Culture

Seems like I've traveled the world this year.  And I gotta say, there is culture shock everywhere you go. Every step you take things change...  Culture is a local phenomena within each group of peoples.  And there are many ever widening groups of peoples. 

In India it seems everyone's day revolved around the white people, or being more white.  According to my Mike that recently visited Hyderabad, you'd make the front page of the local paper by showing up with a white person.  And I mean white like, All American we speak English in this country, white.  Mike didn't run into any other Americans while abroad, and everyone he talked to could speak English.  There were creams they sold at stores to make your skin tone lighter; everywhere in America people are laying out in the sun or in beds with lights to get darker and outside this country people want to be white.  And that piss poor description doesn't even include the colorful deities or the myriad of customs just on the other side of the world.  All thrown aside just to talk to the white guy from America, please can I have a photo of you shaking my son's hand because we've never seen a white person this close before...

On the island, our days revolve around studying.  I will point out I said studying, not lecture or lab.  And by studying I mean the test schedule.  The whole of the term can be scheduled just by having that silly little sheet of paper called the "syllabus"  and a good self possession of how one learns.  Every day, every hour within the day, for four months, can be scheduled and planned just by knowing when the tests are.  And that is how we survive that island, each term.  Want to go out tomorrow night?  No man, I gotta study, I have this test in 2 weeks...  Sound familiar?  But it IS important, the culture of Study must be observed or we are wasting our time and money out here.

Back home, it depends on who you are, or what you do.  The workaday culture seems to revolve around the next day off, or the weekends.  Some people's days don't start until they get home.  Some people's lives don't start until it's their day off.  When you are at work the only thing you can thin about is not being there. Everybody comes in late, dragging their feet, not minding the details or the bosses' complaints because they know they won't get fired.  When you are off, the only thing you can think is how much you don't want to leave.  People skipping out early, dropping their shift onto the next oncoming since, "it's not my job and it's their problem now."  Most people live like that, but I like my job, both current and future.

At the AER or in the day clinic, the day, our lives, revolve around the calls coming in, the cases walking in the front door.  What's on the books for next week?  Who knows, it'll be booked solid before tomorrow. What has walked in the door?  Dunno but it's bleeding, blue, white, broken, blind, seizing, stinking, vomiting...  you get the idea.  You are on your feet, I hope you brought your skates, go go go all day, until there's a break, then your brain shuts off and you're on autopilot until the next crisis comes charging down on you.  This is where you cross your T's and Dot your i's and learn the details are what make the whole thing run properly, or the whole process breaks down.  This is where I learned to multitask, genuinely multitask, under stress, pressure, and the heat of the owners breathing down your neck.  This is where I flourish.  This culture is the cold hard truth, naked and staring you in the face.

And I used to cling to the idea that if it were true then it was not rude or mean to say.  But I learned even when it's the truth, and most times, because it IS the truth, it is taboo and not polite.  Culture of my brain meets the shock of reality.  What a bummer.  And I'm supposed to be a good person, a good friend.  I'm so happy to be home with people that at least understand if not participate in my culture:

**Whack** Straighten up because you're acting like a fool of a man. (Mike, and Coop)
*Whack* Stop whining about how sucky your life is and do something about it.  Think of the solution, not the problem. (cough cough, Coop)
*Smack* Stop questioning yourself, be happy and go do your work (thanks Shano)
**Whack Whack Whack**  I'm so happy to see you!  (Kate!)
*whack* Glad you could join the party! (Jim)

My kinda culture.  My kinda dangerous.  Now, where are my friends for this silly celebration?