"Cultural Respect" by Steve Adams

"Cultural Respect"
I’ve learned a great deal from my Asian friends. While on a business trip to Nepal, I witnessed firsthand their deep, generational reverence for age. Younger colleagues engaged me warmly, but completely shied away from asking questions they felt were "above their place" to ask.

When I returned back to the States, I caught up over lunch with a close Vietnamese friend named Tran. He is in his late twenties and very Westernized. We were having a lively discussion, but remembering Nepal, I asked him a direct question: “If you really disagreed with me, would you tell me?”

Tran got quiet. He struggled with the question before hesitantly replying, “Maybe.”

A deep sense of respect is sorely lacking in our society today, and we have much to learn from the East. During that memorable lunch, I realized even a beautiful custom must be tempered. True respect is a two-way street; withholding your honest thoughts out of cultural deference means some of the signal gets lost and the mutual learning experience is constrained.

Sponsored by the Caylor Financial Planning Group in Lynchburg, Virginia. Call 434-455-7197.

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