Mark Dill

Culture clash - middle eastern coworker

Just wondering if anyone could shed some light on this situation with a coworker. She is Pakistani and a Muslim, but not sure if that matters.

Anyway, we normally get along pretty well, but she has strange opinions about certain things. One of these things is astrology. Another is my son, Ryan. (not his real name) One time I was showing her his baby pictures and she was oo-ing and ah-ing over them in a normal fashion and then I said, "None of these pictures are very recent, let me find a more recent one for you." I found the most recent one I had, which was him at 14 months. When she saw it she immediately said, "Oh what happened, he looks weaker!" I thought... ok... this is just one of those things where she does not realize exactly what she is saying - maybe she means "thinner" or something. I said, "Haha, no, he is just turning into a toddler, losing his baby fat, that's what happens as they get older." So I didn't think too much of it then.

I should pause here to mention that my son is the most normal of all normal kids. He has blond hair and hazel eyes - he is in the 90th percentile for height and 60th percentile for weight - so I guess you could say he is tall for his age but other than that he is totally an average american little kid.

Just yesterday, I was showing her pictures of my friend's son who is the same age as mine (19 months now) and I mentioned "He's really tall, I think he is even a little taller than Ryan." She immediately said, "Well, I'm not surprised, Ryan is a weak kid." I said, "Huh? What do you mean?" She said, "He's weaker, you know, he's small, he's not a strong kid." I sat there dumbfounded for a second and then I said, "That's not very nice, you know. You're telling me my son is weak. And you have no idea what you're talking about - he is above average for both weight and height." She was shocked that I was offended. And I was shocked that she was surprised that her comment bothered me.

So what the heck??? Is it common in the Muslim world for someone to say, "Your kid is weak" to a friend? I don't care if my friend's kid had cerebral palsy and was under 2 pounds, I would NEVER say that to a friend. Seems unbelievably rude to me. But she seemed to think nothing of it. Any ideas here? Or any insight at all would be appreciated. I'm wondering if maybe she is just not used to seeing "tall" American kids? Maybe short little middle eastern kids keep their baby fat longer? And even if that was the case, why would you SAY that? I dunno, I am at a loss.

Holadem

Your coworker is a dumbass. Every culture has those.

--
H

Peter Kim

Your coworker is thoughtless & insensitive & especially tactless.

Every workplace has those.

my girls rock Balenciaga & smoke mad marijuana - M.O.B.

Patrick_S

Gees instead of flying off the handle did you ever stop to simply ask her why she thought your kid was weak?

Who knows perhaps you could have gotten your answer instead of wasting time fishing for one on the internet.

Alex-C

You know what you're problem is...you totally don't respect a person's right to be a jackass. I swear...some people....sheesh !

A new life awaits you in the off-world colonies, the chance to begin again in a golden land of opportunity and adventure.


Let's Go . . . To the colonies !

Lynda-Marie

How good is your co-worker's English? She might mean something completely different, and the language barrier is interfering.

Or, maybe as our other members point out, she's just an insensitive twit.

The shape I\'m in you could donate my body to science fiction! - Rodney Dangerfield, \"Back to School\"

Mark Dill

She speaks English absolutely perfectly - she grew up speaking both English and Hindi.

I thought I did ask for clarification, and she just kept going on about how weak he is - but I have no idea where this opinion comes from, unless she just really doesn't understand that kids lose baby fat as they get older. But she has nieces and nephews who she's seen grow up so I don't get that one either. Do parents in that culture tend to keep the babies on formula longer? I know if you keep a kid on formula until they are two, they will look like a little sumo wrestler the whole time... maybe that was what she was expecting?

I also said something like "I don't think you realize all the connotations of the word 'weak' - you think he's weak?" And she just continued to look at me in a puzzled fashion.

Really, I did not feel I "flew off the handle" at all. I remained calm while I told her "That's not very nice."

Mark Dill

I am leaning towards insensitive twit, by the way, but I wanted to give her the benefit of the doubt and find out if there was some cultural explanation for her bizarre comments.

James Edward

Why don't you post the pictures here and we can all decide if he is really weak...

Napoleon, don\'t be jealous that I\'ve been chatting online with babes all day. Besides, we both know that I\'m training to be a cage fighter.

Mike Voigt

In some cultures it is considered a sign of "weakness" if a kid loses any of his bulk. The same societies generally also consider it a good idea if kids grow up a little bit fat... which helps when they shoot up. Think "muscle tone" and alternatives.

Plus, you're right, there are probably some other connotations to weak in other cultures...

Mike