Parallel Processing

In Canadian culture, customers are usually processed serially.  When you go to a store and ask an employee for help or when you make a purchase, it’s usually one at a time and first come, first serve.  Not in Tanzania.  In the middle of a negotiation, it is okay for the seller to turn to another customer and start dealing with them at the same time.  In fact, it’s okay to deal with 3 or 4 people at the same time!  But I must admit, I was a little taken aback the first time that this happened to me in a work environment.  While in the middle of discussing an important problem, my coworker turned to somebody walking by and started a completely different conversation.  I was kind of shocked and stood there awkwardly…trying to figure out what I might have done to upset my colleague and instigate this kind of behaviour. Noticing my puzzled look, she laughed and kindly explained how things go in Tanzania.  It’s totally acceptable for you to put somebody on hold and it’s okay for somebody to put you on hold too!