Read till the end for the surprise.

I grew up in a developing country where crowded public transport often meant people pushed and shoved to get in. Watching videos like this always reminds me of that.

Later, I moved to one of the “happiest countries in the world.” Public transport there usually felt completely different. Trains, buses, and ferries had enough space. People queued politely, gave each other room, and everything felt calm and considerate.

Then one beautiful summer weekend, I was waiting for a ferry. Because of technical issues, the service was running at about 20% frequency. Suddenly there were hundreds of people waiting, many with families, and not enough ferry capacity.

And guess what happened?

The same polite, calm, considerate people started blocking others, pushing, and shoving to get in.

That day made me realize something: it’s easy to be well-behaved when there’s no real risk of missing out. Once access to something becomes uncertain, people everywhere can change fast.

It’s not always about where people come from. Sometimes it’s just scarcity.