American life is
based on a reassurance
that we like one another
but
won’t violate one another’s
privacies.
This makes it a
land of
small
talk.
Two people greet each other
happily, with friendliness,
but might know each other
for years before
venturing
basic questions about
each other’s
backgrounds.
In the East, there's
intimacy
without friendship;
in the West, there's
friendship
without intimacy.
Why is it so many Americans
so value friendliness
with commerce?
Perhaps the exchanging of cash is the
sacred rite
of American capitalism -
of American life.
As a newly minted American,
I feel oddly depressed on a day
when I don't spend money,
for it is my main form of
social interaction -
as it is for millions of other Americans
who live alone, or away
from family.
- Karan Mahajan
[arranged quote]
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