You ever verbally agreed with someone on something but mentally you disagreed? Why? Obviously this can have serious consequences, say, in a business meeting: "I think we SHOULDN'T make our customers have passwords!" "Oh yeah, great idea, sir!"
No, but really. Let's say someone says "Oh man, that new taco place is THA BOOOOMMMBBB", you know, cuz they're stuck in 1997. And you just go "Oh yeah, man, it's the best. I didn't know what life was until I'd had a taco from that place," even though in reality you're thinking "No, that place was terrible. Pretty sure I ordered a barbacoa taco and got a dog poop taco. It was terrible. I can't believe I'm thinking this, but I can't wait for that place to go out of business and a McDonald's to go up in its place." I'm sure you can think of a million instances.
Why do we do this? I posit two reasons:
1.) Acceptance. We don't want to insult or upset our "friend" by disagreeing with them. It'd make them look bad/feel stupid and we love our friend. Or at least we don't want to lose them as our friend. And besides, negativity is unattractive. However, a seasoned mind, someone with their own, original, fresh ideas and attitudes is attractive.
2.) Laziness. We don't want to argue with our friend because we feel tired or lazy and just let it go. We agree so we can move on or they'll at least shut up.
Why am I talking about all this? Because until recently I was afraid to say bad things about other cultures. I don't want to be downright mean about them, but I want to be honest about how I feel. I'm talking about my post "Argentina: Another Side". I'm not all that kind to Argentina in this post. But I'm trying to be fair, or at least honest, about what I really think of the culture. In my defense, there are lots of things I like about Argentina, but the culture of laziness is not one of them. In fact, I have multiple posts on the things I like in Argentina. This is an exception.
At first, I didn't say bad things about Argentina for three reasons:
1.) I didn´t want to offend the people here. They're nice enough and seem like decent people. This is where I would say they work hard, but...they're mothers and daughters, sisters and sons. Why knock them down a peg?
2.) I'm a stupid white boy, what do I know about culture?
3.) I´m American, what do I know?
But I've been given the courage to get over it. To actually be honest. Thanks to the people who did that, you know who you are and I don't want to mention you by name on the internet since there might be* arrest warrants out for you.
So even though I'm a stupid white boy without much perspective, sometimes even a blind man can see the truth. Don't be afraid to speak your mind, to have an opinion. I will caveat this with two things:
1.) Pick your battles. You don't have to have an opinion about everything.
2.) Don't be a dick about it.
*probably are**
**definitely are
No, but really. Let's say someone says "Oh man, that new taco place is THA BOOOOMMMBBB", you know, cuz they're stuck in 1997. And you just go "Oh yeah, man, it's the best. I didn't know what life was until I'd had a taco from that place," even though in reality you're thinking "No, that place was terrible. Pretty sure I ordered a barbacoa taco and got a dog poop taco. It was terrible. I can't believe I'm thinking this, but I can't wait for that place to go out of business and a McDonald's to go up in its place." I'm sure you can think of a million instances.
Why do we do this? I posit two reasons:
1.) Acceptance. We don't want to insult or upset our "friend" by disagreeing with them. It'd make them look bad/feel stupid and we love our friend. Or at least we don't want to lose them as our friend. And besides, negativity is unattractive. However, a seasoned mind, someone with their own, original, fresh ideas and attitudes is attractive.
2.) Laziness. We don't want to argue with our friend because we feel tired or lazy and just let it go. We agree so we can move on or they'll at least shut up.
Why am I talking about all this? Because until recently I was afraid to say bad things about other cultures. I don't want to be downright mean about them, but I want to be honest about how I feel. I'm talking about my post "Argentina: Another Side". I'm not all that kind to Argentina in this post. But I'm trying to be fair, or at least honest, about what I really think of the culture. In my defense, there are lots of things I like about Argentina, but the culture of laziness is not one of them. In fact, I have multiple posts on the things I like in Argentina. This is an exception.
At first, I didn't say bad things about Argentina for three reasons:
1.) I didn´t want to offend the people here. They're nice enough and seem like decent people. This is where I would say they work hard, but...they're mothers and daughters, sisters and sons. Why knock them down a peg?
2.) I'm a stupid white boy, what do I know about culture?
3.) I´m American, what do I know?
But I've been given the courage to get over it. To actually be honest. Thanks to the people who did that, you know who you are and I don't want to mention you by name on the internet since there might be* arrest warrants out for you.
So even though I'm a stupid white boy without much perspective, sometimes even a blind man can see the truth. Don't be afraid to speak your mind, to have an opinion. I will caveat this with two things:
1.) Pick your battles. You don't have to have an opinion about everything.
2.) Don't be a dick about it.
*probably are**
**definitely are
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