In the Foreign Service, I had the privilege of serving in Honduras, Oman,
Pakistan and then, after retirement, I was asked to go to Singapore and now Brunei. During my years of service I had the chance to observe how things are done differently in every country, many times
with the same or very different result. It's not that one
way of doing things is right or wrong, but just different. The following things happened to me or someone
I worked with at one of my posts overseas.
For those of you who follow me on this blog and are members of the Foreign Service,
I'm sure you can relate and probably have many of your own examples!
·
You're driving and you need to change lanes.
o
Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei - You put your
turn signal on. The acceptable culture is that the car in the lane you wish to be in slows
down and allows you to enter their lane.
o
U.S. - Hell no! You can't come in my lane!
I'm going to speed up and close the gap. So there! Often you end up passing your turn and making a U-turn to come back to it. Or you bully your way into the lane.
·
You are pushing your basket down the
aisle in a grocery store.
o
Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei - There is a
clerk sitting on the floor stocking items on a lower shelf. She has several
boxes on the floor and there is not enough room for you to pass. You end up
turning around and going back the way you came. She never looks up.
o
U.S. - The clerk quickly stands up, moves
the boxes and apologizes. Often nothing needs to happen because the aisles are nice and wide.
·
Security has told you to vary your route
driving to and from work (the embassy) to avoid being predictable.
o
Tegucigalpa, Honduras - One route is pot
hole-free as you know it. You change your route and hit 4 pot holes large
enough to have their own zip codes. You also drive into a hole in the road that is missing its man
hole cover, probably being used as a cook top somewhere.
o
U.S. - No need to vary your route to work
unless you hear a bulletin on the radio about a wreck.
·
You need to buy some chicken for a
fried chicken dinner.
o
Bandar Seri Begawan,Brunei - You wander
back to the meat department, following your nose. Chicken is in open cases, self
serve style, each one with differing chicken parts. You pick up the tongs and pick
your pieces. You also have chicken feet, tiny chickens and oddly chopped pieces
to choose from. You shoo away a fly. The man next to you moves a few pieces
with his hand, looking for just the right piece.
o
U.S. - You look at packages, carefully
sealed with 'sell by' dates printed on them, all marked USDA Inspected and monitored carefully
by the people in the meat department. You can also choose from chicken in a
glass enclosed case. No fly is seen.
·
You and your friend want to go to the
mall to do a little shopping.
o
Karachi, Pakistan - You request a vehicle
from the Security Officer, making sure there is a driver and body guard available to go
with you. Once at the mall, you must stay together and not more than 6 feet
from your body guard. Fortunately, you can go in the fitting room by yourself.
o
U.S. - You drive to the mall.
·
You decide you want to go to the beach
for a swim.
o
Muscat, Oman - It's June and a great day
for a swim. You drive to one of the many beautiful beaches. It's 115⁰.
You park the car and start walking toward the water. OMG...the sand is
blazing hot! Half way to the water, you begin to run and by the time you get
there, you have 2nd degree burns on the bottom of your feet. But the water is
gorgeous and feels so good on your feet. You enjoy swimming in your shorts and
tee shirt.
o
U.S. - It's a great 86⁰. You walk to the
beach, lay down your towel and ice chest and stroll toward the water in your
ittsy bittsy bikini.
·
You aren't feeling well, probably need
to take something.
o
Tegucigalpa, Honduras - You go to the drug
store and choose from any number of antibiotics, anti diarrhea meds or strong
pain killers. You choose 3 different
medicines that you think will help it and pay the $5.00 for all.
o
U.S. - You call your doctor and find out
they can't see you for 3 weeks. You try the neighborhood clinic in the
neighborhood drugstore and after 45 minutes of paperwork, they tell you that
you really need to see your personal physician. You grab a bottle of Advil and
hope it helps somewhat while you wait the 3 weeks to see your doctor. Three weeks later, you see the doctor and his
$275 bill is all applied to your deductible.
·
You need to drive your kids to school.
o
Tegucigalpa, Honduras - You pile all 3 kids
in the car and head to the school. Due to the security risk, you have your
emergency radio with you and hear a warning that demonstrators have blocked the
road to school. You struggle with an alternate route but end up having to go
back home due to the threat of violence.
o
U.S. - You pile all 3 kids in the car and
head to school. You arrive 5-10 minutes later and pull into the drop off lane.
Kids kiss you and head into school.
·
You need a new pair of black pants for
work.
o
Bandar Seri Begawan - You go online, find a
pair at a Big Box Store and place your order. You get an email confirming your
purchase. You immediately get an email cancelling your order. For the next 2
weeks you exchange emails with Big Box Store with no one able to explain why
your order was cancelled. Extremely angry, you search for an email address for
Big Box Store. You find one in New York and fire off an angry letter. A week
later you receive an email thanking your your business and patience and oh gee,
we just can't explain why your order was cancelled. Please place the order
again. And by the way, we will give you free shipping on your next order. Six
weeks later you get your black pants.
o
U.S. - You head to any Big Box Store near
you, find the pants, try them on, pay for them and head home.
