The "Dominican" experience

[Rafael Rothschild]

Respect for others
Generosity
Tolerance toward other habits or cultures.
good manners.
Humility.
Graciousness.
good sense of humor.
good listener.
compassionate.

Any person who has or practices all, or most of, these things, will be consireded by most as a classy person, or a class act.

Now, notice that none of the items listed above, have anything to do with economic levels.

While a higher education can help obtain some of them, there is no guarantee.

[Alyonka]

I agree that wealth has nothing to do with class. But wealthy people usually stand out and are sort of on the spot. Sometimes wealth shows hard work, intelligence, determination and motivation of a person. Others look up to those who stand out and young people especially can use them as examples to follow. I guess that is why expectations from them are higher...

[nikke]

I think often of the old saying that money doesn't buy class. But I think the definition of class can vary from different perspective. I think of those who were born into money and education vs. those who came into money later in life either through work or some other inheritance. There can be a huge difference in manners and behaviour between the two.

What defines class in the Dominican Republic? Is it manners and money or both? Is it education?

I know that where my parents are from (Antigua), it doesn't matter so much if you are from a poor or rich family, but a heavy emphasis is on the school you went to...There, if you have good grades, you can get into a very good priviate school with a scholarship of some sort. Once you are in, your cohort and alumni connect you for life. It's all about who you know, i.e. your network, not your socio-economic status. Mind you, Antigua is a much smaller country where you can mention a last name and a town and almost immediately identify someone you know or know of.

Does this hold the true for the Dominican Republic?

[mountainannie]

There are some interesting dichotomies here - I am astonished for instance by the cleanliness of the interior of Dominican homes and the ability to throw trash on the street......
And the money that goes into the high end new cars and how hard it is to walk across George Washington from the Malecon.....

I live in Gazcue which I find a beautiful area, architecturally, visually - and marvel at the city street sweepers out all day and how entire condo buildings can deposit their household trash on the streets.

Or how the SUVs can almost clip you as you cross the street.

I guess one of my definitions of class is courtesy and respect both for others and the environment.

[Alyonka]

Originally Posted by mountainannie

There are some interesting dichotomies here - I am astonished for instance by the cleanliness of the interior of Dominican homes and the ability to throw trash on the street......

Me too, it is amazing how dirty some of the streets are. Don't they have enough trash cans or people just don't care for using them? I remember it took me a while to find a trash can near a store.

I also think that people with class are able to recognize their own faults and work on correcting them. They will admit and apologize if they did something wrong and worry more about how moral and true they are to themselves and world around them than what certain people will think ...

[Chip00]

Originally Posted by Avrora

Me too, it is amazing how dirty some of the streets are. Don't they have enough trash cans or people just don't care for using them? I remember it took me a while to find a trash can near a store.

The trash problem has to do with ignorance. The majority of the people don't seem to bother trash as long as it isn't overwhelming, at which point they will notice it.

My wife has changed her opinion after living in the US for some time so people's opinion about things can be changed. I found/find it odd too that the Dominicans value cleanliness for the most part and yet tolerate throwing trash on the ground. Of course this has nothing to do with class because many do it regardless of socio-economic status or "class" as defined in the intitial post.

[NALs]

Originally Posted by Chip00

The trash problem has to do with ignorance. The majority of the people don't seem to bother trash as long as it isn't overwhelming, at which point they will notice it.

My wife has changed her opinion after living in the US for some time so people's opinion about things can be changed. I found/find it odd too that the Dominicans value cleanliness for the most part and yet tolerate throwing trash on the ground. Of course this has nothing to do with class because many do it regardless of socio-economic status or "class" as defined in the intitial post.

I often wonder why some places in the U.S. are so clean and others are so filthy, considering the anti-litter "culture" that has been created through government efforts through the years.

And sometimes a person doesn't have to travel far to notice the sharp differences. For example, in NYC it's a matter of which street you are on, some are clean and others... well....

Even in Connecticut along the exits of the highways there are all sorts of litter and many times even plastic bags are seen tangled in the trees, apparently flown by the wind after someone threw it out.

Thus, the litter problem is something that is not as easy to fix and many people think. Let's face it, one of the main reasons for why so many places seem clean in the US is due to litter removal efforts by the local governments.

Along the highways you'll see signs stating "XYZ company is responsible for litter removal for the next 2 miles" followed by "Call 000-000-0000 to adopt a spot and help keep America beautiful".

That's proof that apparently masses of people can't be taught to not litter, even in the richest country where governments have the most possible control over their citizens.

What could be expect of less affluent countries?

-NALs

[cobraboy]

I think "class"-not the socio-economic kind-is a reflection of how we see ourselves. We perceive those who act and think like we do as "classier" than those that don't.

Of course, we tend to surround ourselves with people we perceive are like we are, too.

[Chip00]

Originally Posted by NALs

Thus, the litter problem is something that is not as easy to fix and many people think. Let's face it, one of the main reasons for why so many places seem clean in the US is due to litter removal efforts by the local governments.

-NALs

I never said that fixing the problem was going to be easy and the governments aren't the only impetus to keep outside areas clean. It certainly helped that the add programs of the early 70's embedded in childrens minds that maintaining the US clean was important because now those "children" are adults and cleanliness and the environment are important to many. Wouldn't that be great if they started something like that here? What happens when the rivers and the groundwater supplies become so dirty that the Water Treatment plants can't use them as a source. Water will have to come from desalinization plants which is very expensive not to mention the amount of piping to get the water to the inland areas.

If you don't think that the water supply won't be affected any time soon I've got some swampland in Florida to sell you. At some point the gov't. here needs to realize they will be saving money by doing a little work now like educating the public about how cleanliness is important to the environment.

Also, you mention the US and that it has littered area - of course but I doubt you will find that is the case in any of the watersheds used for water intake supplies - they are all protected by law. Furthermore, the density of people is more here that it is in the US and therefore the littered areas will therefore have a much more adverse affect.

...back to the original topic - there is an other forum for discussing environmental issues like this.

[Rafael Rothschild]

I'm confused.

Is this thread about class or garbage?