Better to be Seen rather than Heard? Probably...

“I’m almost done with my time here visiting Alderman,” was perhaps the first though that crossed my mind as I entered and went straight to my section. In my dazed and thoughtful state, I almost forgot to take note of the people who were in my section… Almost. There were five people (which I believe was the same amount as last time [on a side note, I’ve never gone to my section when there were more than about 6-7 people present]), four of whom were paired up socializing. Mac and Miraga were at a particularly distant table to mine playing chess, Tanker and Kalley were sitting and chit-chatting at the table in front of mine, and finally, a teenaged boy named Dag was sitting in one of the armchairs, reading quietly. Not long after I arrived, I received a phone call from my parents, and, upon answering, gave my standard greeting of “Burger King, what’s your Beef?”, which, as I was in a store, tried to give fairly quietly as to not distract the other nearby patrons. Apparently, I wasn’t quiet enough, as Mac, who later took a phone call of his own, while on the phone, commented on my greeting! This made me chuckle a bit, but also triggered other memories of when people have commented on my greeting (among strangers, it tends to receive a warmer welcome and evoke a happier response than it does from my friends, interestingly enough). These memories, in turn, made me think about exactly why I use this, perhaps peculiar, greeting.
    This simple answer is, to be different. To stick out a little, in a good way, and provoke a response and some intrigue from the caller. But, as an American, I’ve been socialized (culturally) to believe that individuality is a key part of existence: to stand out and be different from every other person and make myself someone who has an alternate perspective that is worthy of being seen and heard. Conformity is also important in American society; ironically, conformity to a key American cultural norm is, to some extent or another, being unique. But Americans tend to push one another to stand out above the crowd and be different, as this is necessary to get that one position at work, or earn that premier scholarship, or win the affection of that significant other. We tend to look down on and discourage more conformist qualities, such as shyness, excessive quietness, or the idea that one’s individual opinion isn’t as important as the general consensus, at least most of the time. As a result, many cultures view Americans as opinionated and boisterous about said opinions. This is not to say that Americans are selfish (although, again many, more communal, cultures around the world view us as such), as we believe in the “taking turns” principle in a discussion, for example, but at the same time, we instill in the next generation the notion that you need to be heard in order to stand out, perhaps more than we teach children to let their actions speak for themselves, although, interestingly enough, a popular phrase is “actions speak louder than words.”
    This fairly unbalanced dynamic between being seen versus being heard also exists on a personal level. Society propels the notions of being outspoken and having a well-informed, well-rounded opinion that is ready to be voiced, which could contradict with an individual’s shyness, which is often depicted as something they must overcome in order to be successful. However, it is worth noting that listen and silent are spelled with the same letters, and that more was learned from listening than from speaking…