Friday, February 23, 2007
Portuguese People
Why don't Portuguese people ever apologise ? This is not just my opinion but also the opinion of a lot of my friends. I should say from the outset that I think the majority of Portuguese people are really nice, but it really annoys me when something goes wrong and they don't apologise when it is clearly their mistake. This is with companies and individuals. In my culture, you simply say sorry, everyone is happy, and you move on. But not here ! Am I being unfair ? what do you reckon ?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
25 comments:
i am just writing this to learn how to add a post. Graham
Portuguese people rude! What about the Scots!!!
C'mon Milan!!
Portuguese people are not rude, they're just too proud!
For instance, if i were older and a lot taller, i´d whack you in the head for being such an uptight ass (not saying you are, really), then put on the cutest innocent façade and thoroughly proceed to apologize!( 'oh i'm so sorry graham! did i hurt you? im sooooo sorry, please forgive me! blame it on that bloody mosquito! so sorry')
But of course you'd realise, hopefully, much much later, after seriously contemplating my over-the-top bow over a nice cuppa, that i was being sarcastic and there was never a mosquito.
Cunning, don't you agree?
So there, why don't you chew on that and try to remember if anyone has ever done something akin to what i've just told you. Remember, if somebody did, don't let him think he can mess with your head, literally.
I met a few Scottish teenagers, when i spent a couple of weeks in Edinburgh, but they were junkies and they were always carrying some intoxicating glue.
But hey, Scots still RULE!
All praise William Wallace!!!!
So… I drop by your blog and noticed this post. It seems to me that you want to start a flame war, but I won’t be the one starting it… You seem to be very offended by the fact that we, Portuguese people don’t apologise enough, if ever, about anything we do wrong. I must say that I agree with you: we tend to disregard that tiny detail that to some people might make the difference. In your case it definitely does. But in our defence I might add the following: that’s not a flaw, it’s a feature and part of the Portuguese charm, you Brits and Scots love so much.
After reading your comment Graham just one thing crossed my mind: Sara, as I am the double of your height I can give you a hand whacking Graham in the head if you want. ;)
Now seriously. I think it's not easy for anyone to admit having made a mistake and portuguese people are no exception. I bet you scottish guys never apologised for offering us that hideous sight of your hairy legs when you wear kilts. Lol
P.s I don't mean any of this rubbish I wrote. It's just a way to practise swear vocab.
Can I explain why I posted this . I have a Portuguese teacher who comes to my flat. The other day I waited 40 mins for her. Then i sent her a text - no reply. So i left and went to work. 10 mins later she sent me a text " open the door ! i am outside " so i explained to her that i had waited patiently, but had to go to work. "oh " she said. "bye" she said. no apology, nothing ! i was fuming...
p.s. who is carwoman ?
oh graham.... did you even consider for a minute that maybe we aren't the one's who don't apologise enough but the "Brits" who apologise way too often ??
for instance, why do you say "pardon" when you can't ear what the other person said?? if the other person spoke in a manner that wasn't understandable that their fault not yours!!!!!
Cya Saturday :)
yeah we probably do apologise too much - but that is probably because we don´t have this silly "tu" and "voce" thing that you Portugas have... but heh at least we arrive on time for appointments, not half an hour late like you guys ! manners maketh the man ... :)
i know what - next Saturday i am going to turn up 30 mins late - no apology, nothing and we shall see your reaction ... :)
nah...
you wouldn't dare.
you're too much of a goody two shoes!
:D
you are on !
see you at 5 pm on Saturday
Hi Graham! Carwoman is my nickname.;)
You were pretty right if you said that your teacher is rude and don't have good manners, but you can't generalise that to all portuguese people. As the one who arrives 10 minutes before the beginning of your class I obviously feel upset with your comment. ;P
P.s See you at 4:20 pm on saturday!
Okay - well lets talk about Portuguese people in general - good and bad characteristics. I'll start the ball rolling by talking about Scottish people...
Good points :- we are friendly, generous, intelligent, socialist, tall !, don't smoke
bad points :- aggresive, bigoted, small minded, tend to drink too much, have a chip on our shoulder about the English
god ! i hope no other Scottish people see this !
so what about Portuguese people ? what do you think ?
Dear Graham and fellow classmates,
I have to agree with Graham on this matter...most Portuguese people are rude.Sorry, if I offend any patriotic feelings, but this is the honest truth.
Of course we can't ignore the fact that you Graham have had some bad experiences, but I think that deep down you like us!
By the way...I always thought that English were the punctual ones! Aren't you Scot?!?!
We shouldn't critisize our allies, I'll explain: the Anglo-Portuguese Alliance is still in force! The Windsor Treaty sealed an alliance between our 2 countries in 1386, although this friendship started many years before that year. The treaty was never broken, hence we shouldn't critisize your friends.
The Scots, in their proud way of speaking, like to share their dislike/hate torwards English folks. I'll have to say that I'm deeply distraught by of those feelings and I have to protect our friends, because the foe of your allie is our foe too.
One more thing that might change your minds: the Scots once allied with France, the same France which invaded Portugal (French invasions) 3 times (or more). Who helped us? Was it the Scots? Probably they were in Napoleon's ranks helping or something... It was Wellington's army and strenght aided by our resilience who kept the french out for good.
As you see there is loads of things you don't know about the scots, they always tell you great stuff about them, however I think that's perfect baloney! There are a lot more hideous secrets hiding in Lock Ness lake than the monster itself!
Sorry Graham, you're still a great teacher but our people took an oath long time ago!
but we only made an alliance with the french, so that we could fight the english together... we have no beef with the Portuguese, except for the diving, cheating footballers who beat us in the UEFA cup final in 2003 !
no matter what i talk about, it always comes back to football eventually ...!
You are hopeless Graham, hopeless!Whatever the subject being discussed, you always seem to find a way of mentioning football!Well, perhaps you're right: football is omnipresent nowadays!
About the way you described Scots' bad points, that's pretty much the way I would describe portuguese- have a chip on their shoulder about the Spanish, small minded, talk too loud...and I could go on and on about portuguese bad points, but I'll spare you from more details.
I only say this because I think we, as a country, could be so much better if we weren't so lazy, or so amateur, or had a bit more self confidence...
Class tomorrow at 5 o' clock?!?!You wouldn't dare!It's not in your nature, man! Or are you picking up some of our bad habits?
I’m actually quite fond of Scots (and I’m not saying this just because you’re one Graham, so please don’t get me wrong). Scots are very proud, and pride was all that was left after what they’ve suffered at English hands, while fighting for their freedom. Even after the bloody battle at Culloden (ok, here we can blame the wee Bonnie Prince). That’s the image I hold of the Scottish people: the clans, huge Scots in their kilts, plaids, sporrans and dirks, while searching for their own identity, defending their colours.
As for Portuguese people, I totally agree with Tania. We could be a lot better, if we weren’t so narrow minded and jealous of other peoples’ accomplishments. Still, I think we’re a very nice, warm and welcoming people. And the cherry on top: We’re pretty damn good playing football!!!
There's some unauthorized editing going on here! And some (A LOT) kowtow too!
I really can´t understand people that disagree by saying "I agree but".
Sorry, I missed our last class guys but I broke a foot playing football.
Interesting to know.
Post a Comment