“Sell your clothes to 25 Chinese people, sell them to 15 foreigners, why do you, your boss, have that double mark?”
"It's not my double standard! Can I wear this dress casually?"
Recently, Jiangsu had the owner of a household clothing store, because of one thing that was criticized by netizens on a hot search.
Originally wanted to engage in a "tiny over-selling" small propaganda, as a result of meeting a group of foreigners not to buy life clothes as everyday clothes to wear, the boss refused to sell life clothes, only discounted the top of the hat, in turn fell a "without conscience" reputation.
Do you think it’s a strange thing? – Foreigners.
1. The "wonderful order" of the shroud shop: foreigners want to wear shroud when they go out, and the boss waves his hand in a hurry
Let's start with this shroud store in Jiangsu. The owner usually takes some Short Video to promote the business. That day, he originally wanted to post a "favorite customer" clip-there were some hats in the store that were originally used to match shrouds for centenarians, but he was not so unlucky. He thought,"Foreigners can take care of the business and make less money," so he sold the hat for 25 yuan and 15 yuan.
But who would have thought that these foreigners were not satisfied after buying hats. They pointed to the shroud on the shelf and asked, "This dress is very nice. How much does it cost? We want to buy it and wear it."
The boss was stunned when he heard this, and quickly waved his hand: "No, no, no, this dress can't be sold to you!"
Don't think that the boss is big, we all know what the sushi is in our Chinese culture - that is the "last set of clothes" for the deceased, tightly bound to the "death" and "separation", usually not to wear it, even to touch it.
Who if wears the dress as everyday clothes, is it not a sorcerer?
The boss is also kind, afraid that foreigners don't understand these taboos, and it will make people laugh if they really wear them out, and he is also afraid that it will collide with our cultural exquisite. But he didn't expect it. His refusal, coupled with the hat pricing of "Chinese 25 and foreigners 15", directly exploded the pot on the Internet.
The comments of netizens were divided into two factions, and there was a lot of quarrel.
There are netizens directly accusing the boss: "Why don't you tell people clearly what sushi is? know what to sell! back home people know this is sushi, must not feel that the Chinese intentionally dig him?
Some netizens also spoke up for the boss: "Foreigners don't understand our taboos at all. They just think the clothes are beautiful. The boss refuses to sell the shroud. He is already responsible enough. You can't force people to buy things you don't understand, right?"
In fact, the boss was also wronged. He later said in the video: "It's not that I don't want to explain, but the language is difficult. I used translation software to flip through the 'shroud' and what came out was 'longevity cloths'. People thought they were good things to wish a long life, so they wanted to buy them even more. I can't tell people,'This is for dead people, can I?' How impolite!"
You see, this matter has been distorted from the beginning-the "taboos" in our eyes have become a "novelty" among foreigners. It's either anyone's fault, or the culture is so different.
2. The Mexican guy's "fashion brand": Wearing a shroud while shopping, he still shows off, and the comment area smiles sour
There is no loneliness, Jiangsu's affair has not yet settled, and there is another thing that makes me cry laugh.
A Mexican netizen posted a video in which the young man was wearing a red traditional dress, walking on the street with his chest high and his head high, and even showed off to the camera: "My father bought this when he traveled to China. He said it was traditional China clothes and it was very nice. Do you think it's very cool in me?"
The comment section below exploded-China netizens were confused when they saw it: "Isn't this our shroud? The red shroud is for the elderly. How did it become a 'traditional fashion brand'?"
Netizens also joked: "If the guy knew the use of this clothes, it was estimated to die at the scene."
But laughing and laughing, a lot of people feel a bit hearty. some netizens said: "In fact, you can't blame the guy and his dad, they don't understand our culture at all, looking at the clothes look good, have characteristics to buy, who knows behind there are so many questions."
Later, someone pulled it out. It may be that the tour guide or the merchant didn't make it clear, or it may be that the translation was wrong-translating "shroud" into "traditional costume" made people make such an oolong.
This is the case with Jiangsu's sushi store, in fact, is a logic: those "default rules" in our culture, such as sushi can not be worn on a daily basis, red in the funeral has a special meaning, in the eyes of foreigners does not exist at all.
When they look at things, they are optimistic about whether they look good or not, whether they are practical or not, and there are not so many "taboo" burdens.
Just like we look at a foreign wedding, it will also feel “strange” – such as Japanese and Korean weddings, often decorated with white, and even attached to the green, purple match, when we look at it, we will be conscious: “Is this not the color used to do business?”
There is also the coffin on the other side of the U.S., and we look at the coffin in the movie, always thinking of vampires, horror films, and think of Conan.
But at home, the coffin is an important item in the farewell ceremony, designed solemnly and sophisticated, is respect for the deceased, and "terror" is completely unmatched.
You see, culture is like this, there is no wrong, only “unlike”. you think “cannot touch” things, people may feel “very normal”; you feel “natural” rules, people may not have heard.
Third, don't be busy with blaming the wrong: cultural differences are not contradictions, understanding is the answer.
In fact, whether it is Jiangsu bosses refusing to sell sweaters, or Mexican guys wearing sweaters shopping, in essence, is not the problem of "who did wrong", but the problem of "cultural cognitive misplacement".
We always say "entry in the country is customary", but the premise of "custom" is "knowledge". foreigners do not know our sushi abuse, not they do not respect, is they do not have the opportunity to understand; we see foreigners wearing sushi feel different, nor is our small stuff big, is our culture has long graven these marks.
Like the individual rational netizens say: "to encounter this kind of thing, don't be busy first blasphemy. boss more a word of patience to explain, netizens less moral abduction, foreigners more a point of curiosity to ask, maybe misunderstanding is gone ".
I remembered a story I saw before: a Tibetan friend invited a Han colleague to eat "air-dried meat". When the Han colleague saw the dark meat, he frowned on the spot and felt "unsanitary".
Later, Tibetan friends slowly explained that this was their way of preserving food on the plateau, and it was also the intention of entertaining distinguished guests. Han colleagues tried to taste it, and finally fell in love with this taste.
You see, the gap between cultures is often not because of "difference", but because of "unwillingness to know difference".
We always say "cultural self-confidence", but self-confidence is not "I think my culture is the best, but yours is wrong", but "I know my culture and am willing to listen to you talk about your culture, so we understand each other".
Just like the shroud, if the boss in Jiangsu at that time could find someone who knew bilingual and talk to foreigners well: "This dress is worn by us for the deceased, which represents the nostalgia of the deceased relatives, not for daily wear. If you like traditional Chinese costumes, I can recommend other styles to you." Maybe there wouldn't be a scolding battle later.
If a foreigner could ask more than one question, “Is this clothes a special meaning in your culture?”
So, don’t take cultural differences as contradictions, it’s more like an “opportunity to communicate”; encountering things that don’t understand, a little more patience, a little less accusation; a little more curiosity, a little less prejudice.
If you explain your rules to others clearly, they will respect your culture; You also try to understand other people's habits, and maybe you can find new pleasures.
Conclusion: Respect is never “natural” but “understanding each other.”
It is interesting to look back at what these two suits have caused – it is like a small mirror that reflects the differences between different cultures, and also reflects our attitude toward “cultural exchange.”
We need not be afraid of foreigners who do not understand our culture, nor need people to be angry because they do not understand.
As someone said, "True cultural self-confidence is that I know that my culture is good and am willing to let you know where it is good; I respect your culture and hope you respect mine."
If we encounter this kind of "cultural woon" in the future, we might as well not rush to take sides and scold people, but think about it: "Can I talk to him?" "Does he really not understand?"
After all, respect is never taken for granted, but comes from "mutual understanding."
When we are willing to spend a little time and talk to people of different cultures, those seemingly out-of-the-scenes "Ulon" may become small fun in cultural exchanges, and those contradictions arising from "not understanding" will also become the warmth after "understanding".
This is the cutest appearance of culture, isn't it?
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