By Cat Bui.
?Well, there they are and they are nothing more than trees. They are people. We are people and we would not need to understand them, but only recognize them? Gerardo Herrera told me when I asked him how we should think about people from different cultures.
Gerardo Herrera comes from Mexico, from the State of Mexico, to be precise, where he obtained a university degree in communication and pedagogy. His main job is as a supermarket manager here in Redwood City, but in his spare time he works as a journalist. Before coming to the United States in 2015, he worked as a reporter and photographer in Mexico.
Gerardo told me that, between the countries of Mexico and the United States, the self-expression of dialogue is different and greatly affects the culture of interaction. For example, in the case of physical space, ?In Mexico, at least from the part where I come from, we hug each other a lot, we always greet each other, there is always physical contact. For example, do I greet my parents with a kiss?
However, in the United States, there is not much of that physical culture, which was a shock for Gerardo.
He clarified that closeness is not something that he sees as bad, just something that he had to adjust to the principle of being in this country. This was an example of how we should treat different people: "as if they were trees." We must accept the differences between us as natural things, because they are.
?Sometimes the only way to solve people's problems is to listen to them and talk to them. Sometimes, many of their annoyances, their tiredness, are just because they want to feel heard?
It seemed to me that he was talking about all marginalized communities, including immigrants who have different cultures and expressions.
We have to open our arms to others to know their cultures, their experiences, their fatigue and their discomfort. Our branches can extend not only to other people, but to the sky, so that a forest rich with empathy and peace grows.
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