On Culture, Customs, Class lines, and Outsiders

A writer I occasionally follow wrote about an observation he made at a Thai restaurant. It seems like he did an exercise that all of us writers do when we people-watch, make the observation and create a story to go with it.  When the hostess/woman and waiter at the counter bowed to a non-assuming asian college student, the assumption that it was a sign of respect to someone of higher stature.  He wrote that this bowing and the girl's hand-wave was a clear and overt display of class distinction where the lower class revered the higher class. There was also the supposition that the US doesn't have hard lines of class distinction. It's a "quirk" of "our" culture.  By "our" did he mean "American?" Was there a presumption that the "young Asian-American college student" didn't share in the "American" culture since she was clearly part of the "other" culture?

I had a slightly visceral reaction to his post mainly because of all the second generation baggage I grew up with (some would define me as 1st gen since I was born in the US, but my parents are immigrants). Additionally, I have all of the cultural the baggage that comes from growing up in a cultural enclave. Also, if a person has not experienced/observed class lines & distinctions, have not had to navigate those lines, then (s)he is in a position of privilege (but not so privileged that (s)he identified as part of the elite class).

That being said, I think a presumption of culture, rituals, and protocol is a slippery slope towards misrepresentation, stereotyping, and covert racism. As authors and writers, I think it's important to do our best to truly understand a culture before we build a world that incorporates aspects of it.

So... I'm just going to present 2 videos that represent...

1)




And 2) ... as food for thought.





What about you? What's your take on cultural gestures, customs, and the like? Do you know of any writer who did a great job at creating and/or representing different cultures? Any authors/writers that you've read (or work you've seen) who created a unique/distinct culture that is not easily (or disrespectfully) identifiable as "ethnic"?