Pride Over Wealth

I talked about this a little bit already during our last group discussion, but I thought I would expand on the idea/topic. We all know that Vietnam is very different than America in many ways. One of the most noticeable ways that the two countries are different is the people’s work ethic.  The Vietnamese work ethic is something that I do not think, we as American’s understand that well or can relate to because of how our society is run.  In America, everything is so fast pace and everyone is always trying to be more successful and make more money then someone else. Some times in order to succeed in America you even have to “stomp” over a few people.  This is not the case for Vietnam, or at least it does not seem like the case so far.

The other day I was in this tailor shop and I didn’t really like the price that she was giving me for a dress so I politely told her no thank you and then started to leave. She quickly started lowering the price when she realized I was not going to buy anything from her. She also told me that I was the first customer of the day and I was really surprised by that because it was around 5pm. The lady and I then got into a conversation about her shop and she was showing me pictures on her wall about her family. It turns out that her great-grandmother started the tailor shop and then her grandmother took over the shop and then her mother and then her sister and now she has it. I was very impressed with her story because in America, that is really hard to find now a days.  You could tell that the tailor was so proud that she is still carrying on her family shop. She might not be making that much money because she is competing with thousands of other tailors but she is still going on because of the pride she has for her family. I also have been in several situations where I have been in a shop and if they do not have my size or the color I would like, they call up their sister or mother or cousin and say that they have it in their store.  Then within 5 minutes I am walking away with what I actually wanted.

To me at least, it just seems that the Vietnamese do not really care that much about becoming super wealthy and beating everyone else.  There is a sense of community where ever you go.  Also everyone is full of pride with what they do for a living.  To us, American’s it may seem like a boring job or an unwanted job, but the Vietnamese it is their livelihood, their family and their tradition.

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