It’s amazing how culture influences our behavior and habits. When I used to live in London, I was surprised that English people thanked me every time I served a dish using adjectives like “lovely”, “great” or “excellent”. Me, who was a simple Spanish waitress, I was super proud of my work well done and I felt great, and since then I say “thank you” and “please” every time (Spanish do too, but not so often. And that doesn’t mean we are not polite. It is just we have a different culture.) When someone is open to other cultures, they accept the rules of a society and behave as the others. In my opinion, we should learn from other cultures and pick those little customs we like and turn them into our own habits for ever.
Written By Judith Viloria
When I got to New York I used to watch the others to find out what to and what not to do. One of the New Yorker’s “habits” I liked the most was that people will talk to you anywhere. “What pretty earrings” a guy told me once, in the crowded train. I supposed he was taking his son to school and I thought “what a shame! … flirting with me in front of his child.”
But he did not. Little by little I realized people tell their opinion without expecting anything in return, and I used to love that. At the beginning it made me blush, but a few weeks later I felt free to say a compliment whenever I felt like. Many times in Spain, I really have liked to tell a girl how cool her pants were or ask where she had bought her t-shirt, but I was not brave enough.
In Andalucia, the South of Spain, people also talk anywhere. They are well-known for their friendly character, but in Madrid, in the centre of the country, people are usually colder. You cannot expect any comment about how you look or the book you are reading.
The first time someone talked to me in New York was in the metro. A lady stared at me while I was looking at the MTA map, and she gently asked me where I wanted to go… I was just observing the map, recreating myself on the different colours of the metro lines and understanding the connexions. But the woman thought I was lost or something like that, and she wanted to help.
People have told me they liked my hair style, my coat, and my shoes. They have asked me where did I come from or my opinion about the city, almost always in NY’s underground. How many stories under New York will have happened! How many love stories (I am reminding the last short made by Disney, brilliant by the way)! How many interesting conversations! All just because of the pleasure of talking. That makes you more human, more sociable and open to live experiences and meet nice people…like I met when in NY.
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