Cross Cultural Confusion !
Some best practises I noticed and liked in the U.S. were ‘small courtesies’- holding the door for strangers behind you, saying thank you and sorry to strangers, smiling at them in elevators…. I found these come naturally to those live here. And I became adept in becoming ‘politeness personified’
Flushed with this ‘feel good’ factor, I decided to try this out in Dubai ( America returned, you know !)
I think this hotel had a huge glass door and I held the door sensing someone behind me. And I had to hold it for about five minutes as the kind gentleman had a phalanx of a family- a couple of wives,(my guess), about a dozen kids- trooping in imperiously. No smile or thank you but with a concerned look about an ‘ununiformed doorman’ 😎
I got a repeat of this experience both in Dubai and India several times. Although my heart still nudges me to ‘do your duty without expecting results… maa phaleshu kadachana and all that, my logical left brain differs and has devised a crude corollary to the Theory of Social Graces !
THAT THAT COUNTRY, THAT THAT CULTURE !😎
TATASTHU !
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So true, it often happens with me in India. After returning from 3 months stay at US, it took another 3 months to come to normal state 🙂