Training Saturday

November 24, 2014

Touching a Japanese kid’s head has a very different meaning compared to doing the same thing to a European kid. Making eye contact with a Finnish person has nothing to do with doing the same thing with a South African person. Emptying your plate is perceived very differently depending on the culture; even the common okay gesture made with the index and thumb fingers has a whole lot of meanings. Notwithstanding, there are lots of experiences where we are not differentiated at all…for instance, the way it feels when you hit a pothole. A sharp blow in a pothole is reality simulator that produces a universal reaction profile—two strangers feel the type of brotherhood after hitting the same pothole that not even a 100-page manifest of their customs can provide.

When it comes to potholes, the whike is unfortunately nothing but a phenomenon, with its three wheels—one in the front and two in the back, you hit them all. Last Saturday I went through an old road in a very poor state, surrounded by trees that, in some stretches, arched over the way—it’s funny how different it can be: while the wheels struggle with the potholes, the sail caressed the leaves.