Off Topic — HabitableZone

Off Topic » in reply to Like Putin and the young boy?

It's a Russian thing?
ER — (archived)

It may very well be that in Russian culture this is not a forbidden act.

I know among Cubans it would not be considered perverted to tease a child by giving him a kiss on the tummy (although I've never actually witnessed it). However, such a playfull action would be considered very inappropriate if it occured in a private or solitary environment. I guess the guideline is that as long as you're doing it in front of the parents, you've got nothing to hide.

Cultures are funny things. Among Cubans, innocent brief contact with other's children is no big deal. On the other hand, paying prolonged attention to a child, even if purely verbal and even in a very innocent and public fashion, is considered suspicious.

Working in the other direction, Cuban kids are brought up to never interrupt grown-ups. For a child to walk up to a parent who is talking to you, and to have that parent stop talking to you to deal with the kid, is considered extremely rude (not on the kid's part, but on the parent's). When this happens to me, I still feel miffed, and I have to remind myself that gringos just don't seem to know any better, and they don't teach their kids good manners.

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