When your co-worker's country is in the news

-
As an American, I sometimes get asked what I think about some happening in the US that has made the news in Norway. What it is about Americans and guns? Or all the whining about increased gas prices? These questions are fairly general and therefore comfortable. Being questioned and criticized as if I was directly responsible for whatever unpopular man got into the White House, was and is not comfortable.

Currently, we are in a project at work that involves an Indian company, and so I have spent two weeks listening to the lilt of Indian accents and English spoken with rolled R's and thick L's and have another week to go. At the same time, the news from India reports two sisters have been sentenced to be raped by a local, unofficial village council because of something their brother did; the sisters are from a rural town outside Delhi.*

I have chosen not to bring this up. As friendly as we are with each other, I know from personal experience that what gets into the international news does not necessarily represent reality as the natives know it. A government is not its people and vice-versa. I also know that it is natural to want to defend one's nation even if one doesn't agree with everything it does. I don't want to put our Indian guests and colleagues on the spot. Unless you're there, unless you live it, it's hard to explain why Americans do what Americans do. Or why Norwegians do what Norwegians do. US history is so different from Europe's. And India's history and challenges are also so different from the West's.

A Norwegian co-worker did ask me how it was going, with us two women from Norway dealing with three men from India. And I could honestly say that absolutely nothing in their behavior suggested they had any issue working with women. I reminded my co-worker that the Indian company had also sent female employees to Norway. The men's manners are somewhat old-fashioned, so I have to let them hold the door open for me, but I've noticed they are getting the hang of Norwegian customs; they let me open the door myself more often. (I'm never sure if I should be happy about that.)

Never mind what gets into the news. I don't feel that bringing that up is my place to do or appropriate in our work situation. We have a good work relationship, with a lot of ideas and knowledge moving back and forth—and some laughs too. Good enough.


*) I was happy I didn't bring this up, because it turns out that we may not have the whole story.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

I love you. Thank you.

-
Image
Some time last month, I was listening to a new spiritual podcast, and the speaker said that we can all heal ourselves and each other by stating, "I love you. I'm sorry. Please forgive me. Thank you." Apparently, this series of four short statements healed all the patients of a psychiatric facility, simply by being uttered by a doctor while he was looking at the patient files. I was intrigued. So I googled the phrase and discovered it comes from a Hawaiian spiritual ritual called ho'oponopono .* I found a blogpost that described this "cleaning" process. I found an online article claiming that you can heal the whole planet with ho'oponopono because everything that comes into your sphere of experience is your responsibility.** I searched Amazon for books describing ho'oponopono. I bought Mable Katz 's book "The Easiest Way" .*** And her title may not be an exaggeration. After reading her short book, I have replaced my usual rit...
Read more

The ho'oponopono adventure continues

-
Image
Ever since I discovered the ho'oponopono practice of forgiveness and healing about 3 years ago , I have used it, pursued it, and experienced healings big and small. I have taught it to a few friends. To my delight, they have embraced it and discovered for themselves the instant peace that comes with cleaning (as using ho'oponopono is called; you are cleaning your subconscious of unhelpful beliefs). My friend Alice showed me this picture she took from her hotel window in London: Every morning, I started my day by looking out that window. ILY, ILY, ILY. It was a beautiful way to start the morning. Every day, I felt the embrace of the city and I'd like to think that the city felt my ILYs. We certainly had nothing but pleasant interactions with people (and in fact, a few times, we had people offer unsolicited help!). I responded to her with this: The ho'oponopono "trick" of repeating to yourself "I love you" when in a negative situation really...
Read more

Getting my beliefs challenged

-
I own the extended DVD set of "What the #$*! Do We (K)now!?" , also known as "Down the Rabbit Hole". I can't remember now how my browsing the internet today started, but I ended up learning a lot about the science in "What the Bleep": It's terribly inaccurate. There are other inaccuracies or downright errors, but for the most part quantum mechanics only work on quantum levels, not at sizes like a basketball or a universe or even a mere atom. And that spoils all New Age claims that it is quantum physics that explain the Law of Attraction or any other woo-woo belief, like spontaneous healing, psychic phenomenon or near-death experiences. Dang. I was so hoping science could explain these things by now. My surfing has brought me to The Committee for Skeptical Inquiry . There I have found good writing, and proper skepticism. Not the finger-pointing pooh-poohing of beliefs, but rather a behind-the-scenes look at some claims and what's factually ...
Read more