Quote:
Originally Posted by fdpaq0580
There are any number of things that are acceptable in some cultures but are considered very bad or offensive in others. Simply shaking hands is unacceptable in some cultures, while it is (generally) o.k. and common here. In New Zealand, for example, a formal Maori greeting would be terrifying to most of us.
Someone has a tag line that says something about "good people doing nothing" being bad. But, there are times when doing nothing is very much the best thing to do. Even those who have done a lot of traveling don't know all the ways to behave in different cultural situations. When confronted with something culturally unfamiliar, try to learn and understand. That is the best you can do.
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18th century British sailors sang a little ditty about New Zealand: First they cheat you; then they eat you.
I have a couple of photos of myself standing with a couple of Maori men in warrior dress. I am not small at 6'2", 220. These guys were a bit shorter but twice as wide, very heavily boned, large broad shoulders; even their feet were huge. My guess is over the time they were on those islands only the strongest survived. They were cannibals.