Is being rude and offensive a Pakistani thing?

[Syavash]

This is going to be a short rant followed by a question.

I've for a very long time judged Pakistanis to be assholes in the social context, but then I'm also against judging and generalizing (there's a 180mill of variety after all), but time and again I can't help myself, and this just one of those very small incidents that makes an impression on you:

I was flying from Riyad to Bahrain, it was a quick pleasant flight, nice food, nice people, lots of Arabs. Everybody was all smiles and random outbursts of thank you's and sorry's to their passengers. I'm generally used to this so I didn't take it as a big deal until the next flight.

Next one was from Bahrain to Karachi:

1) Everybody was generally short tempered, people screaming at their kids (not just the pre-adolescent ones either), I might have bumped into someone and before I could utter an apology he gave me a disgusted angry look that would suggest I killed his chilren and fed it to him.
2) Some people decided their allocated seat was NOT what said on their seat, and decided to sit in someone else's. Then the actual seat owners decided to have an whole argument over it.
3) Another guy decided to be rather harsh with a family with their luggage who were blocking the aisle while they put their stuff away.
4) Some woman was with a baby on the seat behind the exact, for some reason the plane's AC was off and her baby wasn't too happy about it. She asked 5 other people to switch seats with her but everybody said no in a very offhand way.

And this is just one flight, its a sample of maybe a 120 people (assuming a A320 and an 80% load factor).

And while its not always this extreme, there's always this sense that everyone is in it for themselves in a very distasteful, I'd rather step on someone else to get ahead, sort of way.

Now for the question.

To everyone living in this country, is this really a thing, how are you with people in everyday life, any particular unusually good or bad instances you'd like to point out?

 

[Leon]

Interesting topic. And yup as much as we hate our neighbouring countries for being rude etc to us. We are offensive and rude on the same level. Not to mention the early bullying every kid has to go through in his school+town+his own home.

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[Yasir Nadeem]

yeah this happens in karachi though i have have heard people are better in other cities than khi.

 

[NaNoW]

We are a nation full of people who are frustrated and experience alot of external pressure. From lack of education, sexual frustration, to terrorism and low employment. these things have sucked the life of our nation.
Our history, culture, religion and other social aspects should've made us more humble, forgiving but instead we see everything as a competition or a way to make money.
Ethics, morals, reason and better judgement take a back seat when survival is in the back of your mind. All you need to do is take a Looking at western societies.
Where there is plenty to eat, drink, wear and earn everyone smiles and treat eachothers like human.

 

[Syavash]

We are a nation full of people who are frustrated and experience alot of external pressure. From lack of education, sexual frustration, to terrorism and low employment. these things have sucked the life of our nation.
Our history, culture, religion and other social aspects should've made us more humble, forgiving but instead we see everything as a competition or a way to make money.
Ethics, morals, reason and better judgement take a back seat when survival is in the back of your mind. All you need to do is take a Looking at western societies.
Where there is plenty to eat, drink, wear and earn everyone smiles and treat eachothers like human.

That's the harsh reality of it I suppose. Though I don't see how any of THAT sort of behaviour is going to get us anywhere as a nation :|

 

[abcd]

Lack of education and poverty contribute to this attitude but are certainly not the whole picture. At least in my experience there are far too many people from affluent and 'educated' backgrounds behaving in the same manner. For some reason this aggression has become part of our national character and sometimes I feel that we use poverty or illiteracy as excuses to rationalize our behavior. As a trivial example how many times do you see people talking on cell phones or smoking in places they are not supposed to? Just try reminding them that they are not supposed to do this and brace yourself for what comes next. It is not as if these people are desperately poor and under pressure to make ends meet. It is our own twisted version of 'freedom of expression'. No on should dare object to what I am doing even if I am wrong but if someone else makes even a slight mistake I will lose my temper and take him to the cleaners.

 

[jack]

This is common in certain flights from uae to karachi. I have seen similar situation while travelling abroad.

 

[LeGenD123]

Pakistan has yet to become a nation, unfortunately. It is rather a jungle of human beings.

 

[Lord Ammar]

People in the Middle East have lives hardly anyone of us can even dream of. When you're fully content, you're happy and have nothing to worry about. This is the case with Arabs.

On the other hand here in Pakistan we deal with things very few countries in the world have to. The kind of pressure and the level of frustration we have to deal with, the last thing you can expect us is for us to be cheerful and happy. You are a product of your nature, and the nature we are exposed to doesn't allow us to be what people in other parts of the world are.

 

[shahzadfootball]

We are a nation full of people who are frustrated and experience alot of external pressure. From lack of education, sexual frustration, to terrorism and low employment. these things have sucked the life of our nation.
Our history, culture, religion and other social aspects should've made us more humble, forgiving but instead we see everything as a competition or a way to make money.
Ethics, morals, reason and better judgement take a back seat when survival is in the back of your mind. All you need to do is take a Looking at western societies.
Where there is plenty to eat, drink, wear and earn everyone smiles and treat eachothers like human.

This is what i would say ,exactly the same thing.I still remember last year I held the door in the hospital for an elderly lady and it felt weird for me for the first time.My whole life ,i've held door for so many people out of courtesy and I never thought about it but over here it seemed weird .And I think that's because I never had to worry about pressure or any kind of stress since life was comfortable there and here it's not so much.I even saw a change in attitude in myself due to several problems arising ever since I came here ,nagging my dad to buy a car beacuse it's hell to get to places although for past 8 years I happily travellled in bus in BJ and enjoyed it sooo muchh but here I don't feel safee carrying my phone in the bus .It's things like these that you stop being humble to another person .

Secondly for the OP,what I see in most Pakistanis is that they have this "Humne bhi tou paisy diye hain,humein bhi enjoy karna hai ,ussy hi sirf kyun mily ? " thing a lot here .I mean A LOT .Just see those Jeeto Pakistan and inaam ghar shows in Ramadan.Allah Maaf karey,it's a month where Muslims are suppose to be most humble but right after iftaar,they give away their self-respect by being so materialistic .And I don't blame the people,it's because the government has made the life of people hell,full of stress.Things like,one month their utility bill is 10k and next month its 25k (This happened to me when we get 1500Rs E-bill and next month it was 11K ,We don't even use an AC!!! ) .The economy of Pakistan is not stable and the government is not there to support the people .This is why we still see so many elderly people still working to support their family.It's something you would hardly see in a developing/developed country.

 

[assasin42o]

We are a nation full of people who are frustrated and experience alot of external pressure. From lack of education, sexual frustration, to terrorism and low employment. these things have sucked the life of our nation.
Our history, culture, religion and other social aspects should've made us more humble, forgiving but instead we see everything as a competition or a way to make money.
Ethics, morals, reason and better judgement take a back seat when survival is in the back of your mind. All you need to do is take a Looking at western societies.
Where there is plenty to eat, drink, wear and earn everyone smiles and treat eachothers like human.

Right on the G-Spot. +1 to everything he said.

Take the same Pakistanis to some developed country, keep them there for a few years, and you'll see their attitude changed.

Sent from my LG L9

 

[Syavash]

Right on the G-Spot. +1 to everything he said.

Take the same Pakistanis to some developed country, keep them there for a few years, and you'll see their attitude changed.

Sent from my LG L9

Actually that's probably where you're a bit off. Atleast with my experience in Saudi Arabia, and I travel alot there, so I've met many pakistanis, they're all still the same. :lol: There were a few who changed but mostly youngsters, everyone else has stood the test of time for better or for worse.

 

[Blastwave]

It comes to only two factors.

How wealthy is a nation in total and per capita.

And

National pride.



Pakistan is rock bottom at both.

We are poor and we have no sense of national pride, many thanks to the blunders made by early governments and the liberties that became law.

 

[KatPower]

I have met a few people from pakistan and they all seem really nice. not like media or other people describe them.
is social welfare system in pakistan like in Germany/Uk or like in USA ?

 

[Syavash]

It comes to only two factors.

How wealthy is a nation in total and per capita.

And

National pride.



Pakistan is rock bottom at both.

We are poor and we have no sense of national pride, many thanks to the blunders made by early governments and the liberties that became law.

True. Plus our people excel at pointing out how rubbish our country is to any gora/goree or otherwise who will listen. Our problems are what they are, but I've never understood the need to complain about them to other people. :|

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I have met a few people from pakistan and they all seem really nice. not like media or other people describe them.
is social welfare system in pakistan like in Germany/Uk or like in USA ?

Not exactly, no, its rather more complicated. for good and for worse.

 

[Jester]

Interesting observation. I want to chalk it up to terrible living conditions and lack of rights but that wouldn't be an exclusive contribution. Though it definitely does have an effect on one's mental health. Mess with people long enough, and soon they'll breed some form of arrogance from constantly living in a perpetual state of insecurity. As a result you have people that feel like they're being screwed over at all times and try to over-compensate for it.

 

[sweetstyle]

Being asshole in Pakistan is considered a true man if you are kind or very tolerant person they will treat you like shit

 

[XxRebellionxX]

Being asshole in Pakistan is considered a true man if you are kind or very tolerant person they will treat you like shit

This. I have seen countless examples of people being rude and aggressive for the most trivial of reasons. There is literally no patience at all. Be tolerant get treated like shit. I do hope we improve on this aspect if not others. Our ikhlaaq has gone down the drain.

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[nafu]

An Encouraging Topic to response.

well, i guess we are little rude in most ways. our Society a Quickly Changing Culture, our Environment being living in worst places and in worst condition. people become frustrated and rude for sure.

 

[Remil]

Pakistanis used to be greatly united, they all were so close to each other when the nation had just came into being, but as time passed, everything collapsed. Surprisingly, everything collapsed very fast. Soon everybody never really cared for their national interest, instead they were all worried for their personal interest. People started becoming increasingly selfish, which is why today you see the so-called democratic decisions being made in the country. Nobody really cares about the economy or the guy who lives across the street. Pakistan is a nation, but people don't care, they can care less about their nation. People of Pakistan are so divided among themselves that they discriminate not only racially, but they also think that belonging to a specific province or a cast brings them some kind of superiority. Pakistan's environment is really hostile, people hate each other. If someone is in an emergency and needs to go first to meet the doctor, then other people don't show sympathy, they say bad words to the individuals. I've seen this happen a lot and in all my experience, I've only met a number of exceptional individuals who actually know how to treat others. Pakistan has a great number of illiterate people, people who don't want to educate themselves and won't let their children get education either.

Many of the things that happen in Pakistan contribute towards making the people in the country not care for anyone.