cubical world
sporte | February 4, 2009
The auditorium could have been empty as I focused on the slide overhead. Questions formed out the mist, and my heart pounded as I took a deep breath and began to my raise my hand.
"Da da da dah! Da da da dah, da da da da da da da dah!!"
Oh, NO! The theme song from Indiana Jones! Coming from my backpack! Thousands of eyes turned disapprovingly to stare at my red face. Scrambling frantically over people to reach the aisle, I ran out the back of the room and answered the phone.
"Hi, my name is Tim, and I'm looking for a financial advisor in your area...."
What!! Who is this! The…
sporte | February 23, 2008Long ago, I worked in a large lab that was divided into several small rooms. For part of that time, I shared one of the small rooms with a graduate student from Taiwan. She was a wonderful person who taught me that many cultural norms are not normal in other cultures.
One moment stands out.
She sneezed.
"Gesundheit" I replied.
She stared at me, clearly puzzled. "What?"
"You know, it's a word we say when people sneeze. It keeps demons from running up your nose"
If she looked puzzled before, now, she was clearly alarmed. I could see her sneaking furtive glances towards the door. Was she…