What Some People Don't Know, They Just Don't Know
Judy Ramsook
February 20, 2006
Depending on one’s range of education and the time he or she takes to do research on certain countries or places, his expectations can be predictable or not. In this day of internet technology, it’s easy to find out basic facts about whatever country one is travelling to. Sometimes, again, life is not that easy.
Take, for example some one who lives in a third world country with no computer and internet access. There are internet cafes and such, but say the average person who lives in a third world nation who does not own a computer does not bother to avail himself of such services.
His knowledge of certain places in the world is limited or comes to him by way of all the fiction (television shows) he sees on the television, and he is informed about other bits of newsworthy information by reading the daily newspaper or looking at the news. Believe it or not, some people in the world who have never been to America think life is quite easy in the land of the free.
It might not dawn on them that it is a place where one has to work for a living, pay for housing, utilities as well as material possessions and so on. The reason they think this is, apart from what they see on television and read in the newspapers, some persons they know who have visited America have not informed them of such matters.
Such persons are led to believe that once some one comes to America, his or her life automatically falls into place. It might not dawn on such individuals that if a newcomer to America has no car and he needs to get somewhere that he might need to use some form of public transportation and do all the other things one does in order to have some semblance of a life.
The thing that I find amusing is the look of disbelief I get when I try to tell some people who have never been to America that you have to do certain things. Things such as pay utility bills, rent, work and even be careful,
Granted, the crime rate is not what it is in certain third world countries, but one still has to exercise some caution when he is out in public. On a personal note, I like the progressive attitude most Americans have about certain aspects of life, take the work place for instance.
For example, take a simple thing such as job training. In some third world countries, some people do not believe in such a thing, depending on the job. To put it simply, some one in the average American work place will gladly show a new employee how to do something he does not know how to do, whereas in some third world countries, you are on your own.
It may sound archaic, but there are some people in the world who believe that if they were to teach some one else what to do in order to achieve success, that person will be more successful than he is; the one who showed the other what to do.
Many people who have not been to America might have a one sided view of it, but as for me, I like America and although it might take some longer than others for their lives to fall into place, from what I have seen and experienced, all in all, it is a great country.
Take, for example some one who lives in a third world country with no computer and internet access. There are internet cafes and such, but say the average person who lives in a third world nation who does not own a computer does not bother to avail himself of such services.
His knowledge of certain places in the world is limited or comes to him by way of all the fiction (television shows) he sees on the television, and he is informed about other bits of newsworthy information by reading the daily newspaper or looking at the news. Believe it or not, some people in the world who have never been to America think life is quite easy in the land of the free.
It might not dawn on them that it is a place where one has to work for a living, pay for housing, utilities as well as material possessions and so on. The reason they think this is, apart from what they see on television and read in the newspapers, some persons they know who have visited America have not informed them of such matters.
Such persons are led to believe that once some one comes to America, his or her life automatically falls into place. It might not dawn on such individuals that if a newcomer to America has no car and he needs to get somewhere that he might need to use some form of public transportation and do all the other things one does in order to have some semblance of a life.
The thing that I find amusing is the look of disbelief I get when I try to tell some people who have never been to America that you have to do certain things. Things such as pay utility bills, rent, work and even be careful,
Granted, the crime rate is not what it is in certain third world countries, but one still has to exercise some caution when he is out in public. On a personal note, I like the progressive attitude most Americans have about certain aspects of life, take the work place for instance.
For example, take a simple thing such as job training. In some third world countries, some people do not believe in such a thing, depending on the job. To put it simply, some one in the average American work place will gladly show a new employee how to do something he does not know how to do, whereas in some third world countries, you are on your own.
It may sound archaic, but there are some people in the world who believe that if they were to teach some one else what to do in order to achieve success, that person will be more successful than he is; the one who showed the other what to do.
Many people who have not been to America might have a one sided view of it, but as for me, I like America and although it might take some longer than others for their lives to fall into place, from what I have seen and experienced, all in all, it is a great country.
Print
Email
