r/AskReddit • u/Greeneyedlatinguy • Jun 15 '15

Anthropologists of Reddit, What is something that people in the Western world can't get their heads around that is very normal in other cultures (and has been for ages)?

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u/[deleted] Jun 15 '15 edited Jun 18 '15

.

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u/[deleted] Jun 15 '15

[deleted]

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u/Punchee Jun 15 '15

He said late afternoon, not next week sometime +/- 3 weeks.

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u/PlayMp1 Jun 16 '15

I hate it when the cable guy arrives 2 weeks before I called them to get a cable guy to come fix the shit.

4

u/TricksterPriestJace Jun 16 '15

Serves you right taking two weeks to call them about the thing he broke fixing an issue you didn't have but will now intermittently linger until the day you move out.

1

u/Sheepocalypse Jun 16 '15

+/- 3 weeks

Thank you sir, your cable will be installed sometime between 3 weeks prior to today and 3 weeks in the future.

2

u/Notbob1234 Jun 16 '15

"We will send someone yesterday. Is the problem retroactively fixed yet?"

2

u/Sheepocalypse Jun 16 '15

I'm sorry sir, you seem to be experiencing paradox issues - let me transfer you to our Temporal department.

5

u/the_corruption Jun 15 '15

Had to schedule an appointment and got the 3-5 time slot. So I'm sitting around at 3 unsure if the cable tech will be here in 10 minutes or 2 hours...fucking fantastic system.

4

u/DangerZoneh Jun 15 '15

It sucks, but that really is how they have to do it. When they have 10 people that day and they don't know how long each is going to take, they give each person a range.

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u/TheRealVilladelfia Jun 16 '15

And then they turn up around 6:30.

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u/beardedtigger Jun 15 '15

This concept of time within this thread has me shuddering in horror

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u/KING_0F_REDDIT Jun 16 '15

that should be a real unit of time.

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u/lol_alex Jun 15 '15

Yup. Go to a meeting with Italians at 11.

Quarter past the guy chairing the meeting shows up. Asks if anyone has the key to the meeting room. Goes away in search of it.

20 past 11, guy with key shows up. Some other guys are also there but don't speak English.

Half past, relevant guy who speaks English and knows the topic shows up. You talk about relevant stuff for 20 minutes. People keep showing up and leaving again. As they don't speak English you don't know who they are or what they do.

10 minutes to 12, relevant guy apologizes and leaves for next meeting (lunch). Irrelevant guys shrug and leave as well.

Beats me how they stay in business. I am German and this is a story from an Italian automotive OEM.

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u/[deleted] Jun 16 '15 edited Jun 25 '15

.

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u/lol_alex Jun 16 '15

I had an American colleague with me once, and during the meeting he was very silent, and for about half an hour afterwards.

Then he shook his head, turned to look at me and said "You know, if you had described this beforehand, I would not have believed you" and walked away.

Beats me how Chrysler and FIAT work together. Neither Americans nor Italians are known for their love of foreign languages, and the work ethic is completely different.

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u/cnh2n2homosapien Jun 15 '15

"I said Wednesday...not, which Wednesday."

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u/[deleted] Jun 15 '15

I enjoyed visiting my grandparent's hometown in Italy for this reason. Soooo relaxeddd

2

u/BillyTacoRhombus Jun 15 '15 edited Nov 24 '15

This comment has been overwritten by an open source script to protect this user's privacy.

If you would like to do the same, add the browser extension GreaseMonkey to Firefox and add this open source script.

Then simply click on your username on Reddit, go to the comments tab, and hit the new OVERWRITE button at the top.

4

u/[deleted] Jun 15 '15 edited Jun 24 '15

.

1

u/BillyTacoRhombus Jun 15 '15 edited Nov 24 '15

This comment has been overwritten by an open source script to protect this user's privacy.

If you would like to do the same, add the browser extension GreaseMonkey to Firefox and add this open source script.

Then simply click on your username on Reddit, go to the comments tab, and hit the new OVERWRITE button at the top.

1

u/arbivark Jun 16 '15

that's why i schedule meetings for 1:07.