Quote:
Originally posted by Nachtrafe:
Simple Dunda...WE DONT! Sure, we do our best to maintain the lawn, and paint the walls. But we're not forcing anyone to watch. And we have our own problems. Rats in the bastment, silverfish in the walls, and crap on the tv. But we are pretty good about policing our own. And when we have the cleaning vehicle come down the road to flush out the spetic tank, why, then the WHOLE neighborhood feels the need to come out and kibitz, and tell *US* how 'we're not doing it right'.
And then, what happens when we look out at the rest of the neighborhood and see that some people are in less nice houses, or, are being forced by some nutjob to live 20 to a room with little food and no freedom, then we are forced, by simple compassion if nothing else, to react and try to help those persons? *WE* are the ones who are derided. *WE* are the ones accused of being 'mean-spirited' or of 'sticking our noses in'. Why is that? To be honest, I still haven't figured that one out yet.
*tosses [img]graemlins/twocents.gif[/img] on the table*
EDITED: Cause I narfed up the quotes. :S
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Problem, Nachtrafe, is to set the line between giving a hand and intruding.
Reading your post, an image came into my mind, an image from an Italian movie of the sixties, don't remember which : A child had done a prank, so his father starts yelling at him, so his mother starts yelling at the father, so all the family starts chasing each others and yelling at the top of their lungs. Then a guy arrives and tries to stop them. Then all the family together start chasing the guy and yelling at the top of their lungs ! [img]smile.gif[/img]
As my father's family is the Italian kind, we all yell a lot. In fact, in a family meeting, the more shouting aloud, the more happiness ! When someone stops yelling, it usually means something is wrong with him. But suppose, say, a Swedish guy comes around. As in his culture people yell only when things are very bad, he would be appalled and possibly try to calm things down ... which noone wants him to do ! [img]smile.gif[/img]
It is in your culture to want to act as soon as you perceive there is a need. It is in our culture to be wary of possible intrusion and its consequences. Both viewpoints are useful - together. That's what the U.N. is about, IMO. [img]smile.gif[/img]