Thursday, June 3, 2021

How to deal with a different race or ethnic group of people when you first meet them

If they are not threatening you in some way like a Gang or something and they are reasonable and polite to you in the situation you are in it's best to not say much but be polite and non-threatening to them. Listen to what they have to say. If they include you in their cultural activities be open minded and try to be polite and helpful and observant. The important thing is you have to be a little brave in new situations. For me, I was always tall for my age so I was an imposing figure from the time I was 13 years old and 5 foot 10 or more by 15 I was 6 foot 1 to 2 and by High school Graduation I was 6 foot 3 or 4 and by 21 I was 6 foot 4 and 1/2 or more inches or 6 foot 6" wearing boots (cowboy, hiking or work boots). And If I wore a hat I would seem taller than that.

So, I didn't feel as threatened being around many different ethnic groups because of this. Also, the people who had tried to kill me growing up were not black or hispanic but white like me. So, I always considered white people the most dangerous people of all even though I am one. People of other ethnicities never threatened me except one time Black kids threw rocks at me and my father's Electrical Contracting Truck near USC in a Black area then at a Catholic School we were working on. So, adults of various ethnicities never threatened me once that I can remember here in the U.S.

So, I often was interested in different cultures here in the U.S. from abroad and this eventually led to me traveling abroad because I have the right polite and interested demeanor for meeting people from other cultures. The more paranoid you are the less you should probably travel the world because you might wind up dead if you do.

People in other countries will not put up with what we put up with here in the U.S. We are a very tolerant country but most places are not tolerant at all. So, if you aren't polite and behave accordingly ending up dead in a foreign country is pretty normal all over the world. Before you travel abroad it's important to realize that every place isn't like where you live in the U.S. to begin with or you just won't come home from there at all. 

So, before you travel get a travel guide like maybe the Lonely Planet Travel Guide to that country so you can see how you need to behave in order to stay alive in that country. I like Lonely planet because I have always preferred to not travel with large tour groups and to do everything as a family or with whoever I'm traveling with. It gives me more freedom to meet more people that way and a better chance of staying safe and alive when I travel.

I sort of think of traveling sort of like you might think of going to another planet. Because often it is that different in essence when you get to know the people there.

So, getting to know different cultures and people is interesting to me and broadens my horizons always I find.

By God's Grace

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