A few weeks ago, our garage door opener was broken, and the landlord called to tell us that a repairman would come and take a look. Around 1pm, my doorbell rang. The man at the door was eager to start working, but I told him that my landlord wanted to be here and that he was on his way. We went back and forth for a while, the repairman insisting that he could just fix the garage door and bill my landlord, while I insisted that he waited just a few minutes more. I was almost at my wits' end when my landlord arrived.
And that's when it began.
In one corner, the garage door repairman.
In the other corner, my landlord.
When I checked in on the repairman (who had the okay and was fixing the door), he whispered to me, "You didn't tell me your landlord was Indian! They are so difficult!" A few minutes later, my landlord said to me, "The price he's charging seems a little high. These guys, they're all the same. You never know if you can trust them." Next thing I knew, the repairman was telling me that laser sensor was broken, but that my landlord was most likely too cheap to get it fixed. I told him to talk to the landlord about it, but found out afterwards that the repairman had told my landlord that the sensor was acting normally.
When everyone finally left, I heaved a big sigh. The match was over, and I had played referee for an hour and a half. In the end, no one won, and I was left with a garage door that was only partially fixed.
The Chinese have a saying that goes something like this: Chickens are talking with ducks. (It sounds a lot wittier in Cantonese, believe me.) What it means is that communication is at a standstill because the two parties cannot see past their differences. The repairman and my landlord were both speaking English, but they were not communicating. Their prejudice had clouded their minds.
And that's when it began.
In one corner, the garage door repairman.
In the other corner, my landlord.
When I checked in on the repairman (who had the okay and was fixing the door), he whispered to me, "You didn't tell me your landlord was Indian! They are so difficult!" A few minutes later, my landlord said to me, "The price he's charging seems a little high. These guys, they're all the same. You never know if you can trust them." Next thing I knew, the repairman was telling me that laser sensor was broken, but that my landlord was most likely too cheap to get it fixed. I told him to talk to the landlord about it, but found out afterwards that the repairman had told my landlord that the sensor was acting normally.
When everyone finally left, I heaved a big sigh. The match was over, and I had played referee for an hour and a half. In the end, no one won, and I was left with a garage door that was only partially fixed.
The Chinese have a saying that goes something like this: Chickens are talking with ducks. (It sounds a lot wittier in Cantonese, believe me.) What it means is that communication is at a standstill because the two parties cannot see past their differences. The repairman and my landlord were both speaking English, but they were not communicating. Their prejudice had clouded their minds.
When I was in the fifth grade, I had several so-called friends suddenly decide that we weren't friends anymore. They chose to do this at a birthday party, and I clearly remember sitting on one side of the room with all the Asian girls, watching the birthday girl whisper things to the other non-Asian girls. We were so confused. I kept asking, "Was it something we did? Can we say 'sorry'?" But the only answer I got was a hushed, "It's because we're Asian."
That was my first experience of 'being different'. I didn't understand it then, and I don't understand it now. Looking back, I can see the naiveté of the girls, who had probably overheard something their parents had said. But how can two adults, with one goal, still allow preconceived ideas to get in the way of the task at hand?
That was my first experience of 'being different'. I didn't understand it then, and I don't understand it now. Looking back, I can see the naiveté of the girls, who had probably overheard something their parents had said. But how can two adults, with one goal, still allow preconceived ideas to get in the way of the task at hand?
This is more common than we realize, even within the Church. Do we allow ideas of culture, class, and appearance to blind us to the fact that God created us all in His image? Do we shut our ears and hear only clucks and quacks, rather than open our hearts to hear a person's words and thoughts?
For Christians, we can't blame naiveté or upbringing. Let us bear in mind Paul's words in I Corinthians 12:12-13: For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body-- Jews or Greeks, slaves or free-- and all were made to drink of one Spirit.
Well said. :)
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