A classic defense of cultural difference.
Our Dead Will Eat The Food as Soon as Your Dead Smell The Flowers You Place on Their Graves
By Ittech | February 17th, 2012
Differing attitudes toward various factors of human relationships cause communication problems. It possibly causes more miscommunications than in body positions and movements. The views and practices of cultural differences among various factors of human relationships for illustrative purposes depend upon the following factors. It mainly depends upon five major factors: time, space, odors, and frankness.
Time: In our culture (French) time must be planned and synchronized for better and ultimate use. Punctuality, meeting of the deadlines, business conduct smoothly within specific time limits and working all these with a complete schedule is always consider as the need of the hour. In some other cultures (especially in Middle East) people se the time in more and more relaxed way. They do not empathize on planning, meeting of schedules instead they reach the meeting late, and important people should be late in the meting as it shows their importance. In business conversations people in thee countries go slower pace, start the casual talk before getting into the main cause. So, there are two views of time and when both the persons from these regions meet then there ought to be mis- communication among them. So, views about time differ widely in some cultures stress punctuality and in some cultures it does not.
Space: Space is viewed differently by different cultures, inn some cultures people want to be far apart, in other cultures they want to be close. North Americans tend to prefer about two feet or so distance between themselves and those with whom they speak. In Arabian and South American cultures people stand close to each other and not following this practice is considered impolite and bad etiquette! North Americans view the personal space is the right and tend ton respect the right o the others. Thus they wait and waiting for their turn. People from some other countries jostle for the space in trains and other ques. In encounters among those people whose cultures have such vast differences towwards actions and spaces, and all these likely to be misrepresented.
Odors:
Some cultures view body odors as bad and some cultures view them as normal. Americans view the body odors as bad and work hard to neutralize body odors and cover them up. But in some Asian cultures body odors not be hidden but as something friends should experience. It is the “breathe the breath” and thus feel their presence by smelling. So, clearly en counters between these two cultures in any business communications lead to serious mis communication.
Frankness:
High context cultures are more frank and explicit than low context cultures. North Americans are frank, explicit in their relationships, blunt, and sharp in doing so. Asians tend to be far more reticent and implicit. Americans give more background information where as with Asians it is vice versa. The Asians may appear evasive, roundabout and indecisive to North Americans in a business communication but this is not true. North Americans may appear harsh n aggressive and impolite to Asians but this is also not true.
With telephonic customs in a business communications Chinese may tend to stop the phone abruptly after their purpose ahs been completed on the other hand Americans tend to move on to friendly talk and clearly prepare the listener for the end of the call.
A classic defense of cultural difference:
The classic “ugly American” was travelling far away land. He had been marked by a tendency to find and call attention to errors and flaws what he has been experienced – the foods, hotels and the customs in general. One day he came upon a ceremony at which a dead person is buried or cremated. And felt it there “What a stupid practice!” he uttered aloud with surprise, horror and joy to his native host. “Do your people actually think that the dead person will eat the food?”” At this point the host had taken all the rude expression intended to offend or hurt he could handle for one day. So he reacts verbally” Our dead will eat the food as soon as your dead smell the flowers you place on their graves”
