[ClutchFans] James Harden, Jeremy Lin after Rockets beat Kings (funny stuff)

tldr but I understand what you're coming from. Still tho, the reporter is either immigrant nor 2nd gen of imigrant. I don't understand what these culturely difference between 1st gen and 2nd gen has anything to do with this guy who's simply working oversea and tries his best to speak our language. I agree he came across rude in our perspective. But think about if you're in his shoes. Your boss spends thousands of dollars to fly you to China and you have to compete with a bunch of native reporters in China and try to get your question in in Chinese. You think your boss is ok for you not to ask anything?

 

"Hey! Hey Cly- Hey Clyde! Do you want to eat baby seal? Since you like to club them."

 

So many AROFs here
(Asian reporter only fans)

 

Federer has stated before that he'd rather not play Nadal if not necessary.

And while 90% of players deflect the question, there have been certain players on sports teams (in basketball, hockey) where they've stated what team they want. And the media then blows it out of proportion.

 

I'm actually quite accustomed to that scenario. Engaging mainland culture in collaborative work, I'm often faces with the difficulty of operating in a culture where acceptable behavior is different. It's hard yes, that's not really my point. The feeling of embarrassment has everything to do with the dissonance between the two generations. It goes beyond a language barrier or grammar issue. I have plenty of friends with accents, but when I see how they operate in relationships and socially it tells me a lot about what values drive them. This reporters questions, how he behaves, etc tells me a lot about the value system he comes from. That value difference is the issue for the 1st/2nd gen conflict.

 

Response

I thought his question was slightly different and an interesting one, although not delivered well. I enjoyed his question more than other people's questions. No one asks that interesting questions anyway.

 

So, the next time one of my old parents accidentally rips one in an elevator packed with people, I will inhale deeply with pride, for embarrassment is not an option. Thank you for opening these eyes.

 

Side story: 2 funny elevator situations involving culture differences.

1) at a hotel in Italy, crowd of people waiting for an elevator. Doors open and before there's a opportunity for people to get off the elevator, an Asian couple pushes their way in from behind the crowd and into the elevator so no one else can get in and no one can get out. Everyone looks in disbelief and one guy passive aggressively sticks his head in the elevator to push every single button. Now we're all screwed.

2) in china waiting for an elevator, guy snorts then spits on the up/down buttons missing the trash can below it. No one thinks it gross but my wife and me. That's just how things work there.

Embarrassing yes, but annoying and problematic if you explain why certain behavior isn't acceptable in a host culture but the response is "I don't care, my way is better" (authoritarian).

 

JAME DO U WAN PLAY OKAYCEE?

 

Please post link to this

 

again, accent has nothing to do with your behavior. i am sorry you are mixing personal bahvior with an accent.

 

Pretty funny, although my favorite is still that guy that got pissed when McHale said it was a bad question.

"IT WASN'T THAT BAD!!!" Lol

 

Man, I would get absolutely ripped if I was an interviewer, and I am full-blooded-merican.

 

This is not apply to just elevator. Try the get out of a jam pack subway train in any of the Chinatown train station. Not going to happen. As soon as the subway door is opened, the people just rushed it and people who wanted to get out can't.

I am Chinese myself and I just don't understand this.

 

The seamy side of affirmative action.

 

Maybe it's just me, but do you actually enjoy ripping on your own ethnic group in public? Seems like you're trying really hard to tell everyone how gross they are, while trying to show us how much you're not like them.

Maybe open up a new business teaching these foreigners or new immigrants how to behave so that you won't be embarrassed by association of skin color. It'll do a lot more good than ripping on them on a public basketball forum.

BTW, I can see that your last paragraph is trying to say that they won't listen...but you're generalizing the whole group, and in regards to that reporter who annoyed Harden, who knows if anyone had ever told him the ABCs of western behavior, or had simply given up on him the moment they saw his face.

 

Dude seriously? I just basically wrote a dissertation above on this. Read through that and then respond on the reasons why I describe events like this.

The stories aren't meant to portray "grossness" and how I'm not like "them". It's to show in every culture there's a different standard of what normal is. Did you know that in some Eastern cultures it's considered deeply offensive to look someone in the eyes or that it's gross to shake hands or physically touch when greeting another? If you didn't know and went to that culture you'd learn pretty fast or look like an idiot for awhile.

My first example shows the social response when when an Asian is in a different culture, unaware of how their behavior is offensive. The second example shows me in an Asian culture where I feel offended but can't/won't do anything about it because I'm in a different culture with different values/standards.

Some of you guys keep talking about this like it's simply about skin color or accents. Look a little deeper than that and you'll understand this is about bridging a cultural dissonance.

My original point is that trying to adjust to the host culture is always difficult, but there is unique difficulty in the 1st/2nd gen conflict in how that adjustment takes place, if at all. Hence the reason for me originally saying, as a 2nd gen, "I feel embarrassed" when I see 1st gen values at play that conflict with 2nd gen values, which touches on a nerve for so many families caught in the 1st/2nd gen gap.

So let me break it down real clear: The reporter is just a trigger. It's not about his accent or his skin color (you can't even see him in the video). In the triggering event of his interview, there are reasons to feel generally awkward or embarrassed for him as multiple people on this thread have noted. The reason why I said "I cringe" and that it "reminds me of my parents" is because that's a response coming from the 1st/2nd gen rift.

If you're having difficulty understanding why there's a 1st/2nd gen rift, think of it this way. Imagine growing up in a super conservative Christian church where you are constantly hammered with rules on what's okay and not. This is essentially an oppressive authoritarian environment where you are expected to conform to the culture of the church. There is no room for debate, discussion, etc. Then imagine leaving that church and then coming across someone in another church or even in a random social setting who speak "conservative Christian" language. Does this person necessarily come from the same value system of that oppressive church? Maybe, maybe not. That all depends on how prevalent this "culture" is among churches in your area. You'd really have to talk to that person to know. But can you expect yourself to just "not feel" threatened by such language? Heck this is the reason so many people leave the church and never come back.

Is it a generalization on the culture at large, yes....but an educated generalization base on what I know to drive the values of the culture (parent/ancestry veneration).

 

(Cue in annoying Asian guy)
-Hey James, guess what now.

 

I bet this would have been less awkward if the reporter was some guy with a European accent.