customs and laws 2
Customs and Laws, 2
Customs last partly because people often find it easier to conform than to face the disapproval of their social group. Such disapproval may range from mild ridicule to severe punishment. Many customs produce only mild reactions when broken. Such customs include many wedding and funeral traditions and rules of etiquette.
In isolated, nonindustrial communities, most customs remain unchanged from generation to generation. The majority of people in such societies believe the old ways are best–and what was good for the parents is good for the children.
In modern industrial societies, however, customs change more easily. A number of factors, including new inventions and contact with other cultures, may lead to such changes.
Why do they have these customs and laws? Are they “good”, “bad”, both or either?
8. Parents in the UK, don’t have to send their children to school. They can teach them at home if they prefer.
9. Men in Russia should take off their mittens or gloves when they shake someone hand.
10. You mustn’t take dogs to the city center in Iceland.
11. In Thailand, you shouldn’t touch a person’s head (even of a child).
12. You are not allowed to clean your car or cut the grass on Sunday.
13. In Italy, if you give flowers, you should give an odd number of them, e.g. 1, 3, 5, 7, 9. You shouldn’t give 2 flowers, for example.
14. It’s against the law for a man to forget his wife’s birthday in Samoa.
