While different cultures makes the world more interesting, culture shocks like this illustrate just how moronic cultures can make people. Some famous soccer player donates his shoes for a fundraiser depicted on Egyptian television. Egyptians apparently think of shoes like Americans would think of dirty toilet paper. Weird, but even granted that this gesture is coming from a soccer player, whose shoes are actually extremely valuable for their profession. Egyptians feel sleighted by it, making people outraged over something that should generate no outrage particularly since OBVIOUSLY no offense was INTENDED as this isn't somebody from their culture. While some cultures are worse than others, my point here isn't to pick on Egypt, it's just the most recent example I've noticed. I suppose I'll be thankful about the different forms of art and food we get from different cultures. In terms of values though, it leads to idiocy like this. http://www.latimes.com/world/middleeast/la-fg-egypt-messi-shoes-20160330-story.html http://www.cnn.com/2016/03/31/football/lionel-messi-egypt-shoes-insult/index.html
And replace it with what? Global stupidity? Not sure I follow you here. Don't throw the baby out with the bathwater.
Just logic. In this case, it doesn't take much thought to see that the soccer player meant well, so the Egyptians viewing it through their cultural lens without context was idiotic. The notion of shoes being inherently insulting is silly and this aspect of their culture deserves no respect and should be called out like any idiotic idea. I get tired of the postmodern idea that we should respect peoples' cultures. Most cultures have good and bad aspects, and the bad aspects should be recognized as bad rather than condoned for being a part of culture.
It's not culture that you have a problem with. it's specifically egyptian culture which bothers you in this case. and I agree, some cultures are just stupid.
Okay we agree. I have a buddy from Iraq who told me about the shoe thing, and he thought it was retarded as well. Then again, he is a gay, atheist, Republican, so he isn't exactly known for following the pack. China is actually pretty tolerant of foreigners who don't understand their culture. For instance, even though I've repeatedly been told by my Chinese professors to always accept and give documents with both hands, I often forget and just lazily use one hand. I have yet to be critiqued or treated negatively as a result. That being said, don't ever give a Chinese person a clock...
And the idea that used athletic shoes are valuable is silly in exactly the same way, at least to my way of thinking. Just what are you supposed to do with them? Marvel at their odor? Thinking they are valuable is in fact a much more idiotic idea.
It's not so much about the soccer player being correct that shoes are precious vs Egyptians thinking they're garbage so much as the Egyptians having an irrational response to a well-intentioned gesture. Assuming some fan would actually pay to have the shoes to donate to charity, while I might find that weird, it's still a good thing in terms of getting money to charity and all sides benefitting. This aspect of Egyptian culture is causing them to be unreasonable.
How were the Egyptians to know those shoes are valued by some demented Westerners? It is such an outlandish idea.
No it's really not. The top professional soccer player donating his shoes to charity is obviously done because he can replace the shoes for hundreds of dollars while it could net thousands for the charity. This isn't about the cultural value of shoes, it is about the realities of the marketplace. You don't have to be somebody who would actually purchase them to understand what is going on there, and if they don't understand the concept then they shouldn't be opening their mouths about something they don't understand. To immediately assume some foreigner is donating to a charity in order to insult you is not a rational first impulse.
I think it is the height of arrogance for this soccer player to think that everyone should understand his smelly sneakers are worth money to deranged smelly sneaker fetishists. If what's his name had sent them to me and said I could sell them for a lot of money, I'd get angry too and assume he was playing a joke on me.
The thinking is: feet are low. They touch the dirt. It is an offense to put your foot in someone's face, or show the bottom of your feet toward them. It's a kind of sensitive way to show respect to one another. I wouldn't criticize it. Maybe they think you're funny for getting offended at the "n" word or getting a middle finger waved at you...
While I find their custom silly, what is offensive is that this guy was trying to do something good, and they got angry at him over it due to this silly custom. It's probably best just to avoid interaction with people like that, but it's too bad their illogical culture is the reason behind it. It's like the unnecessary drama in soap operas that occurs because people are being stupid and unreasonable. Except when it comes to cultural differences we're told we need to respect them, and we really shouldn't. We should criticize and combat stupidity wherever and whoever it comes from. There's enough problems in the world without idiocy like that contributing to them.
These things are offensive because of the apparent malicious intent behind them when coming from somebody using it purposefully in a threatening/insulting way. Some person smiling and waving the middle finger around, if they were a child or looked foreign, I wouldn't assume they have any idea what the gesture means and so would have no cause to be offended - particularly once it is clarified they don't know what it means. But even getting offended by the middle finger and n word is a little bit illogical. They mostly reflect the rudeness of the person using them. We probably shouldn't take ourselves or others so seriously, unless we think the person flipping us off is about to do something violent.
I have enough problems in my life that I don't waste time nor energy complaining about the customs of foreigners.
