The Dutch
The Dutch are pleasant and funny people. Very direct and “not-beat-around-the-bush” mentality. This suits me fine.
A few examples:
1. When I asked my friend if he reads my blog, he said yes I did once. Then silence. Turns out he thinks that my writing is not up to scratch. Not sure whether it applies to my writing as such, or to the topics. Didn’t get around to ask. In my defence I must say that I do not aspire to get a price for this blog, but it’s about my life and it’s my writing, how can that be wrong? Guess I just get a bit hurt from knowing a friend cannot be bothered, but on the other hand, when I know this guy says something, he really means it. That is worth a lot.
2. At a party I was asked “if I may be so bold, can I ask how old you are?”. Of course I replied, only to get the usual polite response, “Oh, you don’t look like it”. Not sure whether I look younger or older though. Was kind of waiting for the follow-up question. It never came. Guess she just wanted to know my age. Bold? Absolutely. Direct? Absolutely. Did it offend me? Absolutely not.
3. Was approached by a friend of a friend. She said: “I heard that bad things happened to you lately”, to which I nodded. She continued to say “yes, isn’t it funny that when one bad thing happens to you, the others follow. I recently had my washing machine break down, and then all other appliances at home too”. Now, I really don’t think that the things that happened to me are in comparison, but at least she tried. She didn’t duck or avoid the issue. Guess I was a bit surprised by the fact that she knew, but I admire people who try. Sometimes they get it wrong, but hell, at least they tried.
A few examples:
1. When I asked my friend if he reads my blog, he said yes I did once. Then silence. Turns out he thinks that my writing is not up to scratch. Not sure whether it applies to my writing as such, or to the topics. Didn’t get around to ask. In my defence I must say that I do not aspire to get a price for this blog, but it’s about my life and it’s my writing, how can that be wrong? Guess I just get a bit hurt from knowing a friend cannot be bothered, but on the other hand, when I know this guy says something, he really means it. That is worth a lot.
2. At a party I was asked “if I may be so bold, can I ask how old you are?”. Of course I replied, only to get the usual polite response, “Oh, you don’t look like it”. Not sure whether I look younger or older though. Was kind of waiting for the follow-up question. It never came. Guess she just wanted to know my age. Bold? Absolutely. Direct? Absolutely. Did it offend me? Absolutely not.
3. Was approached by a friend of a friend. She said: “I heard that bad things happened to you lately”, to which I nodded. She continued to say “yes, isn’t it funny that when one bad thing happens to you, the others follow. I recently had my washing machine break down, and then all other appliances at home too”. Now, I really don’t think that the things that happened to me are in comparison, but at least she tried. She didn’t duck or avoid the issue. Guess I was a bit surprised by the fact that she knew, but I admire people who try. Sometimes they get it wrong, but hell, at least they tried.
posted by Annika @ 5:42 PM
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