Vegetarian vs Yogurt

As I was eating my key lime pie-flavored Yoplait yogurt,  for some weird reason my eyes were fixed on ’live and active cultures’ on the container. In other words, living organisms.  Meaning the Lactobacillus bulgaricus and Streptococcus thermaopilus, which convert pasteurized milk to yogurt during fermentation.

Would a vegetarian eat yogurt, then? I pondered. It has a living ‘thing’ in it.

Vegetarianism is, cheating from Wikipedia, the practice of a diet that excludes all animal flesh, including poultry, game, fish, shellfish or crustacea, and the slaughter-by products. Since I skipped a lot of my Microbiology classes back in high school *ahem* especially the microorganism subject, I don’t quite remember the detail about bacterias. Would a few micrometres in length (in the shape of spheres, rods, or spirals) be considered ‘fleshy’ for Lactobacillus or its cousin, Streptococcus?  Does eating something alive or fleshy even though it’s a tiny thing, bother a vegetarian?

Something to keep in mind though, unlike cells of animals, bacteria cells do not contain a nucleus and rarely harbour membrane-bound organelles. In plain English, bacteria does not have chromosomes thus we won’t know if it’s a girl bacteria or a boy bacteria. Not only bacteria lacks of gender identity, it also lacks of proteins and lipids.

So what? We don’t need to call it Miss Lactobacillus or Mr. Streptococcus anyway. I pondered again. No protein or lipids? Even better for the vegetarians. I began to feel confident.

If a tiny living thing doesn’t bother a vegetarian, would the fact that Yoplait contains gelatin -which is made from boiled pig skin, animal bones and hooves- bothered them?

Update on Fly Safe(r) with Indonesian Airlines: Adam Air’s Done?

I had a funny feeling that this is going to happen when I wrote this posting. Didn’t expect it’s going to be this fast. But it is confirmed now, since Tuesday this week, Adam Air is grounded. Literally. Full story is here.

Sure hope this news will bring a relieve for the family of Adam Air’s 102 victims (New Year 2007 incident). It may not bring them back to live, but it’ll prevent this unreliable airlines from taking more lives.

Are Asians The Only Rude People?

How hard is it to teach politeness? Better yet, is it possible to train someone to be polite? The first question was intended to children as the subject. Should it mainly be the parents’ responsibility or could we rely on teachers to inject some politeness booster to the young ones? The second question was more aimed to adults. Is it doable to have an impolite person live with a polite family for a number of years, hoping for this person to change for the good? 

I also understand that politeness and the opposite -rudeness- belong to all skin color. Everytime I hear somebody said, “Asians are rude!”, my nose would fringed. Stereotyping a certain race really shows your narrowmindedness. Yes, my fellow Indonesians back home tend to unable to grasp the concept of ‘waiting in line’ or holding the door for elderly or women. While you’re waiting patiently in line for the cashier in a very nice department store, instead of waiting behind you, a lady ignorantly cut the line and stand in front of you. That is rude. But what about Americans who switched lane without signaling and got really close in front of your car? You slammed the brake and honked, then you got a middle finger flipped at you. That is rude, too. And what about the French who let their poodles poop all over the street? Oui oui… that iz rude!

Just recently, an unpleasant encounter at work was like a slap in the face. There were a 17-year-old Chinese boy and his father who caused a scene in the clinic’s waiting room. Long story short, the hot argument involved miscommunication between the father and us about the checking-in policy; added by a disrespectful attitude from the US-born teenager.

Boy: “So how long should I wait, again?”
Beth (52 y.o. receptionist): “As soon as one exam room is open, a nurse will take you back.”
Boy: “Well duh…” *smirked, turned his back and walked away* “I know that.”
Me (already boiling from previous argument): “Whoa… wow! Excuse me?”

… and the rest was even uglier. I was really surprised to see the teenager was disrespectful to someone who’s older. His intimidating body language and smart ass remarks were really uncalled for. And the sad thing was, his father let him get away with it. Supportive, even. I guess no parents like to hear [from a stranger] that their kid has an attitude, or a brat, even if it really is a fact. I had to call my department manager out to settle things down. But they were beyond consoling. A nurse finally took the teenager to see the doctor. Fifteen minutes later, they both walked out without saying anything.

Another patient (a ‘regular’) came up to us and said, “Wow! I feel so sorry for you guys. I thought Orientals are nice and pleasant. They were  rude.”

That comment hit me. I remeber a while ago, a 22 year old coworker said that Asian drivers are rude. Yeah… unfortunately we all hear about the stereotype ‘bad Asian women driver’. Other coworker told a story about her Asian apartment neighbor who would cook something ’smelly’ and shared the unpleasant aroma (to the Americans) around. “That’s very rude.”

Are Asians really rude? Is it possible because Asians lack the social skill expected in this country? My other thought was, probably because Asians are not used to it. Try to live in a city with 11 million population for a while; and hopefully you’d understand why we tend to hurry and forgetting our manners to hold the door for you, or formally say “Good morning. How are you? Same here. May I have the tall latte, please?” when ordering Starbucks along with the other twelve people behind me.

I’ve only been here for 8 years, yet my expectation has now been switched to the ‘American way’. Sometimes I hated it, because I got so frustrated easily when I go back home to Jakarta and unconciously expect everybody to be ‘polite’. But having stayed in the US -even if you’re just here studying- doesn’t always guarrantee you’ll be a polite person. I happen to know the owner of the Indonesian restaurant here in Ames. They’ve been here for about 20 years, yet they are borderline in politeness. They can be really rude by asking how much money we make in a year, or asking us to be a business partner and to inject some cash.

Cultural differences, social status, and language barrier are probably the main reasons of why people were called rude or impolite. Also to keep in mind, one’s expectation of politeness is different to the other. While I think it’s a 50:50 chance to ‘train’ somebody to be polite, it’ll be easier to teach politeness from the very young age. Parents, teachers, or daycare providers, are all responsible.

And the Winner is…

Not the executive in a Volvo who’s talking on his cell phone.
Not the college guy in a beat up Honda who’s eating his Big Mac.
Not the soccer mom in a minivan who’s busy scribbling something on her notepad.
Not the tough guy in a humongous GMC Yukon who’s smoking and drinking from his coffee travel mug.
Not the blondie in a cute VW New Beetle who’s frantically shuffling CDs trying to find Rihanna’s.
Not the dude in a pick up truck who’s texting his girlfriend (or boyfriend).
Nor the lady in a nice Toyota sedan who’s reaching into the back of the car, trying to reach her son’s toy that he dropped.

The winner for the most talented driver is… the chick in her Audi who’s doing her eye make up while the car is moving! “Look mom… no hands!”

Hey, I had done some of those things (talking on the cell, smoking and sipping coffee, and also shuffling CDs) and by no means I’m trying to preach. But in all seriousness, I’m amazed on the talent and skill of women who could do their make up (especially the eyeliner) while driving.

Stomach of Steel

Being born and raised in Indonesia, I have the stomach of steel. Meaning I’m used to eat any food that’s been left out (and cooked, of course) for more than a couple of hours without getting sick. Before you say ‘eeewww‘ and crinkle your nose, hear this out. Since we were kids, we’ve been fed food that’s been on the table or cupboard for a while, after it’s being cooked. At home, school’s cafetaria (kantin), and small local restaurants or the street vendors. We were ‘introduced’ to bacteria at such a young age.

Having lived in the US only for 8 years, my intestines were being pampered with the better hygiene that they have here. When I flew back home to Indonesia in 2006, I had a mild diarrhea at the end of my trip. I was hesitant to go to my favourite food street vendor in Jakarta (Sate Ayam Pondok Indah), but I was longing for it and even had a dream about it. But my stomach of steel had helped me going through eating in other countries’ road side food.

The only ‘bad’ thing about it is; I tend to forget that some people don’t have the stomach of steel and they tend to be very cautious to go anywhere in the world that is less ’safe’ and ’clean’ as the US. Working in a medical clinic who also provides travel medicine service, I came across a lot of travellers who are hesitant to go to a ‘poor’ country. Our travel clinic provides pre-travel counselling, immunization advice and delivery, and also immunization certificates (yellow fever). Before I work here, I didn’t know that there is such thing as travel clinic. I didn’t know that yellow fever vaccination is required for countries like Brazil, Paraguay, Angola, and some others.

Personally, I have nothing to worry about to go to places like Mexico or the Caribbeans. I’ll be fine eating their food and won’t fuss about vaccination. But this is not the case for others. Even the most touristy places are questioned by them,”Is there any vaccination needed for Playa del Carmen, Mexico?” 

My smart-ass state of mind would blurt out, “Duh… no. It’s a touristy destination, just like going to Miami, Florida.”

But fortunately I was able to bite my tongue and keep my manner (otherwise I’d be fired by now). The ones that I couldn’t comprehend are, “We’re leaving to Tokyo then Singapore next month. Do we need any vaccinations?” and “Do you guys know if I need to worry about the water condition in Dublin, Ireland? Should we get a typhoid injection or prescription before we go?“

As an avid traveller myself, I’d go places in a heartbeat if money and time aren’t the issue. That’s why I sometime tend to advise patients not to hesitate to travel and not to be so worked up about vaccinations. Just last week, a 60-something old lady called because she’s  travelling to Peru with her husband but was too freaked out when she find out 2 or 3 different vaccinations are needed (plus a malaria prescription). I spent 20 minutes on the phone consoling her. 

“Oh my goodness gracious. Hepatitis A, typhoid, yellow fever, and malaria prescription? Oh this is too much. And I need to have this 3 weeks before leaving? Oh my word… we’re leaving in a week. The travel agent said I won’t need anything,” she said all this in one breath!

Then I explained to her, depending on which area she’s visiting in Peru, she might not need the yellow fever or malaria. She then asked me to hold on while she’s looking for her printed itinerary from the travel agent. I usually am the one who put callers on hold, not the other way around, he he. After a while, she’s finally back on the phone and read me her itinerary from Day 1 to Day 4! Double checking with the CDC website, I was sure that she’s not going to need malaria and yellow fever. Then she questioned what’s the use for Hepatitis A vaccine for. I explained that it’s for precaution for virus which is most commonly transmitted by the fecal-oral route via contaminated food or drinking water.

That’s when she panicked, “Oh no… this is not good. I don’t want to go to a poor country and get sick. Oh my, I better tell my husband I’m not going.”

I felt really bad for her. I told her not to worry because she’s staying in an Americanized hotel; not in a local home. Just don’t drink tap water. Then she went on and on about the quality of the lettuce of the salad which probably would be provided by the hotel. I told her not to worry so much, just enjoy Peru and go to to the Macchu Picchu. This is where I was thinking for myself. I was wanting to scream, “C’mon already, just go. Don’t fret so much. I’ll go if you don’t want to.” But I didn’t. I understand that for some people, ‘differences’ could be very scary. Just like James Michener, an American author, said: “If you reject the food, ignore the customs, fear the religion and avoid the people, you might better stay home.”

… and she did.