I would describe the culture I grew up in as American.

So, does "ethnicity" = "culture" in your example? (I'm terribly confused by all of this; hence, all the questions.)

Am I writing a cover letter more for the benefit of HR or for my future manager? How technical should I be?

In my org, at least, HR weeds out a bunch and sends what they consider the best possibilities to the appropriate managers for consideration. So ideally the cover letter would appeal to both, but (again, in my org--others may vary) it definitely has to make it past HR first.

Well, first you have to get past HR, so I'd be concise, informative and follow the guidelines you got above. I know I am impressed when the letter shows that the applicant understands not just the job but our company. If the job description lists a specific skill which you excel at, you might want a sentence about that "I have 10 years experience with chick sexing and built the Scola Chick Sexomatic, which cut sexing time in half."

I'm going to have "Bust a Move" in my head for the rest of the day, I know it.

And not all people who live in the US have a shared cultural and ancestral heritage of Kraft dinner.

I am one who does not have a shared cultural and ancestral heritage of Kraft dinner.

This goes back to my grits question. Grits are entirely American, made from a Western Hemisphere plant, and based on American Indian cooking. Most Americans, however, do not have a cultural history of grits for breakfast.

Am I writing a cover letter more for the benefit of HR or for my future manager?

I think the cover letter is more of an introduction, briefly saying that you have the skills they're looking for and why you want to work for them. You might include a few big picture things like "I coordinated the planning and implementation of a big cool computer thing." The more technical stuff goes in the resume.

Concur that cover letter is first line of defense for HR. They send the resume to the Dept. Head.

I don't know if the French in France think of themselves as ethnic, but as the default.

The French think of themselves as The Right And Proper Standard By Which Others Are Found Lacking.

Seriously. They do it right. And everybody else is doing it wrong.

"I have 10 years experience with chick sexing and built the Scola Chick Sexomatic, which cut sexing time in half."

Depending on the organization, this could be a plus or a minus.

I don't remembe much in the way of Kraft dinners - we didn't even have macaroni and cheese. However, a lot of my mother's cooking relied on the magic ingredient - Campbell's cream of mushroom soup.

And have I contributed something to the Buffista lexicon?

"I have 10 years experience with chick sexing and built the Scola Chick Sexomatic, which cut sexing time in half."

However, a lot of my mother's cooking relied on the magic ingredient - Campbell's cream of mushroom soup.

My ex the medical student and I agreed that Cooking With Soup was a defining trait of a certain working, lower-middle class strata in American culture. (One that we both belonged to.)

However, a lot of my mother's cooking relied on the magic ingredient - Campbell's cream of mushroom soup.

We still do for a few things, notably Mom's green bean casserole (with onion rings on top!) for Easter.

"Cultural" must have some narrower definitions, right? I mean, what was "American culture" in 1900 is probably not now, across the board, and what "American culture" is in Texas is probably not what American culture is in Manhattan.