Something came out in a conversation yesterday with one of my Canadian friends. We were talking about a city on the Caribbean coast of Colombia, where my friend Juan is living. I was training my Canadian friend to pronounce correctly "Barranquilla", the city where my friend Juan lives. He actually got it right. It is pronounced "Ba-rdrahn-KEE-yah, or ba-rdrahn- KEE-zhah. (you roll the letter r which gives it a slight d sound)
Now, I was telling my Canadian friend about my last trip to Colombia, in February, when I was waiting in line for customs and immigration. Standing behind me were two young Canadians, and one was talking about his upcoming visit to Barranquilla, which he pronounced very incorrectly, the way it looks to an English speaker, which sounds like baron killa. I mentioned to my Canadian friend that I wondered if I could help, so my Canadian friend naturally assumed that I would not have put my foot in it and correct the poor bugger. Well, I did, and he did seem a bit surprised when I mentioned this to him. So, gently and nicely, of course, I explained to the young Canadian in the El Dorado Airport in Bogotá, that I would like to save him the embarrassment, as well as the inconvenience, given that, pronouncing Barranquilla incorrectly could create potential problems for him, because no one in Colombia would understand what he was talking about. He also seemed to genuinely appreciate my input.
My Canadian friend is, in this manner anyway, a very typical Canadian. We like to mind our own business, and some of us even think that it is the absolute height of rudeness to speak out of turn, especially to random strangers. I have never been like that. I think my own background as a teenage teenage Jesus freak really conditioned me that I have to reach out to others, no matter what, and not only to help rescue other people's immortal souls from eternal hellfire, but simply out of kindness and friendliness. Now, Canadians do tend to be kind and friendly. But many of us really suck at reaching out to strangers. For the most part, we are timid. We are afraid of the consequences of risk taking. Regardless of what else I might think of our obnoxious neighbours to the south, one trait that I do admire in Americans (and in Colombians as well) is the willingness and courage to cross those barriers (they are barriers, not boundaries) and actually reach out to others, hang the consequences.
During my lengthy penance in the Anglican Church, I was also immersed in conservative Canadian timidity, because the Anglican Church of Canada is very much a bastion of middle class Canadian privilege, and they tend to function as a sacred institution that in every other way is completely secular in its mentality, its values, and its way of operating. This is what makes passing the peace such a big deal during Anglican Eucharists. It would seem that this is the only socially sanctioned opportunity for otherwise repressed and inhibited Anglicans to actually reach out to complete strangers. Of course, there is also the coffee hour following, but not everyone is going to be friendly there.
I always have and always will live my life in a way that I will be transgressing boundaries. This has nothing to do with disrespect by the way. Simply it is seeking the most appropriate way of reaching to others across the divide that often prevents people from coming together. I am not always kindly received, but experience has shown me that more people than not appreciate me making with them this kind of effort. The only thing that troubles me is that, far too often, I feel like I'm the only person who will do this. Any of you oh so very Canadian cowards ready yet to crawl out from under your rock?
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