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Do you blame people's incompetence......; on Australia
Topic Started: Mar 8 2007, 02:56:28 PM (171 Views)
longshanks
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Thought I would ask the question, of the people over here in Oz, do you find when something goes wrong or someone messes up, do you instantly blame Australia or the Australian people, it's education etc, I.E “Wouldn’t have happened in the UK blah blah blah :rolleyes: ” or do you take it on the chin and say "C’est La Vie"

I have noticed it quite a lot with expats on different forums and in day-to-day life.

I mean when you where in the UK you didn’t always say I wish I lived in Australia/US/NZ/ as it wouldn’t happen over there, or did you. :yes:

Just appears to me, that there are incompetent people wherever you live, States, Aus, or UK. or wherever
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Bridiej
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Chattermonster Extraordinaire!

Take it on the chin, after all what's the point of constantly comparing everything to the UK - we live here now, got to get on with it, good and bad.

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Snappy
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Sexy Sizzling Schmoozer

Take it on the chin although I do say things like "typically Australian" when it comes to funny stories usually about silly antics whilst drunk :lol:
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moneypen20
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Bond's Beaut Bombshell

It's one thing that really irritates me about certain forums or more particularly discontented posters on certain forums. But I guess if you are unhappy with your life, it's much easier to blame the country and also more stuff that wouldn't normally bother you becomes important.

In my world (parallel Australia) I honestly haven't encountered anything bad or irritating. I have had superb service for everything, which includes the hours spent today sorting the internet out. I realise I have been lucky and things are not necessarily better here for most, but they are for me.

It's down to attitude and frame of mind. If you are down, nothing seems to go your way.
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BIX
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Boner-fide Bonza Bloke

moneypen20
8th March, 2007 - 06:02pm


It's down to attitude and frame of mind.


There's a lot in that.

In the majority of cases I feel it's down to the individuals personality.

You can't teach an old dog new tricks type thing.

The people that constantly moan about things do so in whatever country they find themselves.

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Snappy
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Sexy Sizzling Schmoozer

BIX
8th March, 2007 - 08:04pm
The people that constantly moan about things do so in whatever country they find themselves.

If you've been on the forums for a while you can generally name the people who will be the ones that moan :rolleyes:
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Bridiej
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Snappy
9th March, 2007 - 06:20am
If you've been on the forums for a while you can generally name the people who will be the ones that moan :rolleyes:

Aye

It does drive me nuts actually cos the number of times some people post about how boring Perth is and how it's the city's fault that they're miserable when actually it's nothing of the sort.

There's a couple we know, apparently their house is now on the market, they've never been happy since day one but they had stupid expectations - they really expected it to be like a holiday the whole time. Which is odd as they've visited twice already so you'd think they'd know what it was like. :blink:

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Lynnj
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longshanks
8th March, 2007 - 02:56pm
Thought I would ask the question, of the people over here in Oz, do you find when something goes wrong or someone messes up, do you instantly blame Australia or the Australian people, it's education etc, I.E “Wouldn’t have happened in the UK blah blah blah :rolleyes: ” or do you take it on the chin and say "C’est La Vie"

I have noticed it quite a lot with expats on different forums and in day-to-day life.

I mean when you where in the UK you didn’t always say I wish I lived in Australia/US/NZ/ as it wouldn’t happen over there, or did you. :yes:

Just appears to me, that there are incompetent people wherever you live, States, Aus, or UK. or wherever

I blame peoples incompetence on them being incompetent. I don't understand how the actions of an individul or even a company could be blamed on a country. But it's amazing how many people do......

for example (beward I've started i may forget to stop).....
In my local coles the other day (it's always full of poms, usually whinging) i overheard the following conversations...... "oh i can't stand this heat, i had no idea it would get this hot, its not like home is it.... mind you it doesn't seem to bother them does it" them was said in an accusing tone like they were talking about the scum of the earth. I switched off at that point, pickedup my packet of coc pops and headed to the next aisle in search of a packet of timtams, only to hear this..... "oh i don't know if we'll stay or not, its not like england is it, i mean if you have a bad week in england at least you can still shop in the cheap shops, here they don't have cheap shops."

Now these may not sound like much to you, but add in the tones of doom and gloom they were said in and you get the picture. I must confess to being really intolerant of people who continually whine on about "home". If they make the effort to get the visa dn make the move (which lets face it is a huge effort) then why not make the little extra bit of effort to fit in and stop harping on about "home". Most people find that once you accept Australia as home then you enjoy it so much more.

Sorry..... but this is one of my pet hates and since the suburb we live in became little england it has become a million times worse. My next door neighbour even complained about my soms mate waving an aussie flag and singing the national anthem..... little wonder i want to move :blink:
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Bridiej
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Totally with you on that one Lynn :yes:

I've never understood why people constantly compare everything with "home" either, it's a different country, get on with it or bugger off back!

That's one reason we like it here, not as many Poms in this neck of the woods! :thumbsup:
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ProofReader
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I totally agree with you sheilas. :grin: If someone moves, on a permanent basis, to any other country, why then don't they call that new country "home"?

People also forget that things have changed at their former 'home'. My Mum used to get right up my nose with comparing things to "home" for a few years after we moved here. When she made a trip back, she found that the things she moaned about were worse there than here! Times change!! :rolleyes:

Mind you, when I was in UK, I kept thinking about how much better certain things were at home (Aus) but I defend my thoughts (mostly left unspoken) in that I was only living there temporarily and had no intentions of making it my home.


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Bridiej
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I've only really referred to here as home since we moved into our own house, didnt feel like "home" before that

But now it's definitely home and the UK is just the UK

I am in no great rush to pay a return visit either!
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longshanks
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moneypen20
8th March, 2007 - 06:02pm
But I guess if you are unhappy with your life, it's much easier to blame the country and also more stuff that wouldn't normally bother you becomes important.

In my world (parallel Australia) I honestly haven't encountered anything bad or irritating.  I have had superb service for everything, which includes the hours spent today sorting the internet out.  I realise I have been lucky and things are not necessarily better here for most, but they are for me.

It's down to attitude and frame of mind.  If you are down, nothing seems to go your way.

Could not agree more Pen, :more:

I am one of the fortunate ones it has worked for, lots of friends, lots to do, a decent job (had a few to be honest) etc etc

I do agree that it is the frame of mind, but to constantly say it wouldn't happen at "home" wherever that is. In my humble opinion that is a "cop out"

I have heard that a lot lately, as another poster also said when I hear the whinging in shopping lines, sports clubs etc that they couldn't organise this, they couldn't organise that :angry: well I just feel like saying something along the lines, if there world previous was so perfect then why come here?

Anyway off I go to the slowest que (should I say line up) in the world, all the ques in the UK moved at immense speed didn't they, I was just never in one :whistle:
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Babs


:thumbsup: we moved back to UK from Adelaide because things weren't right for us at that time but we came back with intention of moving back to Aus as soon as everything was sorted but had to chuckle when we read your posting, we were moaned at by fellow brits because gravy wasn't same, chocolate wasn't same and as for mayo, well don't go there!!! We thought it was ridiculous because you can't expect somewhere to be same, I had always loved cheese and onion crisps in UK but found chicken flavour in aus, were brill. OH didn't like Coopers but had "really difficult job" working his way through every other beer finding one he did like. You have to accept some things will be better and others not so good,it justs part of moving, people surely don't move back to UK coz of TV do they? by the way have to confess deal or no deal in UK with Noel is awful compared to Aus version!!We used to have our tea watching the aus version and were gutted when we watched UK version. babs. :more:
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Tyke
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This is a subject that would spark catfights on "the Yellow screen" ;-)

We have never blamed Australia for anything wrong that happened to us here.

I must admit that some of the quality and workmanship is questionable.But I just keep my eye on it and don't accept any work / goods until I am happy.

A lot of things do happen slower here though - appointments not kept by tradesmen and so on.

LOTS of things make up for any difference/perceived deficiencies though.

Service with a smile for a start!!!!
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Tyke
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ProofReader
9th March, 2007 - 11:19am

I totally agree with you sheilas. :grin: If someone moves, on a permanent basis, to any other country, why then don't they call that new country "home"?

People also forget that things have changed at their former 'home'. My Mum used to get right up my nose with comparing things to "home" for a few years after we moved here. When she made a trip back, she found that the things she moaned about were worse there than here! Times change!! :rolleyes:

Mind you, when I was in UK, I kept thinking about how much better certain things were at home (Aus) but I defend my thoughts (mostly left unspoken) in that I was only living there temporarily and had no intentions of making it my home.



The "Home" issue is no prob for us.

We definitely call Australia home now,we have adopted it wholeheartedly and are thankful we are so accepted.

It does get to me though if people who have been here for some time still call the UK home.It might be a slip of the tongue once but if used repetitively it irks me.
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TopCat3
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Tantalisingly Opulent Pussy, Caring And Thoughtful

I find it works the other way around - people ask me where "home" is or when I last went "home"

Ashfield, I say, Last night, I say - no, your REAL home, they say...

Makes me feel really wanted and settled , after 20years.... :irked:
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Bridiej
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Tyke
10th March, 2007 - 08:40am


LOTS of things make up for any difference/perceived deficiencies though.


We have had the opposite experience, people seem a lot more reliable here. We were gobsmacked when we got our first rental and popped in to sort out fridge and a few bits of furniture from two different shops. We were asked when we wanted them delivered, ASAP we said "About 1 this afternoon OK?" :o

None of the "Well, we can deliver it a week Friday, sometime between 8am and 6pm...." crap we'd always had in the UK. And sure enough, turned up on time and the furniture bloke even took a look at the boiler and turned the gas on for me, bless him! :thumbsup:

Babs, I love Deal or No Deal too with Andrew "Mr Cheese" O'Keefe. I saw a clip of the UK one when someone dropped their box and revealed the amount, it looked about as interesting as watching paint dry! :lol:

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Bridiej
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TopCat3
10th March, 2007 - 09:03pm
I find it works the other way around - people ask me where "home" is or when I last went "home"

Ashfield, I say, Last night, I say - no, your REAL home, they say...

Makes me feel really wanted and settled , after 20years.... :irked:

I get where you're coming from!

I have made a mental note next time someone asks me where I'm from instead of Kent, England I'm going to reply Australind!! :D
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DagBoy
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longshanks
8th March, 2007 - 02:56pm
...do you find when something goes wrong or someone messes up, do you instantly blame Australia or the Australian people,...

No, I blame the thing that went wrong or the person that messed up.

I treat people here the same as I treat them everywhere else in the world. I start by assuming that everyone I meet is a waste of space, an idiot and an oxygen thief. I know I should not make snap judgements, but it saves so much time :P

Once I know someone better, I can decide that they are just a waste of space, or just an idiot. Occasionally I even meet people who do not fall into any of those categories.

Cheers,

GrumpyOldCynicBoy
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TopCat3
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Tantalisingly Opulent Pussy, Caring And Thoughtful

DagBoy
11th March, 2007 - 03:52pm
No, I blame the thing that went wrong or the person that messed up.

I treat people here the same as I treat them everywhere else in the world. I start by assuming that everyone I meet is a waste of space, an idiot and an oxygen thief. I know I should not make snap judgements, but it saves so much time :P

Once I know someone better, I can decide that they are just a waste of space, or just an idiot. Occasionally I even meet people who do not fall into any of those categories.

Cheers,

GrumpyOldCynicBoy

That's a good way to be, given that disappointment can be defined as the difference between what you expect and what you get.

That way you can only have your expectations fulfilled or be pleasantly surprised.

Grumpy old woman.
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Jane
Jaunty Jolly Jewel
Obviously, I'm not really part of this as I'm still in the UK. BUT, having moved around in the UK so much, I never know what to say when people ask where I'm from and the children are in a even worse predicament as they can't really remember the places they were born as they were toddlers when we left!

Home is where you and your family decide to put down roots, however long for.

Whenever we had to move for David's job I had a choice... be a miserable cow or see it as a challenge and get to know a new place and make new friends; we were static for five years and I was ready to move by the end of that time. We now live in middle England in a small town with good schools no areas of real poverty, and no extreme wealth. My hubby walks to work, I drive 13 miles, it takes around 20 - 25 minutes. I like where we are but we still don't know if we are staying or coming out to Oz; this could be really unsettling but we are determind to live now whilst planing our future, I might just have a new job which willl help me qualify for the visa( :ecstatic: ).

In the mean time were having fun where we are and still enjoying the prospect of a new life a little further down the line.

My expectation of Oz when we came on holiday were lower than what we found (I'd listened when everyone talked of not having rose coloured specs), and especially with Toby ending up in Hospital I felt we had a good taste of real life out there. I have some niggles but they are something I will accept if we take the plunge as I feel that I really do have my eyes open.

TC and Bordy, I agree that if you don't let go of reality and keep your expectations reasonable and realistic then there's less disappointment around to handle and you are more likely to have a good share of positives to enjoy!

Jane
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ohippy
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Original Opulent Optimist

I have to be honest and say that there have been occasions when I have uttered the immortal words 'only in WA', although based on other peoples experiences perhaps that should be 'only in Mandurah' !! It's mainly, IMHO, aimed at shopping experiences and because Ozzies here don't tend to complain so the big companies think they can keep getting away with it. Don't get me started on Optus !! :angry:

I have also met a few 'Ozzies with attitude' which I have been nice to up until now but migrating is hard enough without having to handle them as well. It does make me look at most other immigrants in a new light.
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Bridiej
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I dont know if it's because this post was in my mind, but last night I did indeed (well both of us did actually) ask out loud "can't anyone in this country do their job properly?"

This has stemmed from several things.

a) the huge cock up that is Malc's apprenticeship. He had the number of a woman who is apparently his support officer, rang her yesterday and she passed the buck back to the original bloke I spoke to (who is on holiday all week).

b) the builders are putting down our plumbing issues to "human error". As Malc pointed out, negligence is more like it.

c) we bought a light fitting for my office, it's four halogen spots on a track, Malc goes to put it up, they gave us the wrong bulbs! Luckily for us they forgot to charge us for them as well!

Yes, these things could happen anywhere but we just seem to be going through one of those "nothing ever goes right" phases...... :blink:
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