TOPIC: Reciprocity
SOURCE: Casual interaction with other members of a culture obsessed
with payment and repayment of goods and services.
RELATION: Page 143 of RR tells that according to the principle of
reciprocity, “giving a gift creates social ties with the person receiving it,
who is obliged to reciprocate.”
DESCRIPTION: During the final weeks of the semester, students here at
HSU find themselves at a busy time in their lives. Whether they are moving,
working, or studying for finals, it seems that each student barely finds enough
time even for themselves. So what is it that motivates students to insist upon
reaching out to one another to offer help even in their busiest hours. Just the
other day, as I found myself studying for a final, I was approached by a young
lady who happens to be in one of my other classes. She asked for a bit of help
on the material we were covering in class, and although I was very busy, I
decided to help her. Once we managed to work through the assignment, she and
her friends were very grateful and offered to repay me for my help by buying me
dinner. And while that was very sweet, what they did not know was that the
reason I had decided to take the time to help them in the first place was
because I myself had received an hour or two of assistance from my best friend
earlier in the day (which was the only reason I even knew how to demonstrate the
concept from class). I had viewed the opportunity as a good way to spread the
generosity that someone had first extended toward me—and to pay back a social debt,
essentially.
COMMENTARY/ANALYSIS: This was a prime example of the
social principle of reciprocity, with both parties involved in an exchange of
services/goods feeling as though they owed something to the folks who had
helped them, even if the gifts that were exchanged were simple non-commodities
that are a bit more difficult to repay. We were all aware of the social
obligations to repay the person who offered help, even if they “needn’t be
limited to material goods” (RR 143). The giving and receiving of gifts, a
tradition observed on so many of the holidays we celebrate here in the US, has
trained us all to recognize when it is not only necessary to offer a gift, but
to repay a gift that has first been offered to us. In this way, we have become
traditional practitioners of the social principle of reciprocity here in the 21st century, not believing that we should ever remain indebted to a
person for an extended period of time, but rather work to reimburse and even
reward the person to whom our debts are owed before we can put our minds at
ease.
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