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| Ok, I think a bit of explanation is needed here. Traditional Switzerland, as you can still witness it in the countryside, is very considerate and polite and expects that from others too. Reality is that they've been long outnumbered, a lot of impolite youngsters, a large percentage of them South(Eastern) Europeans, ignore any of these unwritten rules and that gets copied by mostly city boys, Swiss as well as foreign. Not so long ago a train was a much more sociable place where you would say "Grüezi, isch da no frei?" (Hi, is this seat taken?) und "Adée, e schöne Tag" (Goodbye, have a nice day) when leaving the compartment. And you'd often strike up a conversation, therefore those, mostly elderly, people consider it impolite to just walk in, plug in your earphones and start listening to loud music. Many Swiss haven't digested yet that they live in a cosmopolitan, modern country where their social rules are rapidly getting outdated, and turn bitter towards foreigners. Once you get to know them however, many of these folks will turn out to extremely courteous, they just prefer old-fashioned travellers and visitors to the country who adapt to their ways, which aren't even the ways of most Swiss anymore. It's the classic conflict between the countryside and the city, Swiss traditionalists and urban individualism. It can extremely easily be witnessed when travelling somewhere outside Lucerne for example on a local train, not in rush-hour. You'll have older folks more than happy to strike up a conversation with you in their broken English. And then compare that to an S-Bahn in Zürich with its ellbow-culture.
I grew up in the countryside of Lucerne where you would greet everyone you meet on your way, stranger or not, with a "Grüezi" but now live in Zürich city and like it here despite the arrogance. I've gotten slightly off-topic but this is just to give you a rough context of these unwritten rules.
Some Swiss just ignore or frown at inconsiderate behaviour, nobody tells off a youngster in Zürich when he's listening to very loud music, but elsewhere some people tell them off when they think it's appropriate. | |
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The difference between cities (still tiny compared to other cosmopolitan places in Europe) and country is big, it is true. It is the good old annonymity versus accountability for one's acts. Rude people just stick out way more in smaller places and people do not hesitate to correct them, since they genuinely feel responsible for their community's wellbeing. It is like anywhere in the world, though.
I do not think it is healthy to point out people's origine, counterproductive. Foreigners, and a huge amount, live here, pay taxes, do their share. Swiss live here, pay taxes, etc as well. Ideally, people contribute and adjust. Some cultures upon arrival quit throwing garbage everywhere, others curb their impossible driving maneuvers, locals learn that not everybody welcomes unsolicited superfitial small talk on public transport with complete strangers. Ill mannered people can be found at each, demographics are changing all over the world, so does social behavior. The reasons people are not as well mannered as they used to be is not because borders opened. But because people generally grew lethargic to making our community a better place and some parents (Swiss or non) do not care much about their kids' contributions or are plain lazy.
This place will become modern the minute it quits pointing fingers saying "it's them foreigners not us". Including banning offensive political posters, identifying nationality of crime offenders in public news, etc..I would be careful about stating people's nationality when discussing offences, since it creates a bad public image for anyone from stated regions, certainly not modern. Just feeds the boondocks frenzy, superiority complex and bitterness of some peeps towards the auslanders.
Btw, why do people use those tiny headphones? Aren't they considered seriously damaging one's hearing?
I love the idea of quiet compartments, haven't found one here yet..