1 / 10 Case 1: She Has Three Hands In the following scenario, a Chinese doctor, a patient and a physiotherapist interact. A female neurologist from Beijing was working on a research project in a Toronto hospital. She shared a small office with a young Canadian male from a large family, who loved peanut butter. He was so fond of peanut butter that he kept a jar in the office. One day he came into the office and exclaimed, “Who took my peanut butter?” But the Chinese woman immediately felt accused. After all, there were only two of them in the office. She was deeply distressed, but true to her learned cultural behavior of never showing anger in public, she said nothing. Later that day she was working in a room where the physiotherapist was treating a patient who suffered paralysis of his legs and arms from a motorcycle accident. The physiotherapist moved one of the patient’s legs in a way that caused him pain. “Ouch!” he cried. “Oh, I didn’t do that,” said the physiotherapist. “It was that doctor over there,” and he pointed to the Chinese woman. “How could she have done it since she’s on the other side of the room?” the patient pointed out. “Ah, she has three hands.” the physiotherapist replied. 2 / 10 At these words the Chinese doctor became even more upset. She was so disturbed that she behaved in a way uncharacteristic of her culture. She waited until the patient had gone, and then said to the physiotherapist, “I’m very upset by what you said.” The physiotherapist was taken aback. “What had I said?” “You said I had three hands,” the Chinese doctor finally choked. “You think I took the peanut butter.” Answer the following questions: 1. How do you ...
