I read with great interest the feature article on Sunday on traffic in Taiwan ("Education the key to pedestrian rights," May 15, page 17). I also saw past letters complaining about the traffic. For all those who are outraged at the chaos, remember the bumper sticker, "If you don't like the way I drive, stay off the sidewalk." The point being we aren't back home. We're here.
The way of thinking is different. People's grandparents here weren't raised with the Bible aphorism "in love, preferring others."
Even if one's parents profess nothing, most Western grandparents were nominal Christians and learned the Western concept of taking turns, passing it down the line to us.
It's not just the traffic. It's waiting in line. Many times I have been waiting at the head of the line for a bus, for a train, to shake the president's hand and so on when 70 to 80-plus old-timers have pushed me out of the way to get there first. It's the culture.
My wife is Taiwanese. She's not very happy with the way people drive here. Neither are a lot of people. But they haven't banded together to demand change. I think you hit it on the head by saying that an advertising campaign would go a long way to settle things down. We have our version of the little blue trucks in the West, too. They're called teenage boys.
The sooner we learn to accept the things we can not change, we will begin to fall in love with Taiwan, and not increase our blood pressure each time we get behind the wheel.
Shervin Marsh
Lotung
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