[Opinion] Teaching a Sense of Shame

Last weekend, I went to see a musical only to end up with trouble. Because a young man, sitting next to me, kept his bare feet on top of the LCD monitor installed in the back of the front row, I could not concentrate on the performance. I had to smell not the scent of culture, but the scent of feet. I almost lost my temper and felt like stamping out of the place, but I barely restrained myself. Fortunately, he didn’t seem too unreasonable. He blushed when I carefully mentioned just a little bit about that. I felt rather foolish about myself for having not stopped him during the performance

This happened to me during another performance prior to the above incident. My seat was located in the front of the second floor. I saw a young woman next to me laying out opera glasses, pamphlets, and a camera phone on top of the railing in front of her. This made me feel uncomfortable since I have observed that things sometimes fall from the second floor onto the first floor during performances, startling audiences on the lower floor. After a little bit of hesitation, I asked her, “Since things like pamphlets can fall into the lower floor, why don’t you put them down under your seat?” She, however, didn’t do move a finger and gave an unpleasantness look. She snapped flash pictures during the performance without sign of any shame.

This is what I experienced a while ago. In a small space, all the windows of a restaurant were closed for air-conditioning and thirty-something people, narrowly seated to each other, were enjoying cold noodles. A woman in her twenties who finished her noodles early took out her cigarette. Men well advanced in years, sitting near her, made fake coughs to inform her of the inappropriateness. Still, she continued her smoking leisurely. I could not enjoy my noodles because of her cigarette fumes, however. Nobody there stopped her. If she were a man, she would have probably heard unpleasant remarks from others.

Are these happening just in public performance places or in restaurants? The Internet is filled with shameless behavior and words, not to mention public places such as subways, libraries, and buses. To make short of a long story, it seems that our entire society has become a “shameless society.” Those who can feel shame can be improved, but those who cannot, are beyond any remedy. Quoting “Teaching sense of shame,” the title of a novel by Park Wan-seo, the current situation may be in need of a nationwide campaign.

Oh Myung-chul, Editorial writer, oscar@donga.com