This really struck me last night.
We were waiting for a youthgroup to arrive and a man from our church was chatting to Esther and I. He asked me "How are you?" and without even thinking I responded "Very well thank you". I never even thought about it. If I had I would have been the first to admit that in some areas I am not feeling "very well" at all. But why do we give these automatic responses? It took me back to my time in America and the differences in greetings. They couldn't quite understand when I would say "Hello", walk slowly past and say "You OK?". To them that was an indication that I had seen something that wasn't "OK" in their demeanor. Whereas in Britian we use it merely as a greeting. But are us British in the wrong for doing that? Do we therefore not take time to listen to the answers that people want to give? Have we created an "automated response" in ourselves and others by our hasty greeetings? I don't know. Just a thought.
Any responses?
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2 comments:
Oh my gosh! I can relate SO much. Yeah, I wish I had a radar for when this greeting is heartfelt, and when it's just words. The number of times I haven't been able to tell the difference!!
I struggle with this *a great deal* here. I can't even tell you how NOT GOOD it's going for me at the moment, but haven't a clue how I'm meant to communicate that to anyone here, because let's face it: no one wants to hear it. Does the automated response lead to self-absorbtion in some people? (Not in you, Em, but I see it in the people here.)
It's one of my more major problems in adapting to this culture.
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