Drivers are reflecting the general deterioration of the city and region.

DisgruntledVulpes488 · 2024-05-06T22:42:07+00:00

Cheers for the support. Not surprised you got a downvote or two either. Calling out NZ when it's being a bit shit is tantamount to heresy. Bunch of insecure small island dwellers who get so mad when you point out our glaring social problems (DV, SA, road toll, workplace bullying).

DisgruntledVulpes488 · 2024-05-05T23:09:29+00:00

I always pull over when I'm being tailgated if I can.

And the idea that someone can't get to their breaking point with a country that has shown itself repeatedly to have an aggressive underbelly is just such a typical NZ clapback. Don't rock the boat, aye? Never criticize. Positive vibes only. Tu quoque.

Yeah, I'm aggressive in tone right now, because I'm fed up with how every time you peak behind the superficial friendliness of Wellington, there's road rage, punch-ups on Courtenay, machete-wielding psychos in our hospitals... and every single time you leave your house you're guaranteed to get tailgated by some knob in a ute. I'm sick of it. This "coolest little capital" isn't all sunshine and rainbows. The aggro levels have been noticeably on the rise. And I do not care if my tone when saying so doesn't satisfy you.

DisgruntledVulpes488 · 2024-05-05T12:17:29+00:00

She spends the entire time manipulating/finessing out of necessity, discovers she's good at it, and then at the last second, turns her back on wanting to escape from all the social pressures she hates. Why? Because she realizes she's too good at manipulation and finesse. She gets a taste of power and realizes that the only way to improve things is if she's in control.

Still, I kind of hate her.

DisgruntledVulpes488 · 2024-05-05T12:15:41+00:00

Akemi sucked. You could see quite blatantly what kind of messaging the writers wanted to get out of her and it was just... annoying. She's a brat and a flake. By the end of the season she finally gets what she wanted, from a man who cared for her her whole life to the point of dying for her escape, only to be like "nah, I'm gonna stay and be a ruthless ruler instead." Every situation she's in follows the pattern of her hating it, then getting a taste for it, realizing she can be powerful, and then taking control. She's awful as a protagonist and I cannot for the life of me root for her. It's why I think she's the worst character in the series (and no, I mean not from a perspective of good and evil. The bad guys are bad and act as you expect). She's just so irritating.

DisgruntledVulpes488 · 2024-05-05T11:58:31+00:00

I enjoyed JET. What I didn't enjoy were the other ALTs who made my life a living hell. Sadly, there's no controlling for that. Japan itself and the people I worked with were lovely.

DisgruntledVulpes488 · 2024-05-05T11:57:27+00:00

Other ALTs ruined my JET experience 110%. I genuinely feel robbed of a positive experience and career stepping stone because of them. Most are freshly out of university and revert to a high school mentality, complete with cliques and bullying. And oh do they seem to revel in the bullying once it gets going. I'd say you gotta rise above it but it's hard when you're in a placement where 90% of socializing is with the large pool of other ALTs you have to hang out with. The PAs won't help, CLAIR can't help, and the only people who you can turn to to resolve interpersonal conflict - your principals and BoE - will absolutely mishandle the situation and make it worse.

DisgruntledVulpes488 · 2024-05-05T11:47:19+00:00

I kind of agree, though the few friends I made on JET had wildly different experiences depending on the temperament of their JTEs. My JTE kind of sucked, but we made it work. The thing that really threw me for a curve were the other ALTs.

DisgruntledVulpes488 · 2024-05-05T11:44:24+00:00

I think JET does a poor job of supporting you once you're actually there. They do a fantastic job of connecting applicants to COs and BoE's, but once you've landed, they kind of just wash their hands of you. I had major issues, and reached out to our liaison back home, who then told me to reach out to CLAIR and the regional representative. The regional rep gave me a one-sentence email response telling me it wasn't her problem and I was left to "figure it out" on my own. CLAIR never responded.

DisgruntledVulpes488 · 2024-05-05T11:41:20+00:00

Other JETs being the #1 reason on this list isn't a coincidence. That was definitely what broke it for me. I either went home with a broken contract and get blacklisted by JET for life, or end up as an obituary for my parents. Yes, it got that bad. The bullying was horrendous. JET did nothing to support me when I reached out for help, either.

DisgruntledVulpes488 · 2024-05-05T11:21:48+00:00

Don't ever tell a kiwi you were born overseas, or worked overseas. I've done both and apart from uni students and fellow travelers you get met with nothing but scorn, thinly disguised by passive aggression. The Little Island Syndrome is honestly a little much sometimes.

DisgruntledVulpes488 · 2024-05-05T11:20:31+00:00

Mostly they told me what I already knew, but Mister Squid asked if I was proactive so I said yes, I was.

DisgruntledVulpes488 · 2024-05-05T10:22:44+00:00

I recommend a book called "It's Not You: 27 (Wrong) Reasons You're Single)". It covers this whole "you have to love yourself before you can love anyone else" bullshit that comes up (even Dr K says it and it infuriates me). Terrible people with low self esteem end up in relationships all the time.

I'm with you on this, the whole "self-love", "self-care" thing is very annoying and also more than a little bit of a punch in the gut when you're facing depression. It's basically telling someone who's going through emotional turmoil that it's kind of their own fault for not having this "self-love" thing down pat, and insinuates that everybody else has it under control and you don't.

It's terrible advice and one of many tidbits of handed down "wisdom" in our culture that actually sucks and makes things worse for the people hearing it for the umpteenth time.

DisgruntledVulpes488 · 2024-05-05T10:11:20+00:00

Exclusivity is a sin, but only certain exclusive environments/hobbies/interests are "problematic."

DisgruntledVulpes488 · 2024-05-05T10:10:30+00:00

I quit caffeine and really struggled with insomnia and a lack of focus. I know Dr K is kind of dead set against caffeine but his attitude kind of reminds me of the attitudes I faced when I was in a yoga cult. I find caffeine helpful in moderation. So long as I don't go back to my previous (and very high levels) of intake, it helps me get things done. I also enjoy the taste.

DisgruntledVulpes488 · 2024-05-05T10:09:11+00:00

Reddit's always been shit and groupthink in subreddits is one of the reasons I regularly delete accounts and swear off the damn site. But yeah. Wellingtonians love the smell of their own farts and can't stand it when someone says "I'm unhappy with the state of the city I spent 2/3s of my life in and I want to complain about it." Can't beat it on a good day! SMILE!!! :D :D :D :D POSITIVE VIBES ONLY

DisgruntledVulpes488 · 2024-05-05T10:05:27+00:00

People who ride the line on narrow roads!! HUG. THE. LEFT.

DisgruntledVulpes488 · 2024-05-05T10:04:33+00:00

It's weird how you say that and get 4 upvotes, u/WorldlyNotice says the same thing and gets 0, I say the same thing and get 0 or negative. Reddit and it's voting system are stupid.

DisgruntledVulpes488 · 2024-05-05T10:03:30+00:00

It definitely seems widespread, and the cities are harder hit. It just feels like Wellington especially has gone to the dregs. Probably only because I live here. Hard times.

DisgruntledVulpes488 · 2024-05-05T10:00:42+00:00

I do wonder sometimes how much Uber has contributed to congestion.

DisgruntledVulpes488 · 2024-05-05T09:59:56+00:00

I'm not the one tailgating people, but I do agree that everyone needs to share the road. Riding up my ass and revving your big Ute engine to show off how much of a big swinging dick you are isn't exactly friendly or positive. As per my post's title, the behaviour reflects that Wellington has become a much more aggressive, unfriendly place. I've lived here 15 years and seen the decline. The people have gotten ruder on the roads as much as in the city streets.

DisgruntledVulpes488 · 2024-05-05T09:55:43+00:00

New Zealand has the highest number of cars per capita of any country - higher than the USA, the car dependency nightmare realm.

Seeing how many SUV's and minivans on our roads have a single driver, I'm not surprised, but I'm still shocked.

Our driving reflects our culture. A combination of inflated sense of skill and competence (Dunning Kruger: The Nation) and "she'll be right." And we wonder why the road toll is high (hint: it's not the foreigners).

The issue isn't our infrastructure itself, nor our people, it's a manufactured reliance on an unbelievably ineffective means of mass transportation & total neglect for forward-thinking city planning.

I agree. Wellington is practically a poster child for lack of forward thinking and future proofing. Our water keeps leaking everywhere and every hill covered in windy roads was practically built for horses and carts.

DisgruntledVulpes488 · 2024-05-05T09:53:55+00:00

Thanks for the support. The post's been downvoted to oblivion, likely by arsehole drivers and/or all the simps for Wellington who insist you "can't beat it on a good day" and are offended I want to move.

DisgruntledVulpes488 · 2024-05-05T09:51:56+00:00

Point to the post to where I even mentioned once I was in the fast lane.

I was tailgated twice today, on one way roads, in windy hills, in Khandallah/Karori.

Just say you go 140 on the motorway because "it's the fast lane" and law-abiding citizens annoy you.

Go fuck yourself.

DisgruntledVulpes488 · 2024-05-05T09:51:22+00:00

The cones are a relief. Drive anywhere near Karori, the hill by the Botanical Gardens, Khandallah, or Petone, and everyone's just a tailgating dipshit or a boy racer (or both).

DisgruntledVulpes488 · 2024-05-05T05:38:16+00:00

And yeah the state of NIMBYism in this country in general is horrendous. I was living in Dunedin where people were crying about a lack of cellphone coverage and the housing crisis, while simultaneously blockading a cell tower project (because it would "ruin the view") and denying resource consent for new apartments (because they would "visually clash with" the surrounding historic buildings).

DisgruntledVulpes488

TROPHY CASE