I can’t use that word in a post and not come off like a pamphlet on green copy paper folded into thirds.

Anyway, having people around who aren’t like you but don’t appear to be suffering from any obvious handicaps (sadly, foreignness can be among these) show you that customs, traditions and other rhetorically powerful rules and regulations on behavior are no more True or 決まり (”Decided”, which Japanese people would capitalize if their language allowed) than the speed limit.  That’s if you’re an open-minded person.  If you’re not, vanity prevents you from seeing past the arbitrary rules, the obedience to which you’ve been raised to stake your entire identity and self-worth on.  To you, observable diverse…ness! just serves to remind you how many weirdos there are.