"Bics"
Pronounced "beaks" in the French way; the plural of bic (beak) meaning a pen.
In North America, how many times have you lent, borrowed or set down a pen and then forgot about it. 10 minutes later you remembered but it was too late. No big deal, you borrowed,bought or picked up a pen that somebody else forgot and got on with business. That won't happen to you in the Congo. If you forget your pen, you won't get out of the room before you are reminded about it. If no one notices and you make it out of the room, someone will follow you out to the ramp and give it to you by the airplane.
If you borrow a pen, you won't leave with it in your pocket because you will be politely reminded to return it before your second step away. In my doctor's office here in Denver, each room has a cup filled with pens, so not a moment will be lost if a note needs to be made. That is not the case in an office in the Congo. You can scan multiple desktops and not a pen will be seen. Everybody has his own and they know where it is. If you need one, you gotta ask.
In a poor country like the Congo, simple things like pens have a great value. I used to take pride in never losing a pen, even a cheap pen, and keeping them until they ran out of ink. In Congo, that is nothing remarkable, the whole country does it.
In North America, how many times have you lent, borrowed or set down a pen and then forgot about it. 10 minutes later you remembered but it was too late. No big deal, you borrowed,bought or picked up a pen that somebody else forgot and got on with business. That won't happen to you in the Congo. If you forget your pen, you won't get out of the room before you are reminded about it. If no one notices and you make it out of the room, someone will follow you out to the ramp and give it to you by the airplane.
If you borrow a pen, you won't leave with it in your pocket because you will be politely reminded to return it before your second step away. In my doctor's office here in Denver, each room has a cup filled with pens, so not a moment will be lost if a note needs to be made. That is not the case in an office in the Congo. You can scan multiple desktops and not a pen will be seen. Everybody has his own and they know where it is. If you need one, you gotta ask.
In a poor country like the Congo, simple things like pens have a great value. I used to take pride in never losing a pen, even a cheap pen, and keeping them until they ran out of ink. In Congo, that is nothing remarkable, the whole country does it.
posted by Carl at 6:12 AM
2 Comments:
If you need one and gotta ask, rest assured that your Congolese colleague will keep the cap as a reminder that he is missing the pen!
you know, maybe we can derive some fundamental socialogical rule from pen etiquiete (sic) and how it differs from culture to culture. and besides, how do pencils fit in all this?
congogirl: a good engineer always makes sure every component of a design fulfills at least 2 functions. those french guys are clever.
elizabeth: figure it this way, every pen you don't get back is one small victory in the battle for hearts and minds.
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