Thursday, March 26, 2009

Cultural and Language Barriers

A while ago, I went to a little pho restaurant near my house before heading off to school for one of my later classes. I went in, ordered, and ate. While I was eating, I couldn't help but notice a Caucasian man in the restaurant also ordering.

He was noticeably frustrated by the language barrier, but he eventually was able to get something. When they brought out the food, he had to send it back because it wasn't exactly what he ordered. It came back and it still wasn't what he ordered. Eventually he just got up, paid for his drink, and left.

As I didn't know why I didn't offer my help. And I wondered, after he left, if I did help out, would it have helped make someone's day a little bit better? After all, why not, right? I speak Vietnamese, and he had trouble communicating, so why not right?

They say that the decisions that we make today are due to the decisions we've made in the past. Every time we do something, we wonder, if only for a brief moment, "Hey, what happened last time I did this?" It is also said that we're the sum of our mistakes and experiences, so perhaps we all get distinct quirks of our personality from something from our past.

1 comment:

SuJ said...

that is definitely an interesting perspective. it's easy to help. the question is always why not.