imomus

I've just returned to a country I've spent much time in (also in Asia, Thailand in my case) and I'm always struck by the things that just couldn't be possible back where I come from (America). Many bus stations here have computers for people to get online while they wait for their buses, for a small charge. But what's impressive is that the device is not behind a glass case, it's not even chained down; it's just a computer there in the open. There just seems to be an acknowledgement that this machine is for everyone to use, why would you abuse it? Compare this to New York City, where I once desperately needed to check my e-mail at JFK Int'l, only to find that every public computer terminal (which, as a security precaution, had already been built into immobile furniture) had been senselessly vandalized into inoperation. When I got a bike in Thailand, I asked a local friend where I could could get a bike lock (a necessity in America, yet one that still hasn't deterred thieves). She said "Oh you don't really need anything like that, people know that's how you get around, no one will take it!" And for the 3 months I had it, it was un-harassed.