Thursday, October 18, 2007

I'm A Bad Person



I've recently been subjected to a mandatory "cultural sensitivity" class. One of the highlights was a scale of "Diversity Appreciation" which caused a spike in my blood pressure. Spike one occurred when reading the highest rating: culturally enlightened. This was defined as being fluent in two languages, with deep respect and admiration for another culture. Spike two occurred on reading the lowest rating: culturally incompetent - not fluent in any other languages, suspicious of other cultures.

Man, that's subtle. I'd hate to be culturally incompetent, I mean, people might think I'm not nice or something.

Maybe that's why they gave us a paper to to fill in with our names and answers to the questions asked during the indoctrination presentation. Especially "Where do you fall on the scale?". It's amazing how hard it can be to read cursive after too much coffee. It looks a lot like a random scribble. Hell, I'm surrounded by doctors, it'll look normal in that environment.

I've been out in a couple of different cultures over the years. When I develop a deep respect and admiration for political repression, poverty, and corruption, I'll move. Until then, I'll stay a suspicious, nationalistic, gun-owning American.

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