ShmoopTube

00:03

Respecting differences….a la Shmoop.

00:06

Laura and Saanvi were the best friends all throughout high school.

00:10

But school’s over now, and Saanvi decides she wants to move back to where everybody knows her name… [Saanvi entering a yellow cab]

00:16

No. Not there. Not "Cheers".

00:18

There. India.

00:20

Laura promises to visit, and after months and months of working overtime, she pulls [Laura working overtime]

00:24

together enough money to travel there.

00:26

After a long flight and far too many Nicholas Sparks adaptations…seriously, she now knows

00:31

the real reason behind the barf bags....she steps off the plane in India. [Laura walks off of a plane]

00:35

And to welcome her, Saanvi’s mother prepares a feast. Samosas, rice,

00:40

butter chicken, tandoori chicken, naan… [Laura sat with an indian feast]

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And everything is amazing.

00:45

Laura wishes she could have her mom’s cooking….with her...right now...yeah. [Laura stood in a kitchen]

00:50

Because Laura’s a guest, she’s careful to remember all of her manners...

00:53

No elbows on the table, no slurping, and definitely no burping. [examples of table manners]

00:56

Uh….whoops? Laura’s mortified, but Saanvi’s mother seems pleased.

01:01

Saanvi explains to Laura that her mother regards burping as a sign of contentment.

01:05

If her guests don’t burp after a meal, she takes it to mean her food wasn’t satisfying. [Saanvi and her mother with Laura at the dining table]

01:10

This is surprising to Laura. If her mom extinguishes the food by the time it gets to the table,

01:15

that’s good enough. When Laura gets back from India, she tells [Laura telling her Grandmother about India]

01:18

her grandmother about the dinner.

01:20

Dear old granny says she’s not surprised.

01:22

After all, “their” kind of people aren’t exactly cultured. [Grandmother discussing the Indian culture to Laura]

01:26

Yikes. Watch out granny, your bigotry is showing. Zip up there!

01:30

Laura explains to her grandmother that they’re no less cultured than anyone else,

01:33

they just have different customs.

01:35

And even though it may be different from the way her grandmother was raised, [Grandmother as a child stood beside a cow]

01:38

*cough* Redneck.

01:40

that doesn’t make their customs any less valid.

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So although gran might be upset if someone burped their way through her meal, [Laura burping through a meal and Gran looks upset]

01:46

Saanvi’s mother would feel the same way if someone didn’t burp during her meal.

01:50

So...which way is right?

01:51

No, scratch that. We’ve got a better question: is there only one right way to do things?

01:57

We’re pretty sure you can answer that question without our help, but hey, this is what they [Man standing with hands on his hips]

02:01

pay us the big bucks for.

02:02

Anyway, the answer is a resounding no.

02:04

If variety is the spice of life and we keep filling our metaphorical plate with people [Two people sat on a sofa]

02:08

who are just like us, well...our life buffet is going to be pretty vanilla. Even vanilla gets a little boring after a while.

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But if we open ourselves up to differences and experience things outside of the norm, [Laura picking food from a buffet]

02:20

we’ll have a buffet worth pigging-out on.

02:23

So next time you find yourself treading unfamiliar waters, just… go with the flow. [Man on a boat in the ocean]

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