してもっとも適切なものを
It is easy, and entertaining, to notice different rituals in foreign countries, as did the Briton
who spent a year working in France and was amused, that everyone ceremoniously shook
hands and said "Bonjour" to everyone else when they arrived at work in the morning-and
again when they left for lunch, returned from lunch, and left at the end of the day. He even
observed elementary-school children shaking each other's hands in greeting when they met on
their way to school. We expect rituals at points of transition like greetings, and we expect
them to be different and those differences to cause confusion-when we go to foreign
countries. But we don't expect differences, and are far less likely to recognize the ritual nature
of our conversations, among other Americans at work. Our differing rituals are even more
problematic when we think we're all speaking the same language.
