TuoiTreNews: Three readers share real life stories they have witnessed on a plane, in an office, and in a bus where a few Vietnamese still act uncultured and forget the basic etiquette they were taught from childhood Saying sorry, a lesson from a Korean stewardess On a flight from Seoul (Korea) to Ho Chi Minh City at the end of May, a stewardess of Korean Airlines accidentally spilled water onto a passenger’s pants. She quickly said sorry while using a towel to clean up the mess. But the passenger was still angry and requested to talk to the lead stewardess. She once again tried to say sorry as she kneeled down, showing her repentance. Witnessing this scene, this young woman’s sincere acts made many passengers, including me, come to sympathize with her. “To err is human”. Making a mistake and saying sorry for it is a civilized act. Even if it is a big fault, an honest apology will easily receive others’ forgiveness. From the story of the stewardess, I suddenly thought about what is happening in Vietnam. There are hardly any sincere apologies in daily trivial things like selling under quality products to customers or crashing into each other on the street. In a bigger issue, a factory which discharged untreated water into nature not only violated the law but also damaged the environment and caused harm to aquaculture farmers in the neighborhood. However, their directors did not show up to say sorry. Some state companies have used citizen’s taxes for investment and have lost thousands of billion dongs. When the truth came out, leaders at these companies did not say a word of apology to tax payers. Has our culture of saying sorry been degraded?

Mai Vu

Culture in the stairway I work in a high-rise building and have witnessed many unexpected scenes. In the morning, several colleagues have to bring their kids to school before arriving at the office. They often rush into the stairs to arrive at work on time. The stairway is designed for one person going up and down in each direction. However, some groups of colleagues climb the stairs in double or triple file at the same time, taking up the whole space, making it difficult for others going down. Another thing: the staff of a room near the stairs always tries to sweep down garbage, from cigarette butts to old lottery tickets and chewing gum. Others litter on the stairs even though recycle bins are placed everywhere in the office. A remarkable thing is that our office often promotes events and campaigns on building a cultured lifestyle for local people. Are they focused only on the important jobs and have forgotten that culture is not only just slogans, and it is not only applied to the labor class?

Huu Chon

Giving up seat on a bus, foreigners do it better? The bus from Hoi An to Da Nang one morning was packed and, only the passengers who had stepped on at the first stop had a seat. At the Dien Nam industrial area and Dien Ngoc crossroad, two elderly women tried to get on the bus. In the last row sat a pair of young Vietnamese and two foreigners. After looking around without seeing an open seat, the two grannies sat on the floor. After seeing that, the Vietnamese youngsters sat still, while the two westerners stood up and helped the two old ladies to their seat. This scene has made me think a lot. The Vietnamese are taught to respect the elderly and give priorities to kids. As we grow up, have we forgotten our ethics lessons and daily etiquettes?

Thanh Ba

Two foreigeners gave up their seat for the ederly on a bus from Hoi An to Da Nang (Photos: Tuoi Tre)