Day 12 – Two words/phrases that make you laugh

Day 12 – Two words/phrases that make you laugh

The first word that comes to mind is supercilious: only because it’s pronounced like “super silly-ous.” Not a word that shows up much in conversation or in writing any more. But it’s one that I always got a kick out of when I was a kid. It’s probably been several decades since I’ve heard anyone use it.

The other that amuses me, but for a totally different reason, is when I’m listening to someone who has just come back from another country and they make the statement that “under the surface, they’re just like us.” I don’t laugh out loud at this, but almost view it as a sad situation that the individual thinks that they have figured it all out when there is so much more to culture. Since I work with foreign exchange students and have visited a number of other countries, I am very much aware of all the things that are “under the surface” that help make up the culture that each of us has. Things like direct/indirect communication style, focus on past v. present v. future, attitudes toward ancestors, etc, etc. So I inwardly am laughing only because the person making that statement is so shallow in their analysis when there are things so much deeper that they haven’t taken into account – but they think they’ve got the whole thing figured out.

And one doesn’t have to go to another country to have this experience. I’m very conscious that there are so many aspects to culture in this country that I can’t appreciate – whether it’s the experience that a person with a different color skin has compared to me (see very current topics of what are being called “micro-aggressions”) or attitudes toward government or technology by those who are generationally different than I am. And even as aware of these aspects of culture as I am, I know there are lots of times that my perspective gets in my way of a better understanding of another’s position. So I need to laugh at myself from time to time as well as I make mistakes.