What to do about refugees?

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There’s something about our ways that refugees (thousands?) must be taught immediately. It’s about the threshold of a home.

Never cross a threshold without invitation.

That’s it. I’m sure refugees are taught lots of stuff but this seems not to be on the list. I’ve run into it several times – pizza delivery and such. These are good people but they have no idea at all.

Yesterday the Community sent a polite young man to my apartment to help with heavy work. I opened the door and, without even looking at me, he marched right into my living room. I yelled and dragged him back to the door. I put him in the hall and pointed to the strip of metal on the floor that acts as threshold. He went back into the living room.

So I thought I must teach this one myself. It’s embarrassing but I’m not doing him any favours letting him continue to barge into people’s homes.

I brought him back and still he tried to walk in. I said, “Never cross that line without invitation.” He kept walking in. He wasn’t being stubborn. He had absolutely no idea what I was trying to tell him. Finally, I thought of a word: “Sacred.” It worked.

“In my country,” he said, “everybody just walks in and out.”

Oh, I should mention – it’s against the law. Breaking and entering. Not breaking – I opened the door. But entering? Big time. If I can teach him, then he can teach his friends and maybe even the instructors.

Over the few hours he was here, I tried to explain. He asked, “But why?” I had to think but finally came up with “It makes this place safe for me.” He got that right away.

I told him even the police are not allowed to cross the threshold without invitation; he was astonished. I told him, if I go to my sister’s home, I knock and wait. When she opens the door, we greet and she invites me in. While he was here, the social worker knocked on the door; I opened it but we greeted each other before she came in. The young man watched, fascinated.

And here’s the punchline – later I told my friend about this and she said, “They should send them back where they came from; they come here and take our jobs.”

I’m stunned. I can’t shake it. I need to know what you think, please?

On the jobs thing, I think the friend should have had more children,

http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2016/06/22 ... 13658.html

On the entering thing, absolutely some lessons are needed. The safety aspect was a good one to show.
And it could also work for his safety to take a moment to assess the situation before entering.
Also, to see if the resident needs a moment to corral a dog, for instance.

Various cultures have all sorts of little differences as well as some large ones. There is the stereotypical rude American not bothering to learn about another culture - that behavior isn't bound by borders and ethnicity.

^ Thank you for that. I still don't know what's going on. I've heard that phrase ("our jobs") before but I thought it had to do with illegal immigrants, not refugees from a war zone who are carrying a Canadian passport.