Sept. 4 - in Bangkok

Bangkok is a frenetic place, but the chaos seems like it might just be the outer, visible layer on a city with a calm heart. Or maybe it's just full-go with a few pockets of calm in the shaded alleys.
The first impression for a tourist, at least a white backpacking tourist, is the number of people who eagerly ask you to redistribute a bit of your wealth into their pocket.
Generally they're asking for a swap: your money in exchange for transport. Every few feet on the street someone will offer you a ride in a tuk-tuk or taxi, or tell you the attraction you're walking to is closed and they have an even better destination to take you to (generally these "offers" are more indiscriminate shouting. And a tuk-tuk is a two-person cart hooked to the back of a motorcycle).
After a day, the people making these "offers" descend from the forefront of your awareness into the background noise. As your mind adjusts to Bangkok, the shouts reach annoyment status far less regularly.