4 ms·
"While it clearly isn't considered offensive in the US, it's still a pretty rude gesture" There are a bunch of other gestures that meet the same criterion. I a
by steamboiler 17y ago
"While it clearly isn't considered offensive in the US, it's still a pretty rude gesture"
There are a bunch of other gestures that meet the same criterion. I am Indian, so I'll list some I'm familiar with:
1. Not addressing your teacher/professor as "Sir/Madam". Addressing a teacher as Mr. X/Professor Y is verboten.
2. Displaying photos of your family at work (mild, but yes)
3. "Disrespecting" your elders/teachers/bosses with counterarguments.
...
On the social front, you'd be expected to
1. Not address your elders solely by their first name.
2. Not cohabit with the opposite sex before marriage.
3. Not smoke/drink.
4. Not eat pork/beef.
5. Not change your gender.
Which of these did you object to/are you going to object to? Will you refuse to work with someone trans-gendered, as would happen "instantly" in India?
The fact is, you were in the US not India. I would argue that the onus is on you to adjust yourself to the customs of your hosts rather than the other way around. Just as an Indian would expect any US (or otherwise foreign) visitors to keep in mind the Indian customs.
PS: you used two epithets to describe your teacher in the same paragraph. I find it amusing that your "Indian" sensibility (Guru! Respect!) is not offended by it.
- jacabado 17y agoOr if he is your boss, you better adjust (would that mean the trans-gendered would have to change again? Or is that a double violation?)
- Vivtek 17y agoMaybe if your boss switches genders, you'd better, too.
- deleted 17y ago[deleted]
- deleted 17y ago[deleted]
- blizkreeg 17y agoTaking it too far. All I said was that in a professional setting, pointing your feet at the other person is not a clever gesture. As for your other list of gestures and social expectations, they seem to reek of your own identity issues with being Indian in a foreign setting, not mine. I have eaten beef, pork, cohabited, called elders/boss by first name, smoked, and counter-argued. None of them are offensive and most of them are actually personal things. >> Will you refuse to work with someone trans-gendered, as would happen "instantly" in India? Huh, don't you think it's a rather bold and unforgiving assumption that simply because one is Indian, he/she would have an issue working with a trans-gendered person?