Nice People Thread Number 10 -the official residence of Nice People

LydiaJ

PasturesNew wrote: »

Forms are too often written by people with a limited life experience. On the other hand, if you were sitting in that committee room sticking your oar in you'd have been made to feel like sh11te and not bothered to speak out a second time, but simply shrugged and left them to it

Actually I'm usually quite [STRIKE]bloody-minded[/STRIKE] assertive at getting my point across in meetings, and I don't have the right personality for shrugging and letting people mess stuff up.

When I was about 8, I found myself in an argument with a shop assistant in Woolworth's who was claiming that sweets priced 16p/quarter should be weighed and charged at 68p/lb. I stood my ground until she called the manager to deal with me, who heard me out, backed me up, and sold me my 20p's worth without tacking on the extra halfpenny that would have been added by the assistant's mistake.

I have since learnt to back down when I know I'm right but consider that it's not worth the hassle, but I wouldn't consider a question like that as not worth the hassle. Even if they don't want to add categories for students, carers, and the self-employed, they could and should have an "other" box.

Nikkster wrote: »

I was given an ethnicity questionnaire when I registered at the GP. 'White and Asian' appears as an option under both 'Mixed' and 'Black and Black British'. I'm pretty sue it's a cut and paste fail, but you'd think a) they would have proof read before giving out a questionnaire that some people might be sensitive about and b) there would be some kind of standard NHS template they could use.

As proof reading fails go, that's bad. Did you point it out to them?

Nikkster

I was given it to fill in at home, and take back for my 'welcome' appointment/,check up. I'll point it out on Tues (unless I forget)

hjd

LydiaJ wrote: »

I've just been completing one of those questionnaires that council-funded organisations have to use to monitor diversity. It asks for 9 pieces of information. Seven of them (age, relationship status, ethnicity, sexuality, employment status, disability and "belief, faith or creed") give an option to tick "decline to answer", but this isn't offered for male/female, or for which area of the county I live in.

The one that seems a bit odd to me is the employment status one. It offers 6 possibilities:
Employed full time
Employed part time - I ticked this one
Unemployed and seeking work
Unemployed and not seeking work
Retired
Decline to answer

I am being too picky to think there should be an option for SAHMs and other carers? When I was at home full time with small kids, supported by a full time working husband, I wouldn't have wanted to describe myself as "unemployed and not seeking work" - that sounds like someone on "benefits as a lifestyle choice", but I also wouldn't have wanted to tick "decline to answer" because that implies a desire to keep my employment status secret, which isn't how I feel.

ETA It's a badly designed form in another respect, too. The ethnicity question has the possibilities listed in two columns, with the tick boxes to the *left* of the words. All the other questions have the possiblities in one or two lines across the page, with the tick boxes to the *right* of the words. Plenty of scope there, if your answer is in the middle of the line, to tick the box to the left of what you want to say, and accidentally tell the council that you're the option before the one you meant to put.

I'm self employed part time and employed part time. Never fits in the boxes! Some weeks I spend more time on the voluntary work than the paid work - no box for that either!

PasturesNew

Nikkster wrote: »

I was given it to fill in at home, and take back for my 'welcome' appointment/,check up. I'll point it out on Tues (unless I forget)

I'm sure Asian people know who they are .... but in my limited experience I thought Asians were Indian/Pakistani types - the Asians that came to the UK and opened up corner shops in the 60s/70s .... until I spoke online with somebody in Aus who referred to Chinese/Phillipine types as Asian.

I am still unsure what the correct answer is.

LydiaJ

PasturesNew wrote: »

I'm sure Asian people know who they are .... but in my limited experience I thought Asians were Indian/Pakistani types - the Asians that came to the UK and opened up corner shops in the 60s/70s .... until I spoke online with somebody in Aus who referred to Chinese/Phillipine types as Asian.

I am still unsure what the correct answer is.

Asia's a big continent. India, Pakistan, China and the Phillipines all count as part of it. Colloquially, what "Asian" usually means depends on the local demographics.

PasturesNew

LydiaJ wrote: »

Asia's a big continent. India, Pakistan, China and the Phillipines all count as part of it. Colloquially, what "Asian" usually means depends on the local demographics.

Ah, that's clear thanks

lostinrates

PasturesNew wrote: »

I'm sure Asian people know who they are .... but in my limited experience I thought Asians were Indian/Pakistani types - the Asians that came to the UK and opened up corner shops in the 60s/70s .... until I spoke online with somebody in Aus who referred to Chinese/Phillipine types as Asian.

I am still unsure what the correct answer is.

Where we still use 'oriental' others use, Asian. Elsewhere in English speaking worl oriental is considered unPC, or....offensive.

michaels

There is a (national statistics) standard list of ethnic groupings, the police recently switched to using it after years of using their own groupings than used to mean it was impossible to compare data sets.

Generali

lostinrates wrote: »

Where we still use 'oriental' others use, Asian. Elsewhere in English speaking worl oriental is considered unPC, or....offensive.

Or just plain wrong. It would be weird to describe someone from your North West as being 'Oriental'.

Over here Asian means non-Indian sub continent.

PasturesNew

lostinrates wrote: »

Where we still use 'oriental' others use, Asian. Elsewhere in English speaking worl oriental is considered unPC, or....offensive.

Ah, that explains it then. Yes, I'd use the word oriental.