Why Being Rude And Direct Is Helpful In Multi-Cultural Environments
“Work now – complain later”. That was the advice given to me in my education class on policy. It could be that it is a useful motto in a unionized work environment, but it is arguably a trait of being Canadian. An American client of mine commented that he noticed this trait when working in Canada when he simply asked “Do you mind setting up the meeting room?” to a coworker. The Canadian worker did it, but later complained privately to him that she felt it was very unfair for him to make her do that. He told me that he thought it was so crazy that she did it even though she didn’t want to, when all she had to do was be direct and say, “Sorry, I’m too busy getting ready for my section of the presentation”. This lead to us having a general discussion about Canadian vs American culture.
Still, this though keeps returning to my mind. I see it almost daily in front of my office. Local people, usually an old white lady, scowling at the young Asian high-school students who are blocking the sidewalk waiting for the light to change. Why not just say “Excuse me, I need by”? Then they will smile and move. Instead, the old white lady mutters under her breathe about how rude and disrespectful these “foreigners” are. Of course, when you are new to a country, it is good to be observant and notice polite manners such as holding the door open for the person coming next, but it’s not fair to be upset a someone when you don’t even tell them what you want. And let’s face it, foreign or not, teenagers are typically oblivious to anything that doesn’t immediately concern them.
This happens to in the workplace. Canadians, with this “work now, complain later” motto likely won’t tell people directly that “The smell of that food cooking in the microwave bothers me.” “When you speak a language I don’t understand, I feel uncomfortable.” Complaining about things after the fact can also mean that it wasn’t that important at the time. Messages get mixed and by trying to be polite, nothing gets resolved. Talking about your feelings openly and directly typically brings people closer together and improves the understanding of one another.