I was watching a video the other day that mentioned the cassava plant, and how it’s a staple food in many parts of the world. I may have had it once or twice, but for some people it’s something they eat every day. This got me thinking - how many things do I assume that everyone else in the world must come in contact with and take for granted, because they’re so ubiquitous in my life? It’s very easy to take a self-centred view, and particularly when you assume that we live in a totally globalised world. But the experience of life for someone elsewhere may be completely different.
One silly example, in the UK nearly every house would have an electric kettle for brewing hot drinks. But a lot of countries don’t.
What items, food, clothing, buildings do you have that other people may never come across in their lives?
Something I noticed on vacation once as a child was that the house we stayed in only had a bath, no shower. I’ve always been a shower lover and hated baths. It genuinely is one of the only things I can remember about that vacation, it was so frustrating to me!
My house only has a bath, no shower, not had one for 15 years outside of hotels (and even then I request a bath if possible).