Monday, May 6, 2013
COM 250 / Wk. #6 Discussion: Why Is It That "Many, If Not Most, of Our Daily Interactions Are Intercultural in Nature" ?
At the very beginning of chapter 8, the author makes this sweeping statement that "[M]any, if not most, of our daily interaction are intercultural in nature." How could it be that we rarely meet and interact with foreigners/aliens and yet are involved in intercultural communication?
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I think that with how many different cultures we have in the United States, intercultural communication just comes naturally. I'm not saying we all understand each other, and some are definitely more understanding than most, but interacting with others who are different is a second nature in our country. For instance, I have worked in many food establishments over the past few years, and each one has been mostly the same when trying to communicate with others. The first job I had was at a mexican restaurant as a waitress. Being the only one who spoke english, it was extremely difficult to communicate with my co workers, boss, and most importantly, the customers. Many communication issues had come up, not only as a waitress for that restaurant, but also with working at two different Subways. I have customers coming in everyday that I have trouble communicating with. But before either of these jobs, I never had any sort of intercultural communication, but as soon as the problem presented itself, I somehow knew how to handle it effectively.
ReplyDeleteI believe that our communication on a regular basis is not intercultural, not but choice, but by regular occurence. When I worked as a server for a pizza restaurant, in which the owners/managers were Mexican, I found myself constantly having to be in an intercultural environment, not because I wanted to, but because of circumstances. While I could speak enough Spanish to communicate with the cook, it was still difficult. That would be what I call an extreme case. Now, on a regular basis in high school I found myself communicating with many people, who may have been white, or black, or Mexican, or whatever ethnicity, intercultural communication was a common thing. Everyone of these people had their own way of talking, or thinking, or portraying ideas. I cannot recall ever interacting with somebody who would be considered a "foreigner" or "alien" in my lifetime. America has become a bunch of "inbreeds" or a people of many mixed cultures and ethnicitys, that it is impossible to go through one's day and not communicate with someone else of a intercultural status...if we're all not intercultural people already.
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