what i saw in America

Let me begin my American impressions with two impressions I had before i went to America. One was an incident and the other an idea; and when taken togrether they illustrate the atittude I mean. The first principle is that nobody should ashamed of thinking a thing funny because it is foreign; the second is that he should be ashamed of thinking it wrong because it is funny. The reaction of his senses and superficial habits of mind against something new, and to him abnormal, is a perfectly healthy reaction. But the inferiority is very inadequate mind. It is inadequate even in criticising things that may really be inferior to things involveed here. It is far better to laugh than at a negro for having a black face than sneer at him for having a sloping skull. It is proportionaly even more preferably to laugh rather than judge in dealing with highly civilized peoples. Therefore I put at the beginning two working examples of what I felt about America before I saw it; the sort of thing that man a right to enjoy as a joke, and the sort of thing he has a duty to understand and respect, because it is the explanation of the joke.

I totally agree with what the author said. More often, we tend to make fun of things we do not understand and we never border to know the meaning of the thing we laughed at. For instance, so many Languages spoken may sound funny to people who do not speak them. I remember some few months ago, I was having a conversation my cousin on the phone. we were actually speaking my native language. I had my American friend beside me and all of a sudden, she giggled and imitated every word I said whiles i was on the phone. But though the language sounded funny to her, the conversation itselt was not funny at all. I was embarrassed but realised that I do the same to others. so this behavoir is one thing that we cannot do away with. All the same, we need to try and understand the thing that looked or sounded funny to us.

I chose this quote because it happens in our everyday lives but i've never been conscious about it until i saw it been addressed.