I missed the Super Bowl this year. Over here in the UK, the game doesn't come on until 23:30. The stress of trying to finish out my doctoral dissertation has played havoc with my sleep-schedule as of late. Thus, there was pretty much no way I was making it past 8pm on Sunday. Apparently, I didn't miss much of a game. Though, I've heard the halftime show was something to enjoy! (?)
I also seem to have missed this wee Coke advertisement which has set the inter-webs on fire.
If you haven't seen it, look here: http://youtu.be/A8iM73E6JP8
There's a lot that has been said and could still be said about the uproar over the commercial. I'm going to skip talking about the commercial itself and try to focus more broadly here. The problem that some folk have with this commercial is not about language, it's about difference. And really, we shouldn't judge them too harshly. We ALL have a big problem with difference.
No matter who you are, no matter where you are, no matter how little or how great your education, there will inevitably be some type of difference which confronts you -at some point- and which makes you uncomfortable to some level and degree.
Sometimes it's language.
Sometimes it's colour.
Sometimes it's sexuality.
Sometimes it's culture.
The list is really rather infinite.
Again, it's something I think we all experience. Whether or not we give public voice to our feelings is another thing entirely, but we all can be a bit uncomfortable with differences.
But why?
We, as a species, are really a very sensitive and unsure people. Oh sure, we're taught to develop a tough skin and to "roll with the punches," but, deep down, we're all really a jumbled mess of questions, fears, desires, and doubts to some degree or another. Often we work very hard to masque what we consider to be our flaws, to paper-over our insecurities. We create a small web where we have decided what is normative and what is right and we find ourselves at peace in that.
Then difference comes along, rears its head, and starts to shatter our carefully crafted web of safety. We're left with questions about ourselves, others, life, and our place in this world. These questions are rarely ones which are fun nor easy to answer and so we can find ourselves very put off by differences. We try to paint that which is different as that which is problematic. Remove the difference and you remove the problem. Unfortunately, history seems to show that's rarely been the case. Usually, the problem or that which is creating the unpleasant feelings is not in that which is different, but, again, in we ourselves.
I think, perhaps, you can see where I'm going with this. I won't tell you that you shouldn't be uncomfortable, at least to some degree, with the differences which confront you in this life. But I will tell you that, perhaps the question in your mind should be "Why do they make me feel uncomfortable, what does that say about me?" instead of "Why can't they just be like me?" Mind you, I'm well aware that accepting differences isn't an overnight process. Often, it involves a somewhat long and prickly journey, but one which can teach us very much about ourselves and our world.
Personally, I never understood what it was to be a minority or an immigrant until I moved to another country. Mind you, I'm an American living in the United Kingdom, so my experience pales in comparison to many others. Still, moving to Aberdeen was a huge eye-opener about difference. For the first few weeks or so I was here, I would literally have to stop and ask folks to repeat what they just said. There were times where I would be on a bus or in a pub and think to myself "I don't understand a damned word any of these people just said?!?!?!" The UK is a melting-pot of nationalities from all over Europe and the wider world, it's nothing to hear a half dozen languages while on the bus. (Which can be very unsettling to someone from mid-west America where Spanglish is about as multi-lingual as we get.) Not to mention the fact that I had no clue as to how anything really worked -what do you mean I need an NHS number?!- and no clue how to navigate the systems which make life function. (Trying to get a bank account and/or a cell phone was a couple of week's worth of amazing frustration!)
I'm not going to lie, I got very frustrated with all these differences. I like to think of myself as a pretty tolerant person and I was very much at points where I was tempted to say "bugger this." (To quote the locals!) Thankfully, that didn't happen. I learned a lot about myself, via differences, in my first year at Aberdeen. The things I learned are things which, I think, made me quite a better person. At the very least, they made me a more self-aware and self-understanding person.
Before I get too preachy on this, let me sum it up: it's okay to be uncomfortable with differences. Let's all agree to be honest about that and not judge others too harshly for things we all experience. At the same time, perhaps we can remember that encountering differences is not bad, in fact, if we let it, difference is almost like a gateway to a better self-understanding.
Think of it like haggis. Wonderful, delicious, and often misunderstood haggis. Haggis is one of those things which you hear about and go "Uh...eww....no, just no...." especially if you're an American. But when you stop to think about all the other crazy things we eat -hotdogs, sausages, etc- haggis isn't that crazy. In fact, if you like those other things, I almost guarantee you'll find that 6 million Scots can't be wrong! You might also realise a few things about exceptionalism -at least culinary-wise- and privileging your preferences above others....but hey, more importantly, you'll get some haggis. Which is always worthwhile.
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