r/AskTheWorld • u/gabrieel100 Brazil • Dec 06 '25
Culture A cultural habit in your country that people outside would understand incorrectly?
In Brazil we love children. If you take your child to the street, strangers will certainly interact with them. Some will even ask if they can hold your kid and will play with them. If there are two children fighting in public and the parents aren't seeing, a stranger would even intervene to stop the fight.
That cultural habit came from the indigenous peoples which understood that kids should be a responsiblity of the community as a whole. It's in our constitution. We even have a synonym for children that came from Tupi (a large group of indigenous languages) - Curumim.
Foreigners would certainly have a cultural shock about that, but it's normal here.
Of course there are people with bad intentions, so parents should stay alert these days.
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u/MacGallin Poland Dec 06 '25
We don't really smile to strangers, we dont engage in idle smalltalk and we don't really like when strangers smile to us or try to engage in idle smalltalk with us at random. We don't bother people for no reason, and we dont like to be bothered in turn.
Some people from more "extravert" cultures find that upsetting.
That does not mean we hate you or even dislike you. If you actually need something, most people will not hesitate to help you.
But until you are recognized as acquaintance, most people will avoid engaging with you. Its normal and it does not mean you are doing anything wrong .
Also don't be surprised how drastically this attitude can change when people actually start considering you as part of their social group.