A special cultural announcement for my Indian brothers and sisters.

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JimJimmers

Senior Member
Apr 26, 2012
2,584
70
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#1
I read recently that it is considered polite and commonplace in India to ask someone you just meet questions such as, "How much do you weigh?" and, "How much money do you make at your job?"

I have heard a few ladies from the USA complain that men often ask them such questions in the chat room. It is considered impolite in American culture to ask such questions of someone you just met. I just thought I would post this information, so we can better communicate in the chat rooms.

Common casual questions in the USA are questions like, "What kind of music do you like?" "what state are you from?" "Which church denomination do you belong to?" and "What are your hobbies?"


I hope this helps. God bless! -JIM
 

maxwel

Senior Member
Apr 18, 2013
9,261
2,386
113
#2
I read recently that it is considered polite and commonplace in India to ask someone you just meet questions such as, "How much do you weigh?" and, "How much money do you make at your job?"

I have heard a few ladies from the USA complain that men often ask them such questions in the chat room. It is considered impolite in American culture to ask such questions of someone you just met. I just thought I would post this information, so we can better communicate in the chat rooms.

Common casual questions in the USA are questions like, "What kind of music do you like?" "what state are you from?" "Which church denomination do you belong to?" and "What are your hobbies?"


I hope this helps. God bless! -JIM
Someone you just met?

It doesn't matter how long you've known an American woman...
if you EVER ask her how much she weighs, you'll be waking up the next day wrapped in bandages.

: )
 

JimJimmers

Senior Member
Apr 26, 2012
2,584
70
48
#3
Good point there, Max. Yes. For all of us men out there, better strike the 'how much do you weigh' question from your vocabulary totally.
 
S

savedNblessed

Guest
#4
Ha ha. Well yea it was tough growing up in India being over weight and very sensitive. People do not care, I repeat DO NOT, how you feel. They just ask or tell you that flat out. I'll share a funny story. After moving to the US of A, I pretty much lost touch with all my friends from back home. But thanks to Facebook, we reunited after many years. I was happy to be in touch with them again. But guess what the first message that was exchanged?? ”You haven't changed a bit. You are still fat.” I was like GREAT:rolleyes: the problem is not that they say it, but the fact that they don't realize it's rude. Sigh!!!
 

onlinebuddy

Senior Member
Sep 1, 2012
1,115
24
38
#5
Those questions are outright insensitive and out of place! How can anyone anywhere (leave alone India) consider these questions to be polite? A true Christian in India would never ask such questions. If he would, I would question his motives. Please tell our sisters in the U.S. that they are probably chatting with the wrong people.
 

sanglina

Senior Member
Jul 28, 2012
857
4
0
#6
I read recently that it is considered polite and commonplace in India to ask someone you just meet questions such as, "How much do you weigh?" and, "How much money do you make at your job?"

I have heard a few ladies from the USA complain that men often ask them such questions in the chat room. It is considered impolite in American culture to ask such questions of someone you just met. I just thought I would post this information, so we can better communicate in the chat rooms.
A lot of things spoken in conversation depends on the context and intent/tone (generally speaking). In the context of your narration, I would feel repulsive if a total stranger (online) in my first encounter were to ask me those questions without any preliminaries (despite coming from India). However, even with strangers, if the flow of conversation was good and those questions came in between as part of the conversation, then its not a big deal.

That being said, India is a land of multi-cultural in itself. However, having interacted (and being familiar) with people from almost all parts of the country, I would not exactly put the aforementioned 2 questions in the category of being considered as "polite" anywhere in India (at least in any of the cultures that I have known so far). I would rather categorised them as a non-issue: considered neither polite nor impolite or considered a necessity in conversation. As I said earlier, it all depends in the context and tone/intent in which those questions were spoken.

On a side note: the issue about commenting on one's weight (excess or lack of it) is quite common in the context of friends, relatives and even acquaintances in India, not because its considered "polite" or a necessity. But rather the comments made about it are more to do with an expression of concern, happiness, surprise, etc, etc over seeing your friends/ relatives/ acquaintances in that shape or size... Either way, its not generally taken as an offense.

PS: My response is general and may not necessarily be related to the chatroom incidents. But since the issue was on cultural gap, I just thought of highlighting the context in which those questions are usually spoken here (India). I hope it helps :)
 
J

jerusalem

Guest
#7
thank you for that post....as an american that has never traveled abroad and is new to multicultural conversations i really appreciate your dillema. i have the same problem in the chat room and find making a more personal connection with people a challenge as well. i hope you dont become discouraged since crossing cultural barriers is challenging for everyone. God bless
 

JimJimmers

Senior Member
Apr 26, 2012
2,584
70
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#8
Thanks to my Indian friends for offering clarification. :) The article I read made it sound like such questions were good conversation starters.
 

Rachel20

Senior Member
May 7, 2013
1,639
105
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#9
Oh actually, after seeing this thread, I made it a point to ask such questions to someone.
Turns out, it really was a good conversation starter. :rolleyes:
 
R

rocky085

Guest
#10
well we Indians tend to ask complete strangers like how much do u earn or what is your salary??

and just want to share that there is a saying in INDIA like

"Never ask a woman about her age and never ask a man about his salary"
 
Feb 21, 2014
5,672
18
0
#11
well we Indians tend to ask complete strangers like how much do u earn or what is your salary??

and just want to share that there is a saying in INDIA like

"Never ask a woman about her age and never ask a man about his salary"
In some countries people's salaries are public knowledge. Women, however, have the privilege of modifying their facial skin somewhat... :)