Amsterdam moment!

Today I spent my first day in Amsterdam walking around taking in the sites, sounds and smells of now one of my favorite European cities. I find the enviornment very enticing as everthing is so organized and orderly, at least as far as infrastructure is concerned.

I did notice that people tend to have less regard for people's public space, however. I can't imagine being here in summer because even now the city is completely packed with people. Besides watching out for the various bicycles, trams, cars, buses, etc. I find people to be the biggest bother. I find the Dutch in general to very polite and nice as far as restrautant service is considered. However, when you're walking around town people have utter disregard for your personal space as people will cut in front of you to take a train, ask questions at the information desk or other similar circumstances.

On my way back to the Lloyd Hotel (www.lloydhotel.com) where I'm staying the weekend, there were three young Dutch guys of African origin raising a little commotion on the GVB tram (which according to gvb.nl transports about 1,000,000 people within the greater Amsterdam area every day) as they were laughing and talking loudly to gain attention from the other passengers. It was a late Friday afternoon and a majority of the commuters were simply looking to get home to unwind. When one of the youths began to play drums on his tram seat, I think it crossed the line as it really disrespected people's personal space.

One woman in particular, in fact the woman sitting right in front of me, kept glancing back as if it would have some possible effect to stiffle the noise. Finally she snapped something in Dutch and the banter went back and forth for a few minutes. Before I knew it the young man and woman were squaring off. The woman made the first move and attempted to simultaneously punch and kick the young guy. He deflected her by pushing her back. I had to prop her up in order to not be smashed by her falling on top of me.

At this moment, the tram driver stopped the tram and began to yell at both the young guy and woman and forced the young man to step off the tram. I couldn't help but think that what I previously would call a "New York" moment had universal application. Maybe the next time I'm in New York and encounter a "New York" moment, I'll think back to this brief altercation in Amsterdam.

I think what amplified the tension, at least for me personally, was that I had never previously heard so much Dutch being spoken. I find spoken Dutch to be extremely gutteral, almost if it shared some similarities with Arabic due to its velar fricatives. In any event, it's not an experience I'll soon forget!