Culture and kindness

I have been pondering on how to tackle one of the kindness questions by Dreemport given that our theme for the month is KINDNESS.

The Influence of Cultural Diversity on Perceptions of Kindness:
How does cultural diversity influence perspectives on kindness?

We all come from different cultural backgrounds, and we all have had our various experiences and stories to tell, hence the way we see life and invariably how these factors influence our definition of kindness and taboo.

What Mr. A might consider a kind gesture, Mr. B might consider it a taboo or a slap on the face, and honestly, every man is right in his own way. Like they say “Different strokes for different folks”.

As civilized people, we need to respect people's choices or decisions regardless of how we feel or see these choices of theirs.

In the city I currently reside, I have had so many cultural shocks, some I found ridiculous others mind-blowing but with time I have come to learn to live with them as I cannot do anything about them.

In some cultures offering monetary help as a man over and over again to a married woman can be considered as having an ulterior motive. It's surprising how a kind man decides to help a lady and he is immediately tagged as wanting to have an affair with her. In this type of setting the cultural background has shaped the people to think the way they do while in some other cultures or places, a man helping a married woman is considered God sent or noble. Like I said earlier “Different strokes for different folks” guys!

Due to our individual differences when it comes to food, buying a particular type of meal for a person can sometimes be considered a bad act.

For example, I am friends with Mr. D, and as the good and kind friend that I am I decide to buy him a plate of snails and rice on my way to his house, in my head the plan is to enjoy this wonderful meal with my friend while we catch up but little do I know that it's a taboo to eat snail from where my friend comes from. I am surprised and my kind gesture is seen as an offense to him. While from where I come from we eat snails almost every day. In this light our different cultural backgrounds have influenced the way we see “snails” and overall the way my friend perceives my kind gesture😃

Hugging or handshake which is an extension of friendship, a gesture that creates some sort of warmth for both parties involved can be perceived as an invasion of one's personal space. I can get overly excited and hug my friend or whoever is present at the moment of my excitement and my friend reciprocates it, while my other friend who isn't used to this gesture or hates it might find it offensive. Now to you, it might just be a mere hug but to the other person, it can even mean sexual harassment.

Just the way I wouldn't let certain people hug me the same way the next person might reject my hug.

These cultural differences do not mean that people are bad or weird, it simply means that we are unique in our own way and there is beauty in diversity😃. We all just have to come to terms with the fact that we all are created and wired differently.

So the next time someone misinterprets your act of kindness just cut them some slack and move on without getting pissed😁

My kindness journal for the week

• Stood up for a big softie at work.
• Consoling my heartbroken friend.
• Proffered solution to an acquaintance problem.
• I had to babysit my friend’s child while she went to an important meeting.

This is my entry to the Dreemport monthly challenge and you can find more details here.

_{All images are mine except otherwise stated.}

Thanks for stopping by
Loads of Love
XOXO