Cultural sensitivity is something we should really, really strive for (that means anywhere we are). I'm so used to correcting my students in terms of: "Oh that's good, that's bad. This one is correct and the other is wrong. And that one is really intelligent and the other seems stupid."Little did I realize that they were using a different set of English vocabulary from mine, like... "this answer is not so good, the other is incorrect, and that last one is not clever at all."
I thought we were speaking the same language until I realized that we were using different words to express the same thing.... so I reflected on this and found out the reason.
Laurence Mills wrote something like this: "Buddhists try to avoid the use of 'good' or 'bad' and prefer to talk instead of the categories of 'wholesome'and 'unwholesome' in terms of actions and their consequences."
From hindsight I think this is because in the buddhist philosophy (very much like the Christian one) only actions which are willfull, conscious, and deliberate leads to 'karma' - meaning potentially productive of a future result. Hence could be termed as good or evil.
But the innocent mistake of my student for example, is unintentional and thus bears no future result in the future. Even though I am the teacher I think my students have taught me the importance of kindness through choice of words through this little episode.
When I was younger a teacher of mine once quoted to me a line: "Little acts of kindness, little words of love, help to make earth happy like the heaven above." Mercy and compassion do make sense. It's definitely a way of getting up there to You!