On October 31, a girl participated in a Halloween parade in Brussels, Belgium. (Xinhua News Agency reporter Zheng Huansong/photo)
On the evening of October 31, 2018, on the Qingdao Metro Line 2, a middle-aged man shouted at each other because he could not understand two young people who dressed strangely for Halloween in the subway. "Human ghosts are not ghosts" "is a shame to the Chinese people", and the whole process has been swearing, and the girl who was scolded retorted "you shut up" and "you want to control."
There are different opinions on the specific cause of the incident. For the time being, no matter who is right or wrong, the contradiction between the reality that foreign culture is not accepted by the public and the “unscrupulous” (no derogatory meaning) of the younger generation caused this incident. A major factor among many reasons.
From the perspective of freedom, there is no big problem in playing ghosts on Halloween. It is also the personal freedom of young people and others have no right to interfere. But we are not a Western country after all. The vast majority of citizens are not only aware of "Halloween" or they are unheard of. Therefore, the sudden appearance of a few "ghosts" in our thinking model will cause strong discomfort even if we are not surprised. Even, for example, in remote or poorly lit environments, the discomfort brought to people will increase. In this way, for patients with heart disease, the elderly and children, it is very likely to cause psychological fear and even lead to serious consequences.
I think it is better for certain people with needs to conduct cultural activities such as these that are not universal and contradict our traditions in a specific environment. For example, nowadays some people love to play with snakes, so you can't go to the cinema to watch a movie with a snake. Although playing with a snake is your freedom, you have to think about it for the people around you.
From this I think of an experience in the summer a few years ago. At that time, our unit was a bit special. Everyone had to have three meals a day in a small restaurant. I remember that a few subordinates loved to eat stinky tofu, so they brought it into the restaurant and ate each meal with relish. However, most of my colleagues in the unit were not able to accept that smell, so someone secretly threw the stinky tofu away.
was originally a very small matter, but because both sides only considered themselves from their own side, and I was just in my early twenties and lacked work experience, I couldn’t handle it properly before it happened, so the "accounts" came to me. Now, both sides are wronged, and both are angry and have their own reasons.
Later, the staff of my organization unit had a discussion on this issue, extending from "eating". In fact, in daily work and life, because both sides stand differently, and most of them only consider from their own position. Problems cause conflicts from time to time. If you understand more and discuss more reasonable solutions, you can avoid similar problems. At that time,
happened to have a small empty house in the restaurant, so I coordinated it and made a "Smelly Tofu Restaurant" for the good colleagues. Even through the resolution of that incident, the contradictions in other work of the unit were easily resolved. The things mentioned at the beginning of
are nothing but a "generation gap" issue. If everyone knows about Halloween someday, even if "pretending to be a ghost" dresses up on the street, it's fine. Today, it’s better to explain to everyone that “mavericks”. We are celebrating the festival, not “haunted”. At the end, adding “Sorry, please understand”, I think everyone can understand each other.
(The author is a civil servant)
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