Hearing that thousands are presumed dead in Japan really puts a damper on a highly anticipated spring break in Florida. And the feelings of guilt hardly let up after that initial news story was read and e-mails were sent to military friends stationed off the coast of Japan.
In fact, I’ve really thought about it all week. And in reading the BBC news whenever and wherever I can find a wireless signal, I’ve learned a thing or two about Japanese culture that has me absolutely floored at the way certain Americans behave.
Think back to the images on TV during the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Citizens of New Orleans were breaking the glass of electronic stores and hobbling across the street carrying brand new 42” flat screens that they got for a killer deal. Or frantic break-ins at grocery and convenience stores, where disregarded checkout counters serve as the only reminder that money is generally used to pay for goods.
Yet in the wake of a 9.0 earthquake, tsunami and a nuclear scare, news sources have reports of very few instances of looting in Japan. Some point to the Japanese people’s deeply rooted sense of self regulation that leaves them conscious of the ways in which neighbors view their behavior, others point to the rigid police system that has thus far managed to keep crime at a minimum, or the magnitude of shock that has flooded Japanese communities.
Still, others believe the low rates of crime are connected to the embodiment of Emperor Akihito’s wish that “the people will, hand in hand, treat each other with compassion and overcome these difficult times.”
I ponder this as I stand amid the throngs of matching Mickey and Minnie sweatshirt clad parents holding the hands of their children decked out in Snow White dresses complete with mouse ears. I’m waiting in a 90-minute line for a 30 second ride at Epcot.
Mr. and Mrs. “We’ve-been-to-Disney-World-every-year-for-50-years” somehow think they’re more entitled to my spot in line than I am, and manage to weasel their way into the two foot gap between me and some mom pushing a stroller.
Some people next to me are all sorts of pissed off and yell at Mr. and Mrs. Disney to get back in their original spot. All the while, the dynamic Disney duo give those yelling at them a blank stare that says “We’ve paid $80 every year for 50 years to be here and we’re not moving.”
It may not be looting per say, but the pushing and shoving for a spot in line at a Florida theme park sure does seem to have the same selfish motivations behind it. A certain entitlement that tourists feel they have over everyone else.
I have to be the first to see Donald Duck. Nobody will notice if I break into this abandoned Radio Shack and steal a computer. My kid deserves a picture with Mulan before yours does. A natural disaster is the perfect opportunity to steal a TV. The list goes on and on.
Yes, admittedly, I was slightly perturbed at the mad rush to enter the park, people running past me to try to get the first spot in line for the same ride I was headed toward. But after reading about the calm, cool and collected manner in which the Japanese people are coping with their shattered lives, I felt a certain embarrassment for all these Disneyed out Americans.
It put a lot of perspective on my spring break, and left me feeling completely content and satisfied with my 90-minute wait in line.