Cultural Droppings
My venerable little brother Andrew is in town for an undetermined amount of time, and accordingly I took some time off to make sure that he had someone with whom to spend his wintry Shanghai December. Good intentions can lead to gruesome results, however, as I took him to a New York style deli a short bus-ride away from my apartment for a quick American lunch to counter his impending homesickness. Unfortunately, not only was the food disgusting and the service akin to the quality of my underarm scent, we both caught a nasty bout of food poisoning that made us prisoner to our respective toilets last Thursday and Friday (and for me, much of the rest of the weekend).
On Friday, at his very worst, he suggested that I go buy some bananas, as both Web MD and his doctor back in San Diego had prescribed the fruit as an effective anecdote against what Mike and I eloquently term R.A. (Runny Ass). Odd, I thought, since everyone in China (even Chace) had told me that bananas are the cause of R.A., and not the cure.
At work, we often identify misinterpretation between the U.S.-based team and the Shanghai-based team as a result of inherent "cultural differences." This issue with the bananas was a blatant case of "cultural conflict." These two banana-beliefs could not be more antithetical to each other.
So I sat there and debated and debated whether or not heeding my brother's advice and going across the street go buy bananas was really the best course of action for our present crisis. I felt just as torn as when I'm at a fake DVD store, pulled both by my desire to watch the latest American movie fare as well as my commitment to anti-piracy and artistic ownership.
Wait, that's probably not the most accurate of statements.
Anyway, I decided to go with the bananas, not because I accepted one argument over another, but because I have two jars of Nutella in my cupboard, and pouring them on bananas was the perfect excuse to circumvent the, ahem, diarrheal impact of my choice. And there you are, the time tested axiom holds true: garbage in, garbage out.
On Friday, at his very worst, he suggested that I go buy some bananas, as both Web MD and his doctor back in San Diego had prescribed the fruit as an effective anecdote against what Mike and I eloquently term R.A. (Runny Ass). Odd, I thought, since everyone in China (even Chace) had told me that bananas are the cause of R.A., and not the cure.
At work, we often identify misinterpretation between the U.S.-based team and the Shanghai-based team as a result of inherent "cultural differences." This issue with the bananas was a blatant case of "cultural conflict." These two banana-beliefs could not be more antithetical to each other.
So I sat there and debated and debated whether or not heeding my brother's advice and going across the street go buy bananas was really the best course of action for our present crisis. I felt just as torn as when I'm at a fake DVD store, pulled both by my desire to watch the latest American movie fare as well as my commitment to anti-piracy and artistic ownership.
Wait, that's probably not the most accurate of statements.
Anyway, I decided to go with the bananas, not because I accepted one argument over another, but because I have two jars of Nutella in my cupboard, and pouring them on bananas was the perfect excuse to circumvent the, ahem, diarrheal impact of my choice. And there you are, the time tested axiom holds true: garbage in, garbage out.
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