House guests

[omaha_red]

That's effed up man. If I saw a pre-made sandwich/salad in somebody else's fridge, I would assume that it was already taken. Heck, I wouldn't even open another person's fridge without asking first. I probably would've shoved the salad in her face and dumped the tea on her head when I walked through the living room.

Everything you described goes against the very basic rules of common courtesy. How did these people miss the lesson?

a lot of people missed this lesson.. on top of many many other common sense lessons..
there are a lot of really really stupid people walking around out there

Back when I was a starving student, I spent my last bit of money
on a can of tuna, a small jar of mayo, and some Wonderbread.

I put it away, go to class, come home...and there's my soon-to-be-dead
roomate finishing the last bite of tuna salad sandwich.

i would have taken the sharp lid from the tuna can and slit his throat

[ThatGuy]

That's effed up man. If I saw a pre-made sandwich/salad in somebody else's fridge, I would assume that it was already taken. Heck, I wouldn't even open another person's fridge without asking first. I probably would've shoved the salad in her face and dumped the tea on her head when I walked through the living room.

Everything you described goes against the very basic rules of common courtesy. How did these people miss the lesson?

a lot of people missed this lesson.. on top of many many other common sense lessons..
there are a lot of really really stupid people walking around out there

Back when I was a starving student, I spent my last bit of money
on a can of tuna, a small jar of mayo, and some Wonderbread.

I put it away, go to class, come home...and there's my soon-to-be-dead
roomate finishing the last bite of tuna salad sandwich.

i would have taken the sharp lid from the tuna can and slit his throat

I would've used it to cut his stomach open to get my food back.

[TheoSqua]

i'm wondering if it may be a cultural difference and to them what they're doing is completely normal for the situation.

[cardinalkarp]

i'm wondering if it may be a cultural difference and to them what they're doing is completely normal for the situation.

Being rude as hell is completely normal in their culture is what you're trying to say?

[KyCardinalFan]

i'm wondering if it may be a cultural difference and to them what they're doing is completely normal for the situation.

Being rude as hell is completely normal in their culture is what you're trying to say?

I wondered the same thing. Perhaps they are completely open when they are a host so they feel perfectly welcome in helping themselves to their host's things?

It would help to know the background of this family: are they all Japanese? Have they been to the U.S. before? Is there some sort of sponsor group that could intervene so to explain proper protocol to these 'guests'?

I wouldn't be so quick to be critical without fully understanding the situation. However, I can fully understand the origination for the rant. It's unfortunate that there isn't an understanding of boundaries.

Perhaps Clement or other Asain-travelled posters could weigh in? It does seem unusual for anyone to behave that way.

[phins]

That's effed up man. If I saw a pre-made sandwich/salad in somebody else's fridge, I would assume that it was already taken. Heck, I wouldn't even open another person's fridge without asking first. I probably would've shoved the salad in her face and dumped the tea on her head when I walked through the living room.

Everything you described goes against the very basic rules of common courtesy. How did these people miss the lesson?

I'm assuming they are from a different culture, based on the Japanese comment. I won't pretend to know much, if anything, about the Japanese culture, but I have heard that the Japanese are a culture that shares their items freely among the village or whatever the hell they call it.

EDIT:I see others have a similar point/theory as my own.

[ThatGuy]

Looks like I missed the part about the kids speaking Japanese. Chalking this up to cultural differences would make sense.

[cardinalkarp]

I would think that it pretty obvious that if someone is trying to sleep you don't just let your kids scream, turn up the tv and just generally be loud as hell.

As far as the food thing that's very possibly a cultural thing.

The mouthwash is completely unacceptable as well, drinking it straight from the bottle??

Maybe it would be courteous of them to read up on American culture/common courtesies since this is after all, where they are staying.

[phins]

I would think that it pretty obvious that if someone is trying to sleep you don't just let your kids scream, turn up the tv and just generally be loud as hell.

As far as the food thing that's very possibly a cultural thing.

The mouthwash is completely unacceptable as well, drinking it straight from the bottle??

Maybe it would be courteous of them to read up on American culture/common courtesies since this is after all, where they are staying.

I'd think we could all agree, that based on American courtesy customs, they fail miserably. OP is doing a good job of maintaining their composure, as I'm guessing this is something that was set up by the spouse, and at this point, he is wanting to keep the peace.

If it continues much longer, I wouldn't think poorly of the OP if they had a bit of a blowup with the wifey over the ordeal, and demand they find other arrangements soon...

[cardsfansince82]

Heh, no I'm not married.

My stepmom's dad is on his second wife. Her son was stationed in Okinawa and married this woman and had these two kids. They live in Tokyo but the dad is 100% American. So I guess this is my stepmom's stepmom's daughter in law and grandkids. The dad didn't come on this trip but the mom has been to the US many times. I can't rip into them because my dad would probably kill me on behalf of my stepmom. They are outside screaming in the pool right now so it appears this will go on for at least another day. The mom is pretty nice overall just does some odd things. I thought about the cultural differences angle but I don't think that excuses all of it. What I don't get is that her best friend lives in California now. That's where they are supposedly going next. Yet it's hotter than hell here, there's nothing for kids to do in Las Vegas and they don't know me at all but they keep staying.