Hope you guys are having a good weekend. Think about your entries to the blog this week. Very important point: please spellcheck all entries (Atsuko, Izumi, Miki et al).
Miki, are you OK? You didn't have influenza, did you?! *rush to kitchen to wash hands* :P
The recent flu epidemic shows a cross-cultural study of societies across the world. Lots of people got the idea to wear masks who didn't wear them before. But, interestingly, the Mexicans who wore them painted them in bright colors or designs or covered them with bright material. In truth, they were a kind of fashion that also raised awareness about a) not gathering in public places and b) washing ones hands frequently.
The CDC (Center for Disease Control) in Atlanta, Georgia (US) did not recommend masks to Americans because they say they are ineffective (one would have to wear special expensive particle masks and change them every two hours for them to actually filter out cold and flu germs) and therefore a waste of community resources. They rather emphasized doses of Tamiflu (most effective current antiflu medication) to anyone beginning to show symptoms, and avoidance of public places. Americans who were polled said they don't want to wear masks anyway because they don't like hiding their (or each other's) faces. I think this shows an essential point that, America being an immigrant society, it is very important (at a deep and historical level) to be able to clearly read the face (expression) and body language of the other person in order to trust them. When someone has a mask, people feel uneasy and wonder what bad thing they are hiding. European governments and populations, especially England, showed similar tendancies.
Maybe, Japanese people and Mexican people trust each other more than some other groups. That's a good thing and an interesting difference.
What do you guys think of this? Also, let's talk about what constitutes a "culture", "race", or "tribe". What's the difference? Blog on!
