Understanding Argentine Thinking

[jeff1234]

Twice I've seen 40ish women having loud fits because they got up and left (once a ferry seat, once a gym mat) unattended and when they returned someone else was using it. Despite many mats and seats being available nearby they got very upset and made a scene, demanding their exact seat/mat be vacated.
Is there some kind of ownship principle among portenas?

 

[Silvie]

Twice I've seen 40ish women having loud fits because they got up and left (once a ferry seat, once a gym mat) unattended and when they returned someone else was using it. Despite many mats and seats being available nearby they got very upset and made a scene, demanding their exact seat/mat be vacated.
Is there some kind of ownship principle among portenas?

I have noticed this among older women taking classes and at the gym and swimming pool facilities, fighting over a chair, a particular shower or the ownership of a space. I think this is crazy, I am a local and I hope not to become like that.

 

[antipodean]

I call it head-up-ass syndrome. Something far broader than protecting one’s preferred spot.
Main symptoms are an irrational expectation that everyone is watching your every move and acutely aware of your every thought and habit.
Signs include a severe lack of proactive communication that may manifest itself by:
-Changing lanes without indicating and cursing the driver you cut off for being blind.
-Going on vacation without telling anyone and getting angry with the delivery guy for not knowing today you were at Disney.
-Insisting you were first in the line because when you saw the line from the other side of the room it was empty and you had already started walking toward it.
-Arguing with the shop owner that tells you they are closed at 18:01 because when you left home it was still 18:58.
-Expressing bewilderment at okupas of your empty table at a cafe because obviously you had just got up to go to the bathroom.

 

[jeff1234]

You reminded of an incident years ago. Having dinner with a small group including my usually easy going mother-in-law in Miami Beach. After eating we sat chatting for awhile. Then the waitress came over to tidy up the table and my MIL went batshit crazy yelling at her. She later explained that when she grew up in Argentina it was considered to be very insulting for a waitperson to touch your table before you asked.
But that explanation did not cover why the response was so loud and angry, nor how the waitress was supposed to know that she was operating under the rules of 1950's Buenos Aires and not 21 century Miami.
Fortunately my MIL immediately returned to her sweet self. But I learned that there was something about Argentinian women that I didn't understand.

 

[jblaze5779]

When you don't have control over the big things that impact your life, control over what little you do have becomes very important to maintain. Can't go to work because someone is blocking the roads? Can't go outside because the gov has you on lockdown? Can't save money because of inflation? Can't escape daily politics? No one has respect for your time? Always waiting in lines?

You sure as hell can take out your frustrations on someone that took "your" seat. Or whatever minuscule thing that bothers you.

I've noticed this since moving to argentina but it's applicable anywhere in the world at certain levels.

 

[Ronnie Hotdogs]

gente cheta, not reflective of the majority of Argentines

 

[jantango]

EGO