One description of “common sense” in Wikipedia is “knowledge, judgement, and taste which is more or less universal and which is held more or less without reflection or argument.” We refer to matters of common sense with phrases like: “Well, everybody knows that!”
How do we acquire common sense, common viewpoints? Certainly one source is education. Our schools teach understandings of history, principles of physics and mathematics, appreciation of the natural world to generation after generation.
Common experiences undergone by many people — like military service — also contribute to a common sense they share. Organized religion, like education, makes a contribution.
Probably the greatest foundation for common sense, though, is culture. People who share the same language, government, moral and spiritual values, biases, and physical location share many common understandings.
And on the other hand, moving from one culture to another will probably create the most experiences of uncommon sense, real divergences from what we might expect from our experience of growing up in our native culture.
- Cambodia can provide many examples of uncommon sense for foreigners, especially those not from Asia. For example:
Cambodian people do not wear their shoes in their homes, pagodas and churches and even in some schools and businesses. That’s OK, but they slip them off and leave them right in the doorway. And when there are people in church, there are dozens of shoes and sandals in the doorway and on the stairs. People exiting the church literally step on layers of shoes all jumbled together. OSHA would not approve. - One day I went to talk to the cleaning lady where I live. She was cleaning the toilet with a toilet brush when I found her, and while we were talking she finished cleaning the toilet and then used the toilet brush to clean the sink! My mother would not approve.
The cleaning lady also changes the sheets on the beds. She puts on a fitted bottom sheet. Then if she uses a Cambodian top sheet, it is the same size as the top of the mattress. There is no overhang; it can’t be tucked in. The sleeper’s feet stick out.
If she uses a western-style top sheet, it is tucked in on all four side just like a bottom sheet. That disturbed my common sense but then I realized the cleaner has probably never slept in a bed with a mattress but only on a mat on the floor. - Motorcycles are the main mode of transportation in Cambodia. For some reason the government decreed that drivers of motorcycles of 125 cc or less do not need a driver’s license. The 125 cc motos and smaller ones are the large majority of vehicles on the road, so that means that same majority of drivers don’t need a license.
Then there is the age problem. The legal driving age in Cambodia is 18 but there are many, many children 11, 12, 13 years old on the street on motorcycles. There is no enforcement of regulations like age.
Some common practices in Cambodia do not equate to the common sense as appreciated by people from other cultures. Sometimes what we foreigners perceive as uncommon sense might be harmful or dangerous, but in the majority of instances it’s more a matter of curiosity and the uniqueness of Cambodia.
Father Charles Dittmeier, a priest of the Archdiocese of Louisville, is the co-director of the Deaf Development Programme in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, and pastor of the English-speaking parish there. Follow his journey at parish-without-borders.org.
