Reflections on time spent in Thailand
I found these interesting thoughts regarding time spent in Thailand and the way it changed this man’s perspective on “stuff,” materialism, relation ships etc. . .
More than my lack of charity was bothering me, though: My friends were Thai and, in the back of my mind, I knew that I would’ve given them the laptop had they been Americans.
Living in Thailand forces Americans to adjust to quite a few things. Among these is the fact that, compared to Americans, the Thai generally don’t care about stuff.1 I’d applied this generalization to my friends when I told them they couldn’t use my laptop, assuming that, because they were Thai, they shouldn’t be trusted with it. Though I had initially felt guilty about my willingness to treat Thai friends differently than I would have treated American friends, I slapped a lame excuse on this as well, convincing myself that the value of my computer, combined with the Thai disposition toward stuff, justified my behavior. [read more]