Updates, etc.

July 9, 2008

(1) I returned from my first trip to Shanghai, China yesterday afternoon. I worked with an extremely cordial crew - and one of our language speakers was kind enough to show me the sights, take me shopping (the dollar is very strong in China), and introduce me to some great food. I have been to Hong Kong several times, but mainland China is different. I found that a true cultural encounter needed no forcing - and I very much enjoyed my 50 hour layover.

I admit I was perplexed by the many - and some times accepted - ways folk from the U.S of A dishonor Chinese culture. We should, for instance, take note of the ways in which we fail to encourage people who are learning a new language. When we, for example, make light of the accent or sentence construction of the other - this is a great impediment to communication and learning. When I was in France, prostitutes knew more English than I did French - and in China nearly all were able to communicate effectively in English - while I was barely able utter a discernible ‘thank you’ in Chinese.

A group from the good-ole suburbs of Chicago was on the return flight - and many of the ‘adults’ (and at least one teen) confirmed all of the deplorable stereotypes of the burbs. One woman refused to take ice in her drink because she was afraid it was made in China (and it was), and was, therefore, dirty. And another pair made derogatory comments about sanitary standards in China and went so far as to call the language speaker a, shall we say, bitch unflattering word. Amazing.

(2) Customer service jobs, I have found, raise some profound questions. Among the most charged questions, for me, is the question of whether or not it is possible (and if possible, whether or not it is ethical or theologically viable) to separate one’s personal self from one’s professional self? What sense does this really make? In what way does this notion simply hide the fact that corporate America is inserting itself into our bodies - much like the 19th century ‘powers that be’ inserted sexuality as a means of controlling the masses? When one confronts, say, a passenger’s racism, how is one to respond: 1) as corporate robot - bent on not offending so as to secure additional revenue or 2) as a human being (which need not be offensive - but this type of response may be raw rather than, shall we say, ‘nuanced’)? I think my preference is clear.

Additional questions are also raised: how does one maintain one’s integrity in an environment were integrity is not a goal? How does one keep one’s promises while actively protesting against corporate greed? How seriously should one take one’s job? And - most importantly - how does one be a Christian at work - what does that look like? Just some questions I think about while at work - while handing off beverages and confronting all manner of social insanity. Not to say I am not culpable.

(3) Anyway, I finished Karl Barth’s Church Dogmatics 3.4 today. Barth fleshes out the command of God as it concerns the God-human relationship, the human-human relationship, the human being’s being given a life and, of course, an allotted amount of time to live aforementioned life. Barth, in his 685 page work (one of 4 volumes!), addresses Sabbath, prayer, confession, male-female relations, marriage, family, sex, abortion, war, work, vocation, service, and human honour…to mention a few topics.

(4) Matt is on a road trip - so I am hosting the podcast this week. You can find what I’ll be taking up here.

(5) More entries in the ‘Coming Out Series’ are forthcoming. Thanks to Zak for his story - another wonderful contribution to the series. Consider writing.

And that’s all I got at this very moment in time.

Posted by Tony Posted in Journal, Messages News, Posts by Tony