Things that annoy you about Indians in America

Ambhi · Post by **Ambhi** » Mon Jan 19, 2015 12:40 am

We went to a jam packed desi movie recently. During most of the movie there were half a dozen kids crying and parents did not bother to take them outside. There was one kid sitting a few seats away playing a video game with volume turned up high and that kid's parents also didn't bother to ask the kid to turn it off.

Who the hell are these parents to disrupt my right to watch a movie peacefully in America ? Why do they take other Indians for granted and don't bother to extend courtesy by taking the whining baby outside until the baby calms down or ask the kid playing the video game to cut it out ? An American brought up parent would typically take the baby or kid out without anyone having to tell them. Indian parents seem to have completely lost their desire or willingness to discipline their kids.

Even more annoying is other Indians around this crying baby or video game playing kid won't utter a word and keep mum.

Is that due to our improper cultural conditioning that makes us consider keeping queit, tolerate these kinds of nonsense as virtues ?

Another annoying behavior is 45 minutes before a movie starts people get into the theater and block entire rows of seats for their friends, their families and kids who will arrive much later. When you go in to the theater say 20 minutes before the show these nincompoops don't let you sit on empty seats. You end up taking one of the front row seats. Very unfair.

Over the last 20 years or so as new desis immigrate and set homes here I am seeing things are only getting progressively worse with the community. New generation of people in their late 20s or early 30s are absolutely insensitive to their environment and fellow desis. With smart phones etc I have seen desis attend calls inside a movie theater.

Do you think new people landing here need to go through some kind of orientation in order to set the expectations for good behavior ?

Why is considered a virtue to put of with such nonsense behavior ?

Discuss this and share other annoying behaviors of desis in the USA.

RRS · Post by **RRS** » Mon Jan 19, 2015 12:49 am

Ambhi;591307

Why is considered a virtue to put of with such nonsense behavior ?

Discuss this and share other annoying behaviors of desis in the USA.

You spoke my mind in starting this thread. Went to PK with my spouse in recent weeks and one infant was crying throughout the movie and I looked at the couple and got back 'who the hell you think, you didn't have kids' type of stare from the wife : ). Couple with young kids need to enjoy their life but not at the expense of others. They can hire a baby sitter to go for movie and other outings and not take those crying kids with them as if that less than an year old child wanted to see movie : )

nova2blr · Post by **nova2blr** » Mon Jan 19, 2015 4:38 am

Good topic. It's no different here in the NCR (Nation's capital region) in Wash DC metro region. One observation that I have made over these years is that for most desi families, movie going is a full family event. No matter how old or young (read babies), they all go together and don't care about the surroundings. I guess people are becoming insensitive to others.

Something to learn from the other locals either to avoid movie settings till kids reach a age where they follow instructions or hire some help (you can hire someone to babysit little kids for a fee) and let parents enjoy the movie and not cause trouble to other movie watchers:)

nova2blr · Post by **nova2blr** » Mon Jan 19, 2015 4:58 am

Ambhi;591307

Another annoying behavior is 45 minutes before a movie starts people get into the theater and block entire rows of seats for their friends, their families and kids who will arrive much later. When you go in to the theater say 20 minutes before the show these nincompoops don't let you sit on empty seats. You end up taking one of the front row seats. Very unfair.

A refreshing change in 'select' theatres in Northern VA (could be in other areas as well) is the ability to book your seats with seat #s and just go in time (say 5 mins) before the start of the movie to your seat. Unfortunately, not all theatres that screen Indian movies in our region have this feature...so need to deal with folks who block 'many' seats for their late-arriving family/friends and others are forced to move to 'Gandhi' class and return home with pain in the neck.

'Gandhi' class - Please note that this is not anyway dis-respectful of Mahatma Gandhi...its just a slang used for front row seats in movie theatres when growing up in Bangalore, India. Not sure if this slang is/was used in a same way in other cities across India.

R2MyOldWorld · Post by **R2MyOldWorld** » Mon Jan 19, 2015 7:34 am

After reading post #1, I was going to say that solution to this grave problem is as simple as moving out of the Bay Area (where they say it costs $1m to buy a crapy apartment). But nova2blr kind of ruined it for me.
Here in Maryland I don't see this as a big problem but then may be its because I only go to theater to watch great movies like 3 Idiots and PK and such and not the crap like Happy New Year and Chennai Express and such :)

Veekay · Post by **Veekay** » Mon Jan 19, 2015 9:23 am

Why the heck do you think that you deserve the right to watch a movie peacefully, when you didn't care about this while in India. Just because you landed in America?:p

vapasi1 · Post by **vapasi1** » Mon Jan 19, 2015 9:35 am

Although crying babies dont annoy me at all, I find adults attending cellphone calls in a theatre a minor inconvenience. When we go for movies, we hear whistling, clapping and dialogue repeating a lot and must have got desensitized :-). I enjoy watching movies with the masses and everything that comes along with it. If I want to watch a serious movie, I would do that on DVD at home. And I find it not annoying if someone gives that advice to people getting annoyed in theatres. :-)

vapasi1 · Post by **vapasi1** » Mon Jan 19, 2015 9:37 am

One thing that bothered me in US is Indians not acknowledging other Indians. In fact, they try to avoid but are over-eager to greet/wish non-Asians.

Another thing is that desi stores sold food products past expiry date. It was irritating to pay $1/bundle of expired ParleG.

returning_indian · Post by **returning_indian** » Mon Jan 19, 2015 9:49 am

Ambhi;591307We went to a jam packed desi movie recently. During most of the movie there were half a dozen kids crying and parents did not bother to take them outside. There was one kid sitting a few seats away playing a video game with volume turned up high and that kid's parents also didn't bother to ask the kid to turn it off.

I always wondered why people take kids to watch movies with them. Our kid has never been inside a movie theater. We know he is a kid and will not sit idle for 2-3hrs watching some insanely good looking adults running around trees and singing some tune. It means having to watch these movies on dvd most of the time unless we have my mom at home.

Do these parents take their kids in American majority theater? I guess not. I think they feel comfortable suppressing their own. Colonialism at its best. Best solution is to give them peace of your mind. Even if they block seats, I would sit there and ask them to just shove it.

returning_indian · Post by **returning_indian** » Mon Jan 19, 2015 9:51 am

vapasi1;591364One thing that bothered me in US is Indians not acknowledging other Indians. In fact, they try to avoid but are over-eager to greet/wish non-Asians.

Who cares if they don't greet. Its a nuisance anyway.

[QUOTE]Another thing is that desi stores sold food products past expiry date. It was irritating to pay $1/bundle of expired ParleG.Why buy it? There are better cookies available in walmart.

vapasi1;591363Although crying babies dont annoy me at all, I find adults attending cellphone calls in a theatre a minor inconvenience.

Just ask them to shut the damn thing off and if they don't then speak in little loud voice. Most gujjus and SI (which makes up for majority in US) will be too scared to reply back.