[nomoreservices]

> your towns and cities are full of rule-followers doing herd-passive-aggressive self-enforcement, and live-and-let-live is a rare feeling

Can you give examples of what you mean by that? I've been living in the US (Seattle area) for over 7 years and haven't felt that at all.

[porksoda]

OK, seattle; Washington State is one of my favorite places. I'm african, I didn't think twice: I mistakenly walked out of the bar with my beer in my hand, to fetch something from the car.

The ten minute fiasco that followed, during which I was not permitted to re-enter the bar with my beer, but not permitted to put my beer in the trash can, nor permitted to "finish it" and throw the can away, I had to "pass it over the line" with outstreched arms, as though it was radioactive.

(edit: mis-remembered. I actually had to pass it over the wall that surrounded the entrance, not over the entranceway itself. Maybe that's part of the rules).

There were no cops on the scene, but I FELT we were on the verge of someone calling nine-fucking-one-one.

In order to re-enter the pub (closest to my airbnb), I had to "ask forgiveness", and I was "lucky enough" to have it bestowed on me.

Honestly I felt like a forty year old child.

[porksoda]

The thing I confabulated this with, was a memory of a TSA agent and I, exchanging a "forbidden" item. That was also really weird, though I kind of get why the overreaction exists; surely someone in an airport somewhere's died of a keychain-pocket-knife before.

[porksoda]

Downtown Redmond restaurant/bar: a chap stands a the entrance, right foot outside, left foot inside. Smoke in his right hand, beer in his left. Sticks his head out the door for a puff, sticks his head in the door for a sip.

The smoke blowing back into the restaurant was terrible (and I'm a smoker). But the rule-lady didn't mind: as long as the beer is here, and the smoke is there.

[unishark]

I don't see how this one fits. Were you the busy-body who wanted rules enforced in this story?

Generally cities are a hassle everywhere, with some exceptions. Have you been to New Orleans? Generally in the US, people who want to be left alone don't go downtown.

[porksoda]

San-Francisco. My group's eating a (fairly pricy) pizza. I step outside for a smoke. I'm respectful; I roll small cigs from sweet tobacco, and I stand downwind and apart.

A woman (passerby) approaches me, and asks if I could please step into the street with "that thing".

I do so. She walks on.

[dang]

(Looks like your comments were being rate limited. Sorry! That's based on past abuses by other users, not you. I've marked your account legit to fix this.)