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| Mantoo |
The longer I am here and the longer I work with a multi-cultural team, the more I realise that we don't all want to be treated the same. Some people like to laugh and joke and that makes them feel part of the team, and appreciated. Others think this is belittling them and they should be listened to seriously. This causes some big problems when your instinct is to behave one way but that is not the most helpful reaction for others. Sometimes I am at a loss to know how to react as nothing seems to be right.
I'll give you an example, one day last week my guard asked if I liked Mantoo. I love Mantoo, its my favourite Afghan dish. He told me his family would make it for me the next day. The next day at around midday he brings about 7 or 8 dishes to my house with enough food to feed me for about four days. He dishes me up a plate to eat then and puts into tupperware the rest. I know I can't invite this man to stay and eat with me so I am as effusive as possible in my thanks and he leaves. Then what do I do? It is not clear, some of my cultural advisors say I should give him food back, but then it is possible that it looks like I am saying my food is better than yours. Some people say I should do nothing other than say thank you but then it may look like I don't care. A third person told me I should just make sure that what I give over the long term is more than I receive so that is the option I have gone with - I hope its the right one! I know what I would like if the roles were reversed - a big thank you and an empty plate would be great, but to know what other people want requires some skill, time and energy.
Taking time to get to know how someone else would like to be treated is showing love to your neighbour, and I think this consideration is what Jesus was talking about. So I am trying to get to know my team and treat them how they would like to be treated.
