This series has caused me to attend to how “no” functions across cultures, especially in my own family. My mom was French - no came very easily to her, in fact I’d say it was her default response. She could say “no,” without further elaboration and people still found her charming. Her whole family was that way. My American father was an, “I will give you a definite maybe” kind of guy. You never knew what he was thinking, and his whole family are likewise - except at home, when it all comes out. My British in-laws have never said no to anything in 30 years except when it involved getting their hair wet, and even then they were really rather sorry to find themselves unable to acquiesce to our kind invitation to join us in the sea...
This series has caused me to attend to how “no” functions across cultures, especially in my own family. My mom was French - no came very easily to her, in fact I’d say it was her default response. She could say “no,” without further elaboration and people still found her charming. Her whole family was that way. My American father was an, “I will give you a definite maybe” kind of guy. You never knew what he was thinking, and his whole family are likewise - except at home, when it all comes out. My British in-laws have never said no to anything in 30 years except when it involved getting their hair wet, and even then they were really rather sorry to find themselves unable to acquiesce to our kind invitation to join us in the sea...