6 Finnish bad habits that should be banned immediately
Finnish people have a good excuse. It was not so long ago we lived in the isolation of the forest. It is understandable if we are yet to master textbook social skills or forget the little pleasantries that sweeten urban coexistence. Yet some national traits can no longer be excused if we want to survive in an interactive world. These six quintessentially Finnish bad habits should be banished back into the forests.
1. We’re mad about rules
Show me the Finn who crosses the road on a red light, even if there are no cars within a 10-mile radius. We always wear seatbelts, put on helmets, avoid smoking on communal balconies, do not eat on the bus and do not park outside other people’s gates.
This virtue is annoying because it turns us into closet policemen. God have mercy on the person who cycles on the pavement or puts banana peels in the mixed waste container. Their mistake will be quickly pointed out by the next passer-by, accompanied by a wagging finger. Stick to the rules or the wrath of the nation shall be upon you.
2. We moan because we can
Life is too easy. Despite efforts to demolish it, the welfare state ensures we rarely need to worry about things that matter. We have roofs over our heads and food on the table. No one is likely to point a gun at our family. If we get sick, we can get well without breaking the bank.
The downside is that it allows us to complain about the teeniest of things with relentless passion. We cannot drink outside after 10pm because people complain about the noise. We moan about children shouting in restaurants, the neighbour’s unkempt garden and the high pillows on a hotel mini-break. We should stop.
3. We don’t buy rounds
In London, people buy drinks all the time without a hidden agenda. The system relies on reciprocity. In Finland, buying a round of drinks usually results in a surprised thank you and nothing more. Finns are traditionally careful with money and fear ending up down on cash. However, generosity makes everyone happy. We should give it a go.
4. We don’t ask questions
We are not big on small talk. Open questions like what, when, where and why keep conversations going. Everyone loves to talk about themselves. Finns do not do questions, so the conversation ends. We claim we do not like to pry. We should think of it as taking an interest in the person we are talking to instead. The new question-asking Finn might relegate Kaurismäki films to history.
5. We don’t stop at zebra crossings
We are good at rules, apart from this one. Zebra crossings are for zebras, and we have no zebras in Finland. When Finns get in cars, they become powerful. They are no longer creatures who have to respect authorities. We ignore pedestrians because we are stronger than them. Official statistics show 31 pedestrians were involved in accidents on zebra crossings last year. This is a fair share of Finland’s minute population. It is time to change.
Lol! This made me laugh because it is soooooo true. For me number one is my worse. I would love to know why we love rules so much. Unfortunately even the bad ones!
Buying rounds is a pretty great thing only problem is in Finland it costs so much you can only do once + if no one does it back you r broke. Answer is cheaper liquor then we all buy rounds all the tme
1. Finns may be mad about rules, but they don’t obey them most of the time. I would change this to ” Finnish authorities are mad about rules”.
2. Everybody moans, not just Finns.
3. We don’t buy rounds, because it’s illegal. According to law, one person is only allowed to buy one portion of alcohol at once. So yeah, buying rounds or even buying one extra for your pal is illegal and bars probably will refuse to sell you a round anyways. Plus it’s bloody expensive to do that.
4. In what universe? Many Finns find conversations awkward, full stop. But that’s only half of the truth. I know many people who are able to keep conversation up for hours. So basically anywhere you go in the world, there are people who can keep up a conversation and people who find it awkward.
5. Actually this has improved a lot in recent years. Last time when car stopped at zebra crossing and let me go over was yesterday. Happens a lot in our neighbourhood actually.
6. Dog poo is a big problem, especially in spring time when the snow melts and the poop is everywhere, but the reason for this is inadequate laws about leaving the dog poop around. But it happens also during summer, not just winter. We need proper fining and surveillance for this, but local authorities are not interested because it’s not “big issue”. Well it could be big issue if they start fining it properly. For example in England they actually do fine you hardly if you don’t collect your dog poop.
This made me laugh out loud.
“Finns may be mad about rules, but they don’t obey them most of the time.”
Two sentences later.
“We don’t buy rounds, because it’s illegal.”
I think that says it all don’t you, Miisu?
But don’t worry nobody is perfect :)
But you do know, Drew, that there’s actually a difference between rules and laws, right? I mean, even though there’s a rule of removing your shoes while entering a Finnish house, no one will arrest you if you ain’t do so :)
lol! Yeah, this is true but how many people have you ever seen arrested for buying a round? I’ve bought loads in Finland and never been hauled off by the plod or ever told by anyone it’s breaking any laws. And actually until now never heard of it being illegal. And if it is illegal it’s obviously totally unenforceable and therefore another ridiculously pointless law like so many Finnish alcohol laws.
So, I think it’s actually more a cultural thing than Finns just obeying drinking laws.
Geddalyfe :p
Is this an example of the complaint ?
This list is spot on. Especially Spring time in Finland, when the dog feces are in full, fragrant bloom!
What about jumping queues? That’s another one that should be on your list.
what a sneaky way to smuggle in climate change and the “syrian” refugees agendas
the fact is only 20% of the refugees are syrians. and the reason why the media wanna incite talk about syrians is only so that we would go and invade them. the rest 80% are refugees from the many USA conquered countries, like iraq etc.
“from the 213,000 april-may-june only 44,000 were fleeing the syrian civil war”
with the rest totally agree, we finns are quite stubborn in our ways.
What a blatant way to showcase your ignorance and paranoia. Only paranoid right-wing nut jobs ignore the realities of man made climate change.
Something backed up by your bizarre rant about refugees. The fact is it’s totally irrelevant where the tiny amount of refugees Finland has so nobly agreed to take in come from. A refugee is a refugee, as was demonstrated by Sweden when it took 70 000 Finnish refugees in WW2, without means testing their neediness.
You seem to be confusing stubbornness with stupidity. Thankfully most Finns I know don’t.
There is a differnce if you come with your own money seeking refugee status and better welfare than if you flee to a neighbouring country and return once the war is over
“In my dreams, the new Finns are admirable global citizens who obey rules when they matter and display flexibility when they don’t”
I’ll think I’ll just ignore rules 1-6, since they don’t matter in the slightest. Have a nice life.
LOL! Crazy anarchist Finn! How you going to break habit number 1? By obeying all the rules? Dunno about a nice life, but you sure gonna have a confused one :)
I get that this is humor, and sometimes we achieve humorous results by exaggeration, but this kind of stereotyping is a cheap and boring way of joke. Blatant stereotyping never helped anyone. We live in a very different kinds of Finland clearly.
This was total bs really. Why would you write it when not even funny, or true?
Either you can’t handle criticism or you can’t handle a joke or both. Stereotypes don’t come from thin air. I have experienced all these things and am guilty of others. No point denying reality, that’s never helped anyone.
If this all bs how do you explain this then, Outi?
https://www.facebook.com/ylekioski/videos/1622795598011886/?permPage=1
I agree with so much of this, im a Scotsman who has been made an adopted Finn by my friends and their friends and their friends, cause I pretty much do everything as a Finn would, my spoken Finnish is even with a regional dialect however I doo know many Fins who do buy rounds, I must just have very good Finnish friends.
Mostly the Finns used to be closet drinkers and the bottle had to be empty no matter how many were in the party. Social drinking among Finns is something new.
A Finn without sauna is like fish out of water!
Finns don’t drink and eat in buses? Are you sure? Do you even use public transportation? Never heard of that awful beer can opening sound from the backseats? Should I send you the pictures?
Are you sure this list is about Finns and not about Germans? Because here in Germany, you will get tutted at or even yelled at for crossing a red light or using the wrong waste bin; and yet you’ll like will get run over by a car at a zebra crossing, because no lights = not a binding rule (in the mind of car drivers); making a noise louder than a fly after 10pm will prompt people to call the police; complaining is our national hobby, we’re unhappy if we can’t moan about something and will make something up if we have to; and I believe the Anglosaxon have coined to phrase “paying the German way” for our notorious quest to split the bill at the restaurant or bar. If we had snow (which, compared to Finland, we don’t), I’m sure our dog owners would use it to conveniently hide their dog’s poo under it, too.
The only difference is number 4. We are far too curious and direct as to not ask questions. But apart from that, I think we may have some things in common.
Buying rounds doesn’t work in Finland because some want 15 drinks on a bar night, whereas some have 2 or 3. When you go out in a group, half the people spend their night queing at the bar, drinking as much as possible and you don’t even get to talk to them.
Wasn’t so good or even accurate.
When your neighbor sees you use the elevator. He prefers to climb stairs even if lives in sixth floor .
When they stand in a queue, there are usually at least two meters between them as if they hate each other.
when you try for six consecutive months to contact the owners of apartments to rent an apartment and did not succeed because your tone and manner indicate that you are a foreigner and it’s could be done only by recommendation.
Let us be realistic. Who said that people here are fond of the rules and laws, every day I see a lot of local citizens crossing the street while the traffic light is red. Throwing cans and bottles on the street
When things went bad between me and my xwife due to her infidelity and she left the house , after that she came to take the rest of her stuff she came with a policeman of Swedish origin who told me that i wants to hold you in the toilet because your wife and her friend who were also of Swedish origin do not want to see you. even in a country like Iraq ruled by gangs and militias there is no policeman with such powers.
When I was robbed and I lost power of attorney that could cause the ruin and loss of my whole life drudgery . The investigator told me that you must be patient and the case may take up to two years to be considered and no summons was issued against the defendant.
When I once tried to contact the court to get a lawyer, the spokesman told me that we would not accept your case and I can not state the reasons
When one asylum seeker live in spacious flat . two or three rooms & balcony because he always invite his social worker to taste his delicious native kind of food or take him to the restaurant while a family of 3 person live in studio with no privacy for parents
When you are late for one minute they start to look at their watch or the clock on the wall maybe for no reason but just for annoying or insulting you and after that they try to be polite or nice I always resort to ignore them awkwardly .
When you are lost and try to ask somebody to guides you to certain place and and you surprised that they look at you as a creature from the mars
I was After strenuous efforts have succeeded teaching and convinced some of local people that buyig round is a nice Social custom and tradition all over the planet
It’s very seldom that I have met a foreigner or any immigrant or refuge who didn’t expressed his deep regret for coming here one of them told me once (I should have been killed in my country to live like this life )
This habits really need to be changed
You don’t speak for Finns.
Thanks so much for sharing your thoughts, Werner. I think we can safely assume that Anna at least speaks for a single Finn, herself, as much as you speak for a single dutchman, you. :) Even in this day and age it’s still not possible to articulate the collective thoughts of 6 million people, and frankly, we doubt it ever will be. However, it is possible to express an opinion and that’s exactly what this article is.