Culture
Soon I will be living in Switzerland for 3 months. I speak no French and my knowledge of the Swiss culture does not extend past Lindor and Toblerones. I expect my first month of work and life there to be fraught with uncomfortable interactions. This is not mere nervousness, one of the most uncomfortable experiences of my life happened while in Boston last summer.
Working in a "Movie Theatre" for the summer was easy and had free food and movies. Many of my co-workers were African American, I'm going to say black, if you find that racist you may want to stop reading. So one afternoon the ushers, of which I was one, were standing having a chat between cleaning theatres. Suddenly a woman approaches us and lets us know her daughter has vomited and it's everywhere! My automatic reaction is to shout NIGS and declare I am not cleaning it up. So I shout it. I look around and everyone else is touching their nose and staring at me. I'm becoming increasingly aware that apart from one latina gentlemen and myself, everyone in the circle is black. I have just shouted the word NIGS at a group of black people. Instead of immediately explaining it means Not In GoalS, I freeze. The accidental racism just hangs there, festering. I snap out of my daze and protest my innocence. They were very accepting, but several of them didn't talk to me again.....
Chance
Randomness has more influence on my life than I care for. This is unsettling and makes me weary of interactions with new people. Recently I had my ruined computer and had it repaired. The courier who brought the computer back was helpful and a nice guy but apparently slightly afraid of dogs. Our dog, Oscar, barks continuously at strangers. The courier slightly nervously asked whether the dog was any danger. I assured him his bark was far worse than his bite. He departed wearily and I called the dog to me to alleviate his stress slightly. "Oscar" I shouted after my dog. The courier quickly turned, "Yea??". There is a startling realisation that his name is also Oscar. What are the odds of that?! There is no etiquette for this situation. Again I am a rabbit in the headlights and after what must have been nearly 20 seconds, I simply say "Safe Trip!". He says nothing and goes to his van, and leaves. "Safe Trip", who the hell did I think i was talking to! A simple Thanks would have been ideal but that would have been too easy.
Completely My Fault
Okay so this is not an extrinsic factor but I do acknowledge that I heap a lot of this on myself. I like to be clever or funny and all too often I fail and it back fires on me. Never again will I try to make a joke during a presentation because all that happens is I turn into a homophobe.
Studying genetics I often come across strangely named genes. One such gene is tinman, as mutants are born with no heart, like the Tin Man in the Wizard of Oz. A theatrical reference I intended to allude to. But as I began "This gene is called tinman for the heartless phenotype, which is rather...", suddenly the word theatrical no longer exists in my vocabulary. I struggle and I search for another word. Instead all I manage to do is to mutter "which is rather....gay!". However, this time I keep cool, pretend nothing has happened and move swiftly, oh so swiftly on. A small victory, but I take them where I can.
I will continue to meander my way through life moving from one awkward moment to the next. I would like to say I am getting better but all three of these examples occurred in the last 6-7 months, but I remain optimistic!
David
(National Young Lepidopterist '06/07 )
Chance
Randomness has more influence on my life than I care for. This is unsettling and makes me weary of interactions with new people. Recently I had my ruined computer and had it repaired. The courier who brought the computer back was helpful and a nice guy but apparently slightly afraid of dogs. Our dog, Oscar, barks continuously at strangers. The courier slightly nervously asked whether the dog was any danger. I assured him his bark was far worse than his bite. He departed wearily and I called the dog to me to alleviate his stress slightly. "Oscar" I shouted after my dog. The courier quickly turned, "Yea??". There is a startling realisation that his name is also Oscar. What are the odds of that?! There is no etiquette for this situation. Again I am a rabbit in the headlights and after what must have been nearly 20 seconds, I simply say "Safe Trip!". He says nothing and goes to his van, and leaves. "Safe Trip", who the hell did I think i was talking to! A simple Thanks would have been ideal but that would have been too easy.
Completely My Fault
Okay so this is not an extrinsic factor but I do acknowledge that I heap a lot of this on myself. I like to be clever or funny and all too often I fail and it back fires on me. Never again will I try to make a joke during a presentation because all that happens is I turn into a homophobe.
Studying genetics I often come across strangely named genes. One such gene is tinman, as mutants are born with no heart, like the Tin Man in the Wizard of Oz. A theatrical reference I intended to allude to. But as I began "This gene is called tinman for the heartless phenotype, which is rather...", suddenly the word theatrical no longer exists in my vocabulary. I struggle and I search for another word. Instead all I manage to do is to mutter "which is rather....gay!". However, this time I keep cool, pretend nothing has happened and move swiftly, oh so swiftly on. A small victory, but I take them where I can.
I will continue to meander my way through life moving from one awkward moment to the next. I would like to say I am getting better but all three of these examples occurred in the last 6-7 months, but I remain optimistic!
David
(National Young Lepidopterist '06/07 )
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