Basics Of Multicultural Manners
Why are multicultural manners becoming more important?
Multicultural manners are becoming more important because there are penalties if you don't pay attention to them. For example, there was a skek customer who went into a Mexican restaurant. It was a new Mexican restaurant. And as you know the skek's males must wear their hair. They never cut their hair and so it is all bound up and they wear a turban. And when this gentleman entered the restaurant with his wife the matronde said, "I am sorry sir but you will have to remove your hat". And he said "But this is not my hat this is part of my religious beliefs" and there was a verbal confortation and ultimately the skek customer sued the restaurant. So had the manager been more aware of skek traditions and ones that cannot be broken because it is like a religious rule that cannot be broken (this could have been avoided) There ended up being a monetary consequence for being unaware. Now it doesn't have to be punishment that you have to be afraid of but this is a global economy and it is important for us to know what the rules are. You can't know all of the rules, but at least have an awareness of when communication goes wrong that perhaps it is because you didn't understand some of value and some custom or belief of the person you were dealing with.
Why do people of other cultures retain their traditions and beliefs?
While it seems that people retain their beliefs and customs, those customs and beliefs actually do change just like ours do. But if you're a person who comes to a new country, you want to hang on to what represents home, but meanwhile, home is changing all the time. There's a name for it: theory of marginal survivals. That you do it just like you did it in the old country but you don't even know that the old country has changed their ways. So while it seems that they're very conservative in maintaining their own traditions, eventually time and interaction with other people will erode and ease those traditions, creating a melting pot of traditions.
Why should I change my behavior in my own country?
There are many Americans who resent the fact that there are so many immigrants and they're in my country now, why do I have to change my ways? Well actually you don't have to change your ways you can continue to do everything the way you like, but I think personally that you're missing out on a great opportunity to expand your experiences, to expand your friendships and there's a lot of positive reasons why you should open yourself up to different ways. I mean I thought it was really exciting when they opened up an Iranian ice cream store in Glendale and so when my children come to visit I say, "Oh you have to come and try Iranian ice cream, it's so fantastic." We could shun the store and say "well I'm not interested in Iranian ice cream I prefer Häagen-Dazs", but I like all of them. There's no reason why I have to choose one brand or one style over another but it's fascinating and if you can't travel very much this is a way to experience cultures and you're right here at home. So I think it's an advantage, but it's definitely not required.
