I went to a convenience store here in Phnom Penh this afternoon to pick up a couple of items. As I arrived at the checkout counter, I took my position behind another person who got there a few seconds earlier, patiently waiting for the cashier to ring him up. As the cashier handed him his change, I picked up my items to give to the cashier. Then, all of a sudden, another customer came out of nowhere and handed his goods to the cashier right in front of me. The cashier proceeded to ring him up despite knowing that I have been in line. But he didn’t stop there. A moment later, as the cashier was finished with this intruding customer, another one cut in to hand his items to the cashier.

When I first arrived in Cambodia a couple of years ago, things like this used to piss me off. I would scold at the cashier and demand he or she ring me up before anyone cuts in line. Nowadays, I’ve gotten so used to these incidences that I’ve learned to greet them with casual curiosity rather than indignation. This happens not only at convenient stores but everywhere people should be taking turns, such as ticket counters, government offices, and street intersections. When Phnom Penh motorists in Phnom Pehn approach an intersection, for instance, many look for the presence of police rather at the traffic lights.

In an impoverished country like this, people will take advantage of any opening they see, often without considering the consequences of their actions. Cutting in line to save a couple of minutes at a convenience store is totally unnecessary, but people do it anyway because they’re so used to doing things that way. It’s one thing when someone does something wrong without realizing what they’re doing is wrong. It’s another when they do not realize what they’re doing is wrong and is simply doing it out of habit. That’s not to say that bad habits are excusable. For instance, people who indulge in bad habits like drugs and gambling, they probably will eventually meet a very unpleasant fate. What will be the fate of a nation whose citizens habitually bribe, cheat and steal, without realizing what they’re doing is wrong? I think it’s great that Khmer people are patriotic enough to defend Preah Vihear to try to keep what we still have. But I think the enemy within pose a much greater threat to our civilization. It always has.