Creating and maintaining the right personal image for you and your company

I read an interesting article today. Apparently a man had to be escorted out of an airplane because he was praying (not in a way that most people were accustomed to). Some passengers complained about the behavior, which was why the crew made the decision of escorting him out. Afterwards, his religious group was outraged at this decision, and accused the airline of being insensitive.

In a world where there is now slightly more religious freedom than in the past, image still counts - in this context, it is all about conduct. If someone behaves in an odd manner than the norm, the person is singled out to be a suspect. People can scream for others to be more tolerant; however the truth is people are not really tolerant of others who are truly different from them, unless previous rapport has been built. If a man and a woman who have been so in love with each other, have married each other, and yet had to divorce because of differences in personality or other reasons, think of the tolerance that we have for people who we are not married to. Not much tolerance, I'm afraid.

What is the appropriate conduct? When in parts of the world where the culture is very different from yours, do not flaunt your own cultural habits. People usually react negatively to those who are different. Think of others - care for others, before doing something that is out of character (in the eyes the other culture). Religion is not supposed to promote selfishness and doing whatever one wants, but to be opened to others and promote caring. Hence, if a person truly cares, s/he will tailor the actions accordingly while in public.