Riga Population: Don't Ask Us!

As I've pointed out various times on the blog, one thing you learn quickly in Latvia is to avoid asking the Riga population for help! There are exactly two answers you will get from the locals in Riga: "no" and "I don't know". I haven't seen this strange phenomenon back in my country, so I have to assume it's related to Latvia's culture and/or eastern European tendencies. You can ask some incredibly simple questions and get blown off consistently in Riga.

It's as if the Riga population is only programmed to complete one specific task at a time. Anything else is disregarded with prejudice. When I ask the waitress at a restaurant where a popular bar is in Riga, I get a look from her as if to say, "My job is to serve you drinks and food, why the hell are you asking me for directions?".

Similarly, the Riga population gets quite agitated when anything out of the ordinary takes place. Latvian cashiers throw a fit when you give them coins that they don't prefer. Latvian women huff and puff when you get into their path while walking. Rude Latvian servers roll their eyes and pout when you attempt to talk to them in English. Locals even seem annoyed when you feed ducks at the river!

After three weeks in Riga, it's clear to me that Latvians are not an accepting and embracing people. They have rigid expectations for how every process is supposed to operate, and anything different or out of the ordinary sets them off. For a country that depends so much on tourism, you'd think Latvia would learn to appreciate tourists and foreigners. Instead you get a sense that they dislike everyone from outside the country.