Before we look at specific American cultural values, we want to look at a couple of practical situations so that you can visualize how cultural values play out in everyday life. There's a downloadable resource on the right to use during this lecture. I will read one cultural incident at a time. After I read the incident. Please pause the video and think what happened. then restart the video and I will discuss what cultural values were in play.

Go Paul came to the United States to attend a graduate program in engineering, along with his wife and daughter, David, a fellow graduate student is also married with children and offers to give him a ride home. And since go, Paul's apartment is not far from the university and go Paul hasn't gotten the car yet. When they get to go Paul's apartment go Paul invites David to meet his family. David was running late to pick up his wife. But he didn't want to be rude. So he decides to say hi.

Thinking he would just greeter at the door. No sooner than go Paul introduces his wife to David, that she goes quickly into the kitchen and comes back with a tray of Indian sweets and snacks. She offers to make tea. David tries to excuse himself, telling him that he needs to go right away. But go Paul and his wife insist that this is the first time he's come to their home and he needs to eat something before going. What to go Paul say and do.

What did David say and do? What did they not say? What was go Paul's intention What were his values? Does he effectively express what he wanted to do David? What was David's intention and his values? How can he manage the situation in a polite manner?

Assuming that Gopal and David want to continue building a friendship? What should each of them do? How can the tension be resolved? Both Gopalan David wants to be friendly. David offers to follow Ryan go Paul's eager to be friends with David. And so when David enters go Paul's house go Paul and his wife want to show david good Indian hospitality.

The guests is gone. It would be very wrong for David to come into their house and not be offered something to eat. David thought he was just going to drop go Paul off in the front of his house and had no intention of going in and meeting go Paul's wife that would impose on go Paul's wife and so she may be busy doing something else. And David needed to pick up his wife from work. She was waiting for him. And after they get home, they needed to cook dinner, help their children with homework and get them to bed by 830.

David's wife would not be happy waiting for him for 20 minutes. David has no idea how long it will take to have tea with Gopal and his wife. But he feels it's rude just to eat and then run. Americans feel pressure about time. We have schedules and often feel the need to get late. Lots of things done.

Sometimes that means politely saying, sorry, I gotta run, have lots to do this evening. So David's feeling of time pressure is clashing with go Paul's and his wife's feeling of the need to be hospitable. What should they do now? Since Gopal has moved to the US, he'll need to adapt to American ways. As the friendship grows, Degas will begin to understand some things about Indian culture that he doesn't know at this point. As the friendship grows, they'll have conversations about cultural differences, but that will happen over time.

Here's another cultural situation. A group of six med students were going on rounds with the doctor. One patient needed an IV and the doctor was trying to get his vein but was having a hard time the doctor Was of Indian origin. And in the group of students there were two Indian students. He handed the needle for the IV to Raj and asked him to administer the IV. Raj knew that this was a very simple procedure, often done by nurses, and he had done it many times.

He knew the doctor was perfectly capable of doing it. He found a good vein and got the needle lined up, and then handed the needle to the doctor to slip it in. A few beds later another patient needed a blood test. This time the doctor asked Rob to take the blood, handing him the needle. Rob stepped up to the task and easily inserted the needle and got the blood sample perfectly performed procedure. The doctor thanked him and continued with the action examination of the patient.

What did Raj and Rob do differently? What was Rogers intent in giving the needle to the doctor to insert? What was Rob's intent in inserting the needle and completing the procedure himself? Pause the video and reflect on the questions. When you restart the video, I'll give you my take on it. Raj felt that it could embarrass the doctor if he the student couldn't do it.

But the doctor could it. Raj was concerned about the doctor being his superior and he didn't want to embarrass him. He thought that if he went ahead and put the needle in, that the doctor might feel bad Rob felt that He should make sure that the doctor knew his abilities. He acted with confidence, but not with pride. He was doing what he was asked to do. If he didn't complete the procedure, the doctor might doubt his ability.

So we have two different values at play. One is respecting hierarchy, making sure that the superior is in no way embarrassed. The other value in play is showing ability and making sure that his individual skills, his individual ability to perform, were clearly seen. As you approach various situations. It's important that you think what you're actually saying and what you're actually doing in different contexts, and then make a decision as to what values are appropriate within the American American context