Culture Clash

* In Greece, it is the housewife's job to carry out the trash. It won't occur to your husband to do it, unless you ask him to.

* Greeks of my generation, at least, improvise their lives. They make it all up as they go along. The obvious corollary is, they don't plan ahead except perhaps when it's absolutely necessary. The less obvious corollary is, they assume your plans will be as fluid as theirs. Well, actually, they don't expect you to make any plans, but if you do, they will have a hard time understanding if your plans can't be scrapped on short notice.

* The Greek community in Richmond, years and years ago, organized a Dance Group that meets in the church gymnasium once a week. The participants, mostly young people, have learned dances from every region in Greece and every island, I suppose, by now. And this is a wonderful thing, yes? Of course. It helps keep their culture alive, and it's a ton of fun besides. Not to mention it brings Greek young people together with Greeks of similar age and opposite sex, always desirable.

The problem comes when the church has dances (or more accurately, one of the organizations has one that takes place at the church). Then all these relatively obscure dances are played, which nobody knows how to do except members of the Dance Group. Everybody else is in effect cut out and becomes a spectator most of the evening.

* One such dance is being held this coming Saturday, just as we've entered the Nativity fast.