Stop And Smell The Roses From India
Yesterday I sold our TV on Craigslist to a nice Indian family who happened to live just a few minutes from our house.When they came to check it out, the dad was interested in buying it, but he was trying to figure out how to get it up to his second floor apartment (the TV's pretty heavy). In order to seal the deal, I offered to go to his place and help him carry it upstairs. He agreed, and I followed them to their apartment and helped carry the TV inside.
Afterwards, they offered me a chair and the wife began to make tea for me. Actually, it took me a while to figure out what was happening because I had a hard time understanding their accent! Finally it dawned on me that they were inviting me to stay a while, just to be hospitable. I quickly gave a knee-jerk reaction of "No, thank you! I need to get home..." Why??
After I left, I started thinking about how I'm used to a culture that's focused on getting all these tasks done. There's no stopping to enjoy tea with someone you don't know. It bothered me that I had turned them down. After all, how do you build friendships and community with people if you don't slow down and be willing to visit for a while? But I have to admit the worst part - I did it a second time last night.
After I left, I got 3 more calls from them. Basically, they couldn't figure out how to get the TV to work with their cable. Finally, they asked me to come back that night to see if I could get it working. I was actually annoyed, because I already felt I was carrying more than my fair share of what I expected in the buyer/seller relationship. But I agreed to go back and set it up.
We got it working, and of course they wanted me to stay for tea again. Again, I instinctively turned them down because I just wanted to get home. I think there is a place for that, but in some ways I feel like I missed an opportunity to get to know a nice family from another culture. It's probably my loss.
I think this will take a while for me to change. If they called me up again right now, I wouldn't really feel like saying yes. Hopefully over time I'll get better at this!
posted by Greg @ 9:38 AM
1 Comments:
this will likely change in croatia. i was stuffed to the gills with tea and coffee and cakes and meats and crackers, at peoples houses and apartments. you're right - we are in such a hurry here...things that we should enjoy like this seem like a chore. we should all aim to change that....and enjoy the people God brings into our lives. :)
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