Television

 

Sometimes I live in the conflicts between Chinese values and western values. Having said that, I think it is necessary to point out what Chinese values and western values mean.

Chinese values mean seeing the family members as a whole entity and care for one another very much, to a point that privacy or personal willingness could be invaded. Western values mean quite the oppisite, privacy or personal willingness highly respected, to a point that there seems to be just pure cold politness among friends or family.

Of course, there is some sutble details that both values share. It is beyond my discussion here (ok, western values needed here).

What happened was my parents’ TV broke. They never mentioned it over the phone, so I did not know that until this past March when I went back to Tainan to visit them. My mother said, she tried to hit the TV, reconnected the cables, but nothing helped. This TV is very old. My brother bought it when he was in college, and he is 42 this year. Do the math. The technician came, sighed, and explained how hard it is to get components for this TV now. This is just an old 20” CRT TV, so it is really not worth it to have it fixed.

So get a new TV then. That’s what everyone would think. Not my mother (and my father did not have a say in this matter). She claims this TV is still good to watch. Mother, red color is the only thing I can make out on the TV!

So what should I do? I think the more traditional Chinese way would be for me to go to electronic store, pick a new one, and have it sent to my parents’ house, knowing my parents would not be able to understand any item in the spec and would be quite clueless to tell one make from another. Honestly, there is nothing wrong with it, and I expect my parents to have that smug look when they have visitors, and the poor visitors would feel compelled to compliment how nice and considerate their son is.

However, I hope they get what they really want. I hope they understand I care about it and want them to get something that really suits their needs. That is also the way I would like to be treated. So I told my mother, the TV is really old, and it would be probably more expensive to have it repaired than to get a new one. It may be time for it to go. There are few ways to get a new one. Do you want me to pick one myself and have it shipped to you, or you’d like to visit the stores and do the shopping yourself, or I can even go with you to the stores, so we can have some discussions together? Let me know once you decide which way to go for.

Not surprisingly, my dear mother chose the fourth option. She kept the TV.

Mid June I went back to visit them again, and saw that red-only TV again. I decided to do it the pre-emptive way. I started a family activities.

That was when Toy Story 3 hit the theater. I told them how popular 3D movies are nowadays, and I always had a good time watching Toy Story 1 and 2. We could go watch the version dubbed with Chinese, so they won’t have any problem understanding the conversation.  After that, we can grab a few bites to eat, and then go to department store to see if they find any TV interesting. And they agreed.

So my parents, my sister, niece and I went together. It turned out they enjoyed the movie very very much, and were so excited about the 3D effect. Believe it or not, they also enjoy having something to drink in the theater and some popcorns.

Anyhow, we visited the department store afterwards, and my dear mother was ONLY interested in Sony. The old TV is a Sony Trinitron, and my mother loved it. I swear she was smiling the whole time when we were in Sony area. When we suggested having a look at Toshia, or Panasonic, she showed little interest, and refused to even have a look when we asked her to try Samsung or LG.

At that point, decision is easy to make. 32 inches is the smallest size now. She does not need all the bells and whistles, so the cheapest model will do. Since my sister was there in the department store as well, I asked my brother later to see if he is ok to chip in, and he agreed. So all 3 kids chipped in to get that Sony Bravia 32”.

I guess it is neither Chinese way or western way, or, I tried to blend them together. Though it was a waste of time from March to June, but still I’m happy that I did not hurry to store in March and pick something that she does not like, which I could have done if I had been few years younger. She even asked to buy the TV from the store which she called  for help when her TV broke. She feels comfortable with their service, and feels good to do business with them.

Now my mother is happy.