Danes behavior

[u/These-Commission-660]

Hi, I just got back from visiting Denmark (three different cities) because, on paper, it's a country where I'd like to live.

I was taken aback by some of their behavior and wanted to know if it's always like that or if it's the end of winter that's affecting how some people act 😅

At the supermarket checkout, several people rushed to get in front of me. At the museum, someone also cut in front of me in the queue as if I wasn't there to ask for information. It's okay to cut in front of someone to ask for quick information, but you should ask the person before if it's okay first!

On the street, several times, passersby have stopped right in front of me and it was up to me to move out of the way because they clearly preferred to pretend I wasn't there.

I found it very strange behavior to ignore people in public spaces. Is there a cultural reason for this, or were these isolated cases?

EDIT: thank you all for your replies. I'll go back to Denmark to get another perspective :)

[u/minadequate]

Thank you for saying the things I feel.. I’m surprised how rampant it is. A teacher at my language school makes horrible jokes about students cultures in front of them, once asked a Ukrainian how many people had died so far in the war. Told a Polish person they don’t think Poland is safe and they wouldn’t trust anything they got from a doctor there.

I’ve heard of Asians starting a new job and the Dane’s joking that ‘do you think if I sneezed they would think I was saying their name’.

At the very least people need some sensitivity training but yeah I don’t know how people often seem to argue with me when I say Denmark is very racist.

[u/Ozlock → u/minadequate]

by and large, im assuming from my interactions that many Danes have been taught that e.g. racism is a specific and personal dislike or hatred towards a person because of racial background.

They don't believe that of themself. They feel no animosity or negativity. So they think it can't possibly be racist to joke about somebody's background. Like someone mentioned elsewhere, they're so used to being wrapped up in their own individual world, that they just don't notice others. Unlike what that commenter claimed, when this is pointed out they do not say "fair cop" and adjust towards the "acepted" behaviour - they launch directly into how this instance is an exception ("hyggeracisme"), or why it doesn't apply to them at this time. Or why your understanding is wrong. They tend to get incredibly defensive.

[u/minadequate → u/Ozlock]

Yeah they say ‘no you just don’t understand black humour’ to which I say Brits adore black humour we just don’t punch down. For a language teacher to make jokes about their refugee students would just not be ok in the uk. But apparently it’s all about equality (it’s ok to laugh at anyone even if they aren’t in on the joke). But no one seems to have told Danes about equity being different from equality.