Appearance and Reality

These various manners and mannerisms cause us great amusement. We smile at

foreign eccentricity, congratulating ourselves on our normality. And yet we are

aware that these idiosyncrasies are largely superficial. If we stay in France a

while, we are sooner or later happy to dunk our croissants and make a mess; we

discover the unhurried delight of turning up outrageously late in Brazil; we

throw vodka glasses over our shoulders with abandon in St. Petersburg. Such

adaptation of our behavior leaves no scars on our psyche. We join strangers in

their social ways partly to conform and partly for fun. We can become French or

Greek for an evening, we can sit on tatami with Japanese colleagues and eat legs

of lamb with one hand among Arabs. But what goes on in our heads remains a

private, well-protected constant. We may put on a show for others, but all the

while we follow our own silent program.

Any number of aspects of our appearance, such as hair, eye make-up and clothes, serve to
communicate something about us to others. In Anglo-Saxon cultures the formality of business dress
depends on a range of factors including the type of company individuals work for, the people they
are with, the exact relationship (that is, client or supplier) in place, and the weather. In other
cultures different rules may apply.