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Q: What is the worst trait you picked up in China?
In connection to the recent eChina article on habits picked up in China, what is the WORST habit you picked up in China? I think mine has to be yelling at waiters from across the room. I still feel immediately guilty afterwards though (maybe I havent been here quite long enough). A friend of mine has been here 5 years and now spits freely on the streets (hope I don't ever get that comfortable). So what do you think is the worst habit you've picked up?
I was just going to say the same! I definitely act ruder to waiters here but then again if you don't shout, you don't get served. If they improved their service and actually came up to your table to check on you every once in a while, I think people would slowly change their attitude. Another habit I picked up is throwing used toilet paper in a side-bin. Whenever I go back home I find myself searching for a bin until I suddenly realise that it's perfectly okay to flush it down!
mike168229:
Bloody hell woman, it's perfectly ok to flush it here too!
I have never, ever put it in a bin here and have not had any problems.
It is a throwback from when the plumbing was non-existent.
You have been brainwashed!
coffaholic:
Then tell me this mike: why do all toilets here have side-bins brimming with soiled toilet paper? And why are there signs on most doors to not flush any paper down the toilets?
mArtiAn:
Being rude to the people who serve you food is dangerous in any country but doubly so here as the food is already dangerous.
Californiaz:
The bins near toliets exist because of habit and the fact that 10% of the city probably doesnt have the plumbing to handle it.
Trust me you dont live in that part.
If there was no bin they would just throw it on the floor or something
I've never had to shout to waiters/waitresses in China. I'm really not too sure where that comes from, since they always served me. Sometimes I had to go get them, but that was in closed-room, round-table eateries.
Surprisingly, I didn't pick up any bad traits in China that I can think of. China changed me for the better (as crazy as that sounds).
coffaholic:
Maybe it's because you're a Hulk and so attract a lot of attention merely because of your appearance. We little "grey mice" on the other hand need to shout for attention!
Screaming at other road users for their sheer stupidity.
Oddly, I didn't do it when I went back home though. Could it be because I didn't need to?
I drive now...so I honk my horn as much as I like 
Nessquick:
Do you enjoy it ? 
I did not come used to this while I was driving here in china .
What I hated most, was the lights. Xenon lights, full power, on every possible shit car and at every time. one can not drive safely, coz can not see nothing. offentime,s i let tha cars in my back overtake me , coz I really was blinded from mirror and can not see nothing front of me ...
manasyt:
I do LOL! . True about the lights!!! High beams as well! The other day I tried to tell the guy behind me to turn off the high beams...took a while but then he turned all the lights off hahaha! Another thing that cracks me up - (sometimes) I stop at zebras to let people cross...but they just keep standing there hahaha, so I gotta honk and they start running. 
Not sure I've adopted any new traits. Of course "slow mo fist shaking" combined with profanities when encountering idiots in traffic is a lot more useful in China, but it certainly was also on my repertoire before coming to China.
My life if a daily fight for maintaining normalcy. I am sure my blood-pressure is at an all time high.
Saying uhh? or ehh? or ahh? instead of pardon. My friend came to visit me from Australia recently, he wondered what happened to me and why I had become so rude...
letting my gf excavate my ears while riding the metro.
(just kiddin',, I mighta fallen low, but not that low yet)
Wasting my time online, complaining about being in a place that i'm free to leave anytime I want.
Peeing in alleys. Not really a habit, but even if I could find a washroom, the alley is cleaner.
When I can't immediately think of a word, I say 'how to say' ALL THE TIME.
e.g
'they were ah.. how to say, pretty cool"
"I'm doing this, how to say, online course"
'What is your Chinese name? Ah right, how to say again?"
Those three words will be my demise here.
I push and shove more. I still don't like doing it but it's the only way I manage to get on a bus/subway train.
