Some cultural observations about shoes on the table, feces on the sidewalk, and what it all means.
a) shoes on table
Western Europeans also find the gesture of shoes on chairs and tables repulsive, both in public and in private.
In my experience, shoes on the table in public seems to be a US specific behavior, but please correct me if I'm wrong. You know, something you'd see in a Western. It's a very laissez faire gesture, of a confident and free people, unlike the stuck up Europeans with all their rules.
The most memorable experience for me was with the CEO of a company where I worked. He would do this in every meeting, even when we met with executives of another company. It could have been a dominance gesture, but more likely his hippy attitude.
I've also observed that people in the US tend to put their shoes where others will sit or put their hands, e.g. chairs, benches etc.
b) dog poo
People in the US pick up after their dogs, I find this great! A lot of Europeans don't, which is super nasty. The memory of dogshit in Paris and Berlin, especially on a hot summer day, makes me want to puke. Google for Paris and dogshit and see what I mean.
a + b) what it means
Now, to each their own, but from a hygiene/medical standpoint, shoes on chairs and tables should not be done. Let me explain why.
Even with no visible dogshit under your shoe, there are myriad diseases that can be transferred this way. It does not have to be as horrible as http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Echinococcus_multilocularis, but there are many others. Eggs of parasitic worms hosted by domestic animals are quite hardy. That's why I'd say, leave you shoes (not necessarily feet) of chairs and tables. Why risk infecting yourself and others? Like wearing a seatbelt, a simple behavior that can save your life.
A lot of what you are saying is a sweeping generalisation.
> People in the US pick up after their dogs, I find this great! Europeans don't, which is super nasty.
I live in Yorkshire in the UK and you can get fined £1000 for not picking up your dog turd. I'm not sure how well it is policed but my town is fairly free of dog turd. Parks, pavements etc are clear. I dont see much at all.
Please dont make sweeping generalistions like this. You are just plain wrong.
The thing about generalizations is 90% of the time they are true. Your city enforces city ordinances, that rare other 10%. A lot of other places don't and would be offended at the idea of having to. You know where else is clean? Singapore, the take it seriously (caning in extreme circumstances).
Now I know Yorkshire and London doesn't have a dog poop problem, but the majority of Western Europe (I only know of France, Germany, and parts of Spain I visited) do.
So we can say he is 90% correct. Which is still passing on most standardized tests.
Agreed, and corrected. Sorry to draw with a broad brush, these are late night ramblings of my very subjective observations. I have not lived in all of Europe to know local laws. Would actually be curious how this problem (dog poo) is handled in different countries.
Dog shit in Berlin - it's really awful. Sometimes I dream about founding a dog free city.
It's not the dogs fault, but I simply like my surroundings shit free. Unfortunately, I can't think of any way for that problem to go away. Certainly in Berlin a solution seems millenia away (while some other cities managed to agree on fines for dog shit on the street).
Get a ticket how? Because you let your dog crap openly on the street while a cop was watching? What kind of disincentive is that?
I live in the police state of New York City, and yet on my block alone I regularly have to dodge between 4-5 piles of crap every time I walk down it. Not even by the curb, right in the middle of the sidewalk.
In fact, I was kind of surprised Zed got so worked up about SF fecal matter. Although it seems like there's slightly more human excrement around in SF, the shit-factor in his previous home is pretty competitive with SF.
Or maybe Zed wanted to assert passive aggressive dominance against SF by 'talking shit' about it (yow!)....
a) shoes on table
Western Europeans also find the gesture of shoes on chairs and tables repulsive, both in public and in private.
In my experience, shoes on the table in public seems to be a US specific behavior, but please correct me if I'm wrong. You know, something you'd see in a Western. It's a very laissez faire gesture, of a confident and free people, unlike the stuck up Europeans with all their rules.
The most memorable experience for me was with the CEO of a company where I worked. He would do this in every meeting, even when we met with executives of another company. It could have been a dominance gesture, but more likely his hippy attitude.
I've also observed that people in the US tend to put their shoes where others will sit or put their hands, e.g. chairs, benches etc.
b) dog poo
People in the US pick up after their dogs, I find this great! A lot of Europeans don't, which is super nasty. The memory of dogshit in Paris and Berlin, especially on a hot summer day, makes me want to puke. Google for Paris and dogshit and see what I mean.
a + b) what it means
Now, to each their own, but from a hygiene/medical standpoint, shoes on chairs and tables should not be done. Let me explain why.
Even with no visible dogshit under your shoe, there are myriad diseases that can be transferred this way. It does not have to be as horrible as http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Echinococcus_multilocularis, but there are many others. Eggs of parasitic worms hosted by domestic animals are quite hardy. That's why I'd say, leave you shoes (not necessarily feet) of chairs and tables. Why risk infecting yourself and others? Like wearing a seatbelt, a simple behavior that can save your life.