4 Defining Features for Successful Cross-Cultural Encounters
Shopping at a department shop the young woman (customer) had three pairs of pants, 3 sweaters, and a handbag in her shopping cart as she created her way to the fitting space. Upon reading the labels she wondered if the sweaters would shrink following washing. Hmm... possibly asking a retailer associate would help her decide if she should certainly invest in these three sweaters. She noticed a young lady in shop uniform with her back to her, so she approached her, "Excuse me, could you tell me a tiny bit about this fabric?"
The young uniformed lady did not turn to answer.
"Excuse me!" the shopper repeated in a louder voice. The young lady still didn't respond.
"How rude!" the shopper said out loud. The young uniformed assistant just continued about her enterprise of pulling new inventory out of the box to get ready for pricing and hanging.
The shopper certainly liked the sweaters so she went on to search for one other uniformed assistant, and when she found a further assistant she was not shy about voicing her complaint that the young uniformed lady just before her was pretty rude, had ignored her, and did not even turn to acknowledge her.
The second assistant informed the shopper that the young lady was deaf, that her name label identified her as deaf, and that she carried paper and pencil in her vest to communicate with the shoppers. She also informed her that because the young woman was deaf that she should have touched her shoulder to get her attention.
Of course, in no way having had the opportunity to encounter a deaf individual, this shopper had an eye-opening expertise and learned a new avenue for communication. If you ever discover yourself in such a situation, following are some ideas that may perhaps aid alleviate that awkward moment and have a alot more positive cross-cultural encounter.
The following four defining features will serve you well for a profitable cross-cultural encounter regardless of whether with Deaf, Difficult of Hearing, Hispanic, or any other culture for that matter. These are:
- Sensitivity: This refers to becoming considerate, caring, and getting some understanding of others' desires and feelings.
- Respect: This means becoming thoughtful and considerate of others' interests, opinions, and/or wishes even though not imposing your own on them.
- Empathy: This is having the capability to determine with and fully grasp others' feelings and challenges by way of their eyes (or shoes).
- Humor: This means having the ability to laugh at your personal foibles. Nobody's ideal and innocent faux pas are inevitable in life. We all experience them and we master from them.
So the subsequent time a person doesn't respond in a manner you consider they really should, consider about the possibility of an chance to understand a new way to communicate for a successful and positive cross-cultural encounter. The above scenario is a correct story that happened to a buddy of mine decades ago. The situation was that the young store assistant (lady) was deaf and facing the wall just doing her job. The eye-opening experience opened a new avenue for communication and my friend went on to turn out to be an interpreter.
