Self-reliant enough to be dependent

So I've been fighting my Americaness a lot recently. Some of it is based around volume and learning style and wanting to eat using both my left and right hand. But mostly I'm trying hard to stop being so self-reliant.

I'm not talking about something deeply spiritual here, like knowing that I can do nothing without God. I'm talking about going to other people for help with things that I know I can, or "should," do on my own.

You see, culturally, a person is viewed as stingy or pigheaded if s/he doesn't use a "professional" for things most Americans wouldn't consider asking a relative to help with, much less paying someone to help with.

An example: We have a patch of grass roughly two feet long and six feet wide along with a couple of fruit trees and some bushy plants. Certainly not lawn mower needed and certainly no need for a gardener. So I figured I go out and buy a hand sythe (tough to describe, maybe a picture later) and pair of bush clippers and do the work myself. Absolutely not, say my expat friends. Apparently, such a task requires a skilled laborer. If I don't find somebody to do it, I risk insulting the whole neighborhood.

I guess a friend needed to install a new program on his computer and had to take it to a computer shop to have it done. Four days later and it's still being worked on.

You'd think that the laziness inherent in the stereotypical American would have no problem with embracing this "why do it yourself when you can have somebody else do it for you?" mentality. But maybe I can't shake Dad's "I spent summers ripping out cast iron, coal furnaces, why would you consider spending your summers working at Wal-mart?" work ethic.

So, I'll let my houseworker iron all my clothes - including my socks and underwear. I'll let the furniture guy carry in @'s plastic chair. I'll submit to having the bus copilot carry my bag of groceries from the store to the parking lot. I guess the days of shaving my own head may be over. The things I do to blend in...


Bonus Cultural Lesson: Here in the land of motorcycles, the term they use for motor scooter/Vespa translates to "motor duck" (because of the sound).