The Language of Courtesy

I've been noticing, recently, how much courtesy is a part of the language here.  I don't know if it's a more inherent part of Spanish or if it is the Costa Rican culture itself that values this courtesy through language.

Whatever the source may be, it has definitely seeped into the way that I greet people, communicate, and write.  I'm glad for this.

Greetings and goodbyes are as essential if not more so than the actual task at hand.  If you don't greet someone before starting on with work, something is very wrong with you.  People over tasks.

If you are in the middle of a meeting and someone new walks in... they say good morning to everyone even if it interrupts whatever was happening.  That is still funny to me but I'm getting used to it.

The real inspiration for this entry, though, is that today I called American Airlines customer service and couldn't get through.  I think something was wrong with their phones.  I even tried calling their "Spanish number."  I would get so far through the menu and then it would drop me.  In the English menu, I found myself getting frustrated and anxious.  I was annoyed at the voice wanting me to tell him what I was calling about.

In contrast, when I interacted with the Spanish menu, I was calm.  I liked that the voice gave me options of what to say instead of leaving me a blank space to talk and then misinterpreting what I said to be something totally different like the English menu did.

This is so interesting..... why would the construction of the two menus for the same company be so different?  They weren't just a translation of each other... they were set up in totally different ways.  It was like the English menu gave complete independence of options while the Spanish one listed possible choices - "algo diferente" being my favorite.  When I tried to say "something else" with the English menu it thought I said vouchers and wanted a voucher number!

I also don't know if I was happier with the Spanish menu because I thought, well... at least I'm practicing Spanish instead of wasting my time....

I find that helps me get through a lot of potentially frustrating situations.  Now, the trick will be how to develop that same attitude towards situations while interacting in English.

Anyways, back to the point.  I finally talked with a really nice lady in English who encouraged me to write to AA to ask for a voucher for the ticket I never used in July.  I noticed in the email I wrote, as I have in several emails lately, that the tone of my writing is a lot more polite than it used to be.  It includes a lot more courtesy.  I'm sure that is a transference of my Spanish communication.

It will be so interesting to see just how much Spanish and living in this culture has changed and shaped the way I communicate and interact with the world.

I'm sure there will be many more stories to come.