January 31, 2007
American Brazilian Ingenuity
The beginning of the 2007 school year is fast approaching here at the seminary, and I am frantically trying to get my office into a presentable condition before students arrived. High on my list has been getting thirteen framed pictures up on my wall. Since walls here are brick and concrete, it is a little more complicated than pounding hammer and nail into sheet rock.
Fortunately, we have Josiel. Josiel is a seminary student who stayed here during break to work on various construction projects. This morning he appeared at my office, ready to hang my pictures.
As he spread his tools out on the floor, he realized that he would need an extension cord for his electric drill. Not finding one anywhere around, I was about ready to run into town to get one, when he stopped me.
"There's no need" he said. He then went to the storage room where there are a variety of electric devices, including two spotlights with rather long power cords. Deftly, Josiel cut one of the wires, opened it up, rigged up a makeshift plug, and connected it to his drill.
It worked like a charm. After hanging all the pictures, he spliced the wire back into it's original place.
This illustrates a fundamental difference between the modern American mentality and the Brazilian. I immediately thought about buying an extension, while Josiel looked for a way to make due with what he had.
My grandfather always used to say that there is always something nearby you can use. He would have gotten along very well with Josiel.
Posted by Andrew on January 31, 2007 9:28 AM.
Comments
Posted by: pregador27 at February 6, 2007 10:27 AM
I think that we as Americans (and this is a generalization, of course) have become way too soft and accustomed to finding everything we need at Home Depot.
Posted by: Andrew at February 6, 2007 11:37 AM
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Hey Andrew, I have also noticed the ingenuity of Brazilians. It reminds me of the USA in the past. Somethings I remember resembling the USA of the 1970's, other things from the distant past- things lost on us here today. What do you think?