Embrace Vietnamese Cultural Habits

It could save your life in Vietnam.

Why is it ok to wear shoes in playgrounds in America but it is not ok to wear shoes in Vietnamese playgrounds? News Flash: American cultural habits are different than Vietnamese habits. For example, all the playgrounds in Vietnam post signs telling everyone to take off their shoes. Vietnamese people do it out of habit and guests like me do it out of respect for their rules. There is always a voice in my head that grunts, “why do I have to take off my shoes, it’s not right.” Right or wrong is in the eye of the beholder. I’ve lived here for 10 years and still struggle to let go of my old American habits. Taking off my shoes at playgrounds is an easy one but one in particular deserves mention because it might run you down. When in Vietnam do as the Vietnamese do. Be prepared to look both ways at crosswalks.

When crossing a road in Vietnam don't assume drivers will stop for pedestrians at crosswalks because they won't. Look both ways and proceed like an expert Frogger. Make sure you make eye contact with the driver and judge their speed to give yourself enough safety room. As soon as you get to the meridian, repeat the process in opposite direction. For whatever reason, the majority of Vietnamese drivers do not have the habit of yielding to pedestrians. They will honk at you for your own safety as to say, "watch out, you are going to get run over." It is not right or wrong, it just is reality.

As a tourist or permanent resident in a foreign country we should not judge the habits of our hosts as good or bad. We should accept the new habits and adapt ourselves to fit in. What we resists persists. Like if you agree.

Reality is neutral

My good friend Paul Simos taught me that ‘reality is neutral.’ It means that what we experience in life is neither right or wrong until we judge the experience in reference to our beliefs. In Vietnam they believe it's ok to insist everyone take their shoes off at playgrounds and honk at pedestrians on the crosswalks. The reality is that a playground can serve it's purpose regardless of whether users wear shoes or not. The reality is that smart drivers and smart pedestrians can survive regardless of any traffic laws. The challenge is to view the world as it is and not get caught up in the right and wrong of it all. Just go with the flow and make decisions to live another day.

Just for fun, I asked several Vietnamese why the Vietnamese playground rule exists and what the logic was. Some said wearing shoes was not safe. Others said that the streets in Vietnam are dirty and the "dirtiness" should not be brought into the playground to keep the playground clean. Makes sense to me. Let's go play!