In Reply to: Top 10 most annoying things tourists do. posted by btw on Monday, 7. March 2005 at 09:56 Bali Time:
something of ourselves when we discuss our likes and dislikes. Someone mentioned upbringing in regard to what we see as acceptable clothing. I am 70 and my mother was 29 when I was born, so I am going back a long way. My mother grew up in Dover on the south coast of England, where they get a reasonable amount of beach weather. My mother and her sisters were not allowed to learn to swim, because my grandmother regarded beachwear for girls as disgusting. In those days that was virtually ankle to neck covering, with extra material to hide the feminine shape.
My mother swore she would not bring her children up in such a ridiculous manner. When I was a young boy just going into the "shy" stage, my mother explained to me that if I grew up with that kind of attitude, then I'd give myself a hard time. Going to high school and having to shower [nude] with other boys before swimming or after sports, going into the armed forces at 18 [compulsory in those days], with no personal privacy, maybe needing invasive medical treatment, with female doctors/nurses etc, the list goes on.
Well, I took it to heart and so did my sisters. My elder sister was a very glamourous outgoing woman. She made herself a bikini in 1947, probably the first girl in our area to have one. You couldn't buy them in those days in England, so she copied it from a European magazine.
I've grown up very comfortable with the human body. I don't necessarily choose to wear what others are wearing, but it doesn't bother me. Neither do I criticise someone for being too old/fat/thin etc to wear whatever. Sometimes I'm amused, but that's another matter and I keep my amusement to myself. It's not my place to make others feel uncomfortable, merely because they don't fit what may be my standards.
What bothers me are things which affect me personally, the two main of which are excess noise, particularly at night and, as a lifelong non-smoker, passive smoke. I don't object to others enjoying those things, I just don't want to share them, so I avoid places where they are likely to be encountered. I suppose you could say that, in at least most respects, I'm pretty good at minding my own business.
Bali has thrown its doors open to tourists and visitors from all over the world. They need us, we love them, an ideal win/win situation. Many countries which are targeted by the Balinese tourism authorities are well known for having many people who are pretty laid back when it comes to holiday and leisure dress standards. So naturally this comes through when these people are in Bali.
To those who say we should avoid doing things in Bali which are not traditionally acceptable, then think about this one. If you're out enjoying yourself at one of the late night clubs in the Jl Dhyana Pura area, do you concern yourself about the Balinese people who live locally and who have to get up early for work after a perhaps sleepless night, or do you just care about the guys wearing shirts and the girls not wearing bikinis?
There's no real answer to my last paragraph, is there? But, as in most things in life, some compromise is probably the way to go.