Funny Quirks - Israel

A breif list of cultural quirks:

1.  People cut lines all the time. Sometimes lines don't even form and it's just a mob of people trying to get a sandwich. HOWEVER, some people really care about which spot they are assigned to on the bus. You can ask Nat and Michie about their experience with that ;)

2. Kids drive their motor scooters on the sidewalk. It's terrifying for so many reasons. Also bicycles share the sidewalks in Tel Aviv. From a bicyclist's perspective it's the safest thing to do. From my perspective it's another reason not to text and walk.

3. Some people are really aggressive at first and then warm up later. We had a cab driver who tried to charge us extra for our bags after we had already agreed on the price. Angry banter pursued and ended with him tersely accepting the original price we agreed on. He then immediately switched moods and started sharing stories about his grandchildren. Many of our Israeli friends confirmed these observations. One friend said, "people here don't hold their anger inside, instead they get it out quickly and perhaps that's why they calm down so quickly". Needless to say, it seems plausible that people don't have as much of a problem with grudges here.

4. This is one of my favorites. At aroma cafe, the Starbucks of Israel, they wrap and package the halves of sandwiches separately. Sure this is wasteful but the default portion size is cut in half. My guess is that this makes it easier to stop eating when people are full rather than mindlessly finishing the whole meal. It worked on me. That being said I don't think it's intentional but it sure would make for a good study for Brian Wansink.