

let´s do the math....

a bunch of kids with nothing to do + a lemon tree within easy reach + a bunch of teachers cars parked in the schools car park = Science experiment!!!

and indeed....all you get is a giant spud (or in this case lemon) cannon

[Innocentius]

Come to think of it, I've never seen a pimped ride, and I rarely see/hear people playing music in public.

[Spetulhu]

Come to think of it, I've never seen a pimped ride, and I rarely see/hear people playing music in public.

It's more common in places where bored young men use to attend car-related schooling. First buy a cheap used car, order the cheapest possible flashy parts and put it all together. Then buy or steal the components for a car stereo system worth more than your useless car. The end result is a pimped-out Corolla that looks like you wanted a racing car with monkeys beating on huge drums somewhere inside. Low-profile tires, widened wheel housing and lower hull, huge landing platform on the rear, huge chromed exhaust pipe. All seems cool until someone looks under the hood where the original 1,3 liter snotpump is wheezing away.

[FactionHeir]

In London, its usually the Brits who do it, and most of them are in classy looking vehicles, half the time windows closed even. Doesn't really block the noise from shaking floor and windows across the block though, and most people just look at them in a bored fashion while some swoon...go figure.

In China, I don't think I ever experienced said phenomenon. Not even in the expat crowded places. But then the expats and their kids who come here tend to be more careful, while the average Chinese has enough discipline not to do it. I doubt what Husar says would happen though - its quite a bit more liberal here than you think.

In Germany, there are quite a few, maybe as many as in London. Most are Germans in open roof cars. Police doesn't care, sometimes even points and laughs. Locals usually don't care, rarely you get someone shouting at them though.

[Don Corleone]

I appreciate all the helpful suggestions. I don't think I explained myself very well though. Booming sound-systems in cars is just one particular example of publicly annoying behavior (the one that got me thinking about all this).

But other examples:

-Street corner preaching
-Poor hygiene
-Yelling at people (in the mall) etectera
-Cutting lines (or, I think in other parts of the world, you call it breaking queue)

My point wasn't the particular behavior. My point was wondering out loud how you deal with said behavior from a more communal approach. If you don't keep up your yard in the Netherlands, what happens to you? If you don't bathe in Spain, will you still be treated with respect?

What forms of 'public disapproval' happen in your respective countries?

[Tribesman]

Oh come off it Don

-Street corner preaching

thats street theatre , and they don't even expect the audience to throw money for the performance
Theres a couple of really entertaining Ugandan ones in town this year , though they are not on a par with the Plymouth Brethren I used to come across in Britian , them brethren really give a good show , plenty of old time old testament smiting and damnation stuff .

[Don Corleone]

I mean the guys that come up and scream at you and get in your face. I mean anybody can climb up on a soapbox, the rest of us are free to walk around them. I'm talking about the wild-eyed sandwich board wearing guys that chase you down the street.

[Goofball]

I find that a small chuckle combined with an indulgent shake of your head and an eye roll (like you would give your three year old who had just dumped his ice cream sundae all over his shirt) really pisses them off, because it gives them an indication of how silly they look to others.

[Haudegen]

The best tip I can think of is: be spontaneous. Say or do something erratic that leaves the bugger speechless.

[Husar]

Worst I have experienced was some guy shouting around in the city, might've been racist, I just ignored him completely as did most others.

I don't really think it's very annoying, one time I listened to a nature activist girl secretly waiting for her to ask for some money only to block off completely at that point. I did sth similar with a guy who wanted to sell me an internet contract, in the end he had everything but my signature, after he wasted a lot of time and still didn't get it, he wished me a nice day and went on.

People who smell are somewhat annoying though, especially smokers, but you live and let live or how was that again?

[Shaka_Khan]

*BOOM* *BOOM* *uhuhahuahaha* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *SHAKA* *BOOM*

[Samurai Waki]

*Loads Remington 12 Gauge*

[Fragony]

What forms of 'public disapproval' happen in your respective countries?

Nothing really, ignore it, but then again we don't need to be noticed that much. People will look at eachother, shake shake their heads in a display of disaproval and continue with whatever they were doing.

[Sigurd]

I depend on my mood and the situation.

I really dislike beggars in the streets. Especially here in Norway where there is no need to beg. My disliking started when some idiot beggar boasted in a newspaper article that he received 30 000 NoK ($5000) a month tax-free from begging in the streets. This was far more than I earned busting my @ss off at the time in the military. From that moment I usually tell them were to go if they stop me in the street asking for money (which is the work centre, the social office or some place where it is rather hot). I am remembering my fellow beings when abroad though.
One time in Lithuania, I and a couple of friends had been to a concert in one of the beautiful churches in Kaunas. When we got out there was an old beggar woman there with a tin cup at the bottom of the stairs. We emptied our pockets and gave her all our change. We didn’t realise that what we gave her amounted to a months pay in Lithuania. To us it wouldn’t buy much in Norway. Tears streamed down her chin and we asked a by passer to tell us what this lady was trying to communicate to us. She had prayed for help when her pension had not come this month and thanked her Lord for the three Angles that had helped her in her time of need. Yeah, we were all tall blond guys, but wings we had not.

I dislike people talking on the phone in shops and on public transportation or people being rude to others. But I usually don’t do anything other than sending them an evil look.
Again it depends on the mood. I once told a guy to shut the hell up on a bus. This particular bus you don’t pay to ride. It is a service for those that park a little outside the town centre and it takes a roundtrip into the city. This particular day the bus broke down when it was about to leave. It was full of people both standing and sitting down. This guy was obviously either a drug addict or a general trouble maker. He started to mouth off to the driver about the bad service and the driver's lacking abilities to drive buses. There was an elderly Danish couple there where the man had a slight touch of claustrophobia and this trouble maker started mouthing to them as well.
I turned to this fellow and with drill instructor piercing eyes and voice, I told the man to shut up, drop to the floor and give 20. Ok, not the last part, but I explained why his behaviour was making him sound really stupid. This was a free bus service and he hadn’t paid to be there, in fact I bet he had no car parked in the parking house (I said some other stuff as well not fit for printing). The bus driver was on his walkie talkie and didn’t notice the Danish elderly man and his wife because of the throng on the bus. I opened the back door by using the emergency lever to let them out and they thanked me for handling the situation.

With queue cutting (called “smiting” here). I usually don’t make a scene when it happens. I don’t think there is a culture to cut lines here and people usually ask if they can get in front of you. I am not one to decline, and will usually let people in front of me if they are elderly or pregnant even if they don’t ask.

I can’t speak for all of Norway but my feel is that the elderly and people not from big cities are bolder and more up front than people in cities. It is not unusual to see an elderly man scolding an adolescent young man for putting his feet on the seat in front of him, or a youngster for sitting when they should give their seat up for an old lady or a pregnant woman.

I guess people should be told how to behave in public... If they don't like what you say, tough!

[Fragony]

I really dislike beggars in the streets. Especially here in Norway where there is no need to beg.

Was kinda surprised how many of them there are in Bergen, beggars everywhere, all drunk. Which is quite odd considering liquor prices in Norway. Hate it as well, they get 850 euro a month, that buys you a lot here. It can be fun to buy a junk a sandwich and watch them struggling eating it but that's just me.

[Randarkmaan]

Well, in my hometown, or should I say village, we have these people we call "rånere" (maybe some other Norwegians know of an English term for this), they are usually Norwegians, from a farm or something or just living in a place there are a quite a few farms (I live in a sort of... agricultural place), they "attend" (meaning they mostly skip) some sort of mechanical school and spend most of their time by a kebab shop down by the bus-stop, there some of them have "pimped out" rides, usually some old car with lots of "bitz" and a sound system which may or may not have been stolen, the fashion is shaved heads and "snus"-lips, they listen to rap (both Norwegian and "gangsta").
They are one of the most pathetic breeds of people I know.

I don't know that much about if "ganstas" in the city (usually Pakistanis, Turks, Serbs or Bosnians) drive pimped out rides though, many of them probably do. Norwegians aren't usually gangstas, they're either a "wannabe
gangstas" if they're from the city or they are "rånere" from more rural regions.