Not everything in life needs to be antagonistic and about "them" against "us". But it often is so. And it does not take a dual nationality island as St Martin, French vs. the Dutch Antillean, whites against the blacks, locals against the residents/tourists, etc, etc. But I guess the island offers plenty of opportunity.
Before I arrived to the island I was given an example of what's a typical island life situation I might not be used to. The example was a traffic jam caused by two local drivers, who going in opposite direction, stop in the middle of the road, roll down their windows, start chatting inconsiderate of the people behind each of them. This perhaps would not be so bad if the other waiting drivers would have extra lanes, or at least a space on the side of the road through which they could over take the 2 friends who decided to catch up on lost time. St Martin does not have 2 lane roads (with maybe two exceptions I can recall), and to the side of the road there's often a cliff, a building, high rocks, etc. Overtaking is possible in very limited occasions; never has it occurred to me for it to be possible when 2 cars stop to chat.
I may be biased in my view, but so far the only times I've experienced being blocked like this, it was due to locals. This fit perfectly with what I was told prior to coming. I tried not to get stressed over it. After all, you can be in a traffic jam for so many reasons, in so many places, the cause of it is usually irrelevant, the outcome, that you arrive late, is equally bothersome.
Nevertheless, I couldn't help thinking, how much such driving habits derive from a broader lack of civic consciousness. Naturally, I don't believe that the island is the only place touched by this deficiency; I have lived in too many places to think that mutually courteous behaviour is perfectly developed in more developed countries. Bad manners, driving culture included, are pretty much uniformly spread geographically. Nations differ in the bad manners they master in. It is usually our set of values taken from a particular upbringing that makes us praise more the civic consciousness of one place, turning a blind eye to the 'bad manners' we are more inclined to forgive, and demonise other places for their lack of respect for habits we need so much to feel comfortable and at home.
I'm pretty neutral on driving culture, as long as it is not a culture conducive to more danger on the road, I'm ok with different drivers pursuing their own ways.
The other day something happened which changed my focus on the topic though. We were in a taxi, a french license plate, with a driver who was fluent in French, but I wouldn't put a 1000 USD on that he considered himself French, whichever way he seemed to be a local. We needed to stop because of the above described 'friendly chat' blocking the road. It was in a predominantly French-of-the-Métropole residential area. After stopping, my instinct told me one of the 2 cars would budge, to let us pass. To my surprise neither did. We waited a moment longer, the driver being very well educated did not use the horn until a significant while had passed, allowing for both cars ahead to realise we were there waiting. Must I spell out the 2 interacting men, where white French men? I realised how much biased I have been to this moment.
Our driver honked, yet kept his cool, never showing any impatience. The two men continued to chat regardless:) This is the moment when our driver said the magic words: it is always the French, the French are like this, they just don't care...
It made me laugh. Who would have thought that the locals thought it was the French who brought this habit to the island and claim that the French are the practitioners;)
So who is the villain? Was it the locals teaching the newly arrived French how to loosen up their trained for centuries good manners? or was it the nonchalant French who showed the locals it's ok not to care how our actions impact others?:)
Before I arrived to the island I was given an example of what's a typical island life situation I might not be used to. The example was a traffic jam caused by two local drivers, who going in opposite direction, stop in the middle of the road, roll down their windows, start chatting inconsiderate of the people behind each of them. This perhaps would not be so bad if the other waiting drivers would have extra lanes, or at least a space on the side of the road through which they could over take the 2 friends who decided to catch up on lost time. St Martin does not have 2 lane roads (with maybe two exceptions I can recall), and to the side of the road there's often a cliff, a building, high rocks, etc. Overtaking is possible in very limited occasions; never has it occurred to me for it to be possible when 2 cars stop to chat.
I may be biased in my view, but so far the only times I've experienced being blocked like this, it was due to locals. This fit perfectly with what I was told prior to coming. I tried not to get stressed over it. After all, you can be in a traffic jam for so many reasons, in so many places, the cause of it is usually irrelevant, the outcome, that you arrive late, is equally bothersome.
Nevertheless, I couldn't help thinking, how much such driving habits derive from a broader lack of civic consciousness. Naturally, I don't believe that the island is the only place touched by this deficiency; I have lived in too many places to think that mutually courteous behaviour is perfectly developed in more developed countries. Bad manners, driving culture included, are pretty much uniformly spread geographically. Nations differ in the bad manners they master in. It is usually our set of values taken from a particular upbringing that makes us praise more the civic consciousness of one place, turning a blind eye to the 'bad manners' we are more inclined to forgive, and demonise other places for their lack of respect for habits we need so much to feel comfortable and at home.
I'm pretty neutral on driving culture, as long as it is not a culture conducive to more danger on the road, I'm ok with different drivers pursuing their own ways.
The other day something happened which changed my focus on the topic though. We were in a taxi, a french license plate, with a driver who was fluent in French, but I wouldn't put a 1000 USD on that he considered himself French, whichever way he seemed to be a local. We needed to stop because of the above described 'friendly chat' blocking the road. It was in a predominantly French-of-the-Métropole residential area. After stopping, my instinct told me one of the 2 cars would budge, to let us pass. To my surprise neither did. We waited a moment longer, the driver being very well educated did not use the horn until a significant while had passed, allowing for both cars ahead to realise we were there waiting. Must I spell out the 2 interacting men, where white French men? I realised how much biased I have been to this moment.
Our driver honked, yet kept his cool, never showing any impatience. The two men continued to chat regardless:) This is the moment when our driver said the magic words: it is always the French, the French are like this, they just don't care...
It made me laugh. Who would have thought that the locals thought it was the French who brought this habit to the island and claim that the French are the practitioners;)
So who is the villain? Was it the locals teaching the newly arrived French how to loosen up their trained for centuries good manners? or was it the nonchalant French who showed the locals it's ok not to care how our actions impact others?:)
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