10 Things I learnt in the US - part 2

6. Guns

We've seen them in movies. People keep guns at home. But to actually meet a gun owner was still shocking. I'm also not used to people talking casually about playing with assault rifles or hunting. I happened to go to a gun show once (It was side-by-side with the Heritage India festival), and was amazed by the murder weapons all around, all on sale! Thankfully, loaded guns were not allowed inside. In trying to buy a gun, I found out that one needed to apply for a license, which typically takes 3 days (Thank God, some regulations atleast).

Many people feel that they need guns in case the government attacks them. Others go by "Who will protect your family at home against an intruder?". ("Bowling for Columbine" talks all about this). It is quite amazing that many people feel safer with a murder weapon at home.


7. The Respected Professions

In India, the respectable people are those with a high education and/or high position - doctors, professors, IAS officers, company general managers, etc. However, in the US, people respect those who do a service for the community without high pay. Doctors are CEOs are looked at as money making. Lawyers are totally detested. Professors are looked as elitist. Civil administrators are "part of the Government". School teachers, police officers, military personnel and firemen are the respected professions. They are the ones quoted in newspapers to give a true testimony as to what people feel.

8. Insurance (and Credit Card) Scams

I never realized that scamming could be part a successful business model. One of the simplest ways to make money is to make people fight in order to claim money that was rightfully theirs. Many people don't notice the "mistake", while others try to fight, but get too busy and then forget about it. Insurance companies, apart from the highly regulated home, health and car insurance, are pretty much a law upon themselves. There is always fine print, or millions of documents to provide along with hours on the telephone to claim what should have been yours at the start. For those who fight till the end, like grad students with plenty of time, the company does pay up, and despite all the trouble it has caused, can claim to have "done its job" and move on to the next victim. And until the company name is pasted all over the internet with bad reviews, the scam goes on.

9. Minority religion groups

That there were many conservative Christian groups is one thing. Finding non-mainstream groups who have ultra-conservative beliefs is more shocking. From a colleague of mine, who was once a Mormon, I found out that Mormons live in almost a parallel universe, where creationism, belief in their prophet (who lived in the 1800s), communication with God are all truths, where coffee and alcohol do not exist and where all young people must spend 2 years of their lives in missionary service. One would expect the pluralistic nature of American society, along with communication and media, to prevent people from being so orthodox. But that isn't the case. Like Mormons, there are orthodox Jews, who don't operate machinery on Saturday (due to Sabbath), Amish people who still use horses for transportation, and probably several other lesser groups too.

There are also many extreme Hindu groups, whose views on Christianity and Islam would shock the average Indian ("Christianity and Islam, Capitalism and Communism are the 4 axes of evil in the world"). Some youths take a year off from education or work, to devote their time to the Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh, which sounds uncannily similar to Mormons spending time for missionary service. I wouldn't be surprised if similar groups exist for Islam too.

10. Nicknames

This is one of the more everyday things which does not take long to figure out. Prior to coming to the US, I always believed your name, when formally asked was what is written in your documents. However, during my first teaching lab, when I asked a group of students what their names where, I got "Jen... Ed... Al...". I soon realized that one could choose one's first name everywhere - what your colleagues call you, your credit card, name plate - except for very serious things like your driving license or passport. Many names have an associated short form, like William-Bill, Joseph-Joe, Amanda-Mandy. Some parents even choose a name based on its short form (a friend of mine was named Amanda because her Mom liked the name Mandy). Others, who have a foreign name, choose a more American short form (my favourite is Devarajan-Dave). Still others, (I've known many such Chinese) completely abandon any resemblance to the original name (Weihao - Jennifer, Zhechun-Lance). To all those parents who have ambitious plans to name their kids, if your kids don't like their given name, you may find them being called something completely different.