A Note on New Zealand Culture

We have a friend in town from the States and as we went about explaining nuances of the Kiwi culture, I was reminded of one of my first bus rides through the city. It was five 'o clock traffic. The bus was completely packed. We were driving up Symonds Street when I realized how quiet it was on the bus. Not a single person was talking on their cell phone. I thought, well, there must be some rule about talking on the cell phone on the bus or maybe Kiwis are just particularly considerate of others. I mean, if this were LA, surely there wouldn't be a single person on the bus not talking on their cell phone. It wasn't until later that I learned the Kiwis are texters. There are only two cell phone companies in the entire country and talking on the phone is really expensive, but texting is relatively free.