'Hassle'- How is it defined?

LiamMc

'Hassle'
It must be one of the must overused words in Travel lexicon. I think part of it's popularity is to do with sounding like 'harrass', which has images of rights abuses and authoritarianism.

I first came across it regularly in early editions (early 1980's) of Lonely Planet guides to Developing World countries or regions. It invariably concerned visa applications or visits to a Marketplace.
Now maybe the LP writers/editors were using a culturally-specific word for the Australian based publication house or it was used alot at that time. The problem is the word hasn't gone away and seems to have expanded to any interruption to continuous movement or thought process.

I don't even have sympathy for the early use of the word as there is a voluntary nature to bringing the challenges of visa applications and visiting a Marketplace onto a person. There is something odd about visitors going to a marketplace and getting frustrated that retail owners wished to sell the visitors products. The retail owners want the visitor there, the visitor wants to be there. So where is the difficulty, the visitor complaining perhaps didn't want to be there in the first place. They should have said.

I have also noticed that visitors who describe themselves as Travellers use the word alot more that visitors who describe themselves as Tourists. I believe that the Tourists have travelled more in a repeated way and expect/anticipate the simple interruptions. The Tourist can't avoid them but doesn't emphasis it as part of the holiday.
I believe the Traveller collects 'hassle' stories to regurgitate later.

I do consider illegal detention by police or physical assault as actual Crimes and a little higher than the challenges visitors usually face.

I do consider a 9-hour Immigration interview on arrival as Hassle. Or a 'necessary' missed transport connection or the Cancellation of a tour missing out on a 'Must See'. Partly because there is a stop on progress of the trip or the important value of the trip is reduced.

Illness is Medical and not Hassle. And should be repeated in illness conversations e.g. "That's right.. I picked up X condition at X place".

So my main problem is the word is used to criticise the local community. It's almost always about people, either individuals or groups. If a guidebook or other visitors are using the term 'hassle' that reinforces it's overuse one more time. Almost always Developing World, occasionally Transport systems in Major developed cities otherwise the word 'Hassle' is used to slag off people in the Developing World.

juan.kerr

Irritating inconvenience

schemingbohemia

I feel hassled having read all the way through that!

Yamanoto

LiamMc wrote: »

'
There is something odd about visitors going to a marketplace and getting frustrated that retail owners wished to sell the visitors products. The retail owners want the visitor there, the visitor wants to be there. So where is the difficulty, the visitor complaining perhaps didn't want to be there in the first place. They should have said.

It's patently clear that the overly-aggressive 'hard sell' is what many take exception to. Baffles me how traders haven't copped on to just how counter-productive that approach can be - though perhaps it delivers results which I just don't see, as I've high-tailed it outta the Souk to regain my sanity.

As for using it as a stick to beat the local community, I'd be cognisant of cultural sensitivities wherever I travel, but there are also universal standards of behaviour which one should reasonably expect from those you interact with, regardless of where you are in the world.

juan.kerr

schemingbohemia wrote: »

I feel hassled having read all the way through that!

There must be some background to the original post, but I'm afraid to ask...

dingding

Please don't