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

PasturesNew

LydiaJ wrote: »

.... we found that NPT regulars included what we suspected might be a higher than usual proportion of mushroom-o-philes, Herts residents, scientists, and Jews (or partners of Jews). So we often ask newcomers where they stand on these things. Not that any of it makes any difference to how welcome people are.

Yeah, I'm allowed in:
Hate mushrooms
Nowhere near Herts
Not a scientist, not even a degree
Not a Jew, nor married.

vivatifosi

I didn't put any Christmas decorations up this year. It won't take long to take the Christmas fridge magnet down.

PasturesNew

vivatifosi wrote: »

Maybe I'm getting old but I would use oriental. Similarly, I would not be upset if someone referred to me as occidental. I would be more concerned about, say , calling someone Chinese who is actually Korean.

I'd never call you occidental .... the reason for this is that this is the first time I've ever heard the word

PasturesNew

vivatifosi wrote: »

Christmas fridge magnet

I hope that was an LED sparkler!!

vivatifosi

PasturesNew wrote: »

I hope that was an LED sparkler!!

It was a Lego Father Christmas one that you had to apply the sticker at the end that said Merry Christmas. It took about five minutes to assemble and will take considerably less time to remove from fridge. No LEDs, no sparkles (bah humbug alert).

The debate will be whether we want to climb into the loft to put it with the rest of the decs. I suspect the answer will be know and this time next year we'll be scratching our heads to remember where we had put it.

PasturesNew

When I was growing up, a popular TV programme was called Love Thy Neighbour. A white couple had a black couple move in next door. Wives got on and used to laugh at the antics of the blokes. Blokes called each other names and didn't like each other. The white guy was called Honky and Snowflake.

If you watch it, it's humour, it's comedy. The trouble is not that these things can be aired and laughed at/with, but that there are twisted individuals who will take that into real life and use it against somebody.

Having said that, if we were all the same race/colour, then those same people would pick on fat people, people with glasses, gingers, people who supported a different football team..... it's just the "hook" for the hate and some people will always find one.

If you're super good looking and awesome and stand on my foot in public, I'll call you a c***.... if you're fat/ginger/with glasses etc etc and you stand on my foot in public I'll call you a fat c***, ginger c***, 4-eyed c*** etc etc.

Always a hook....... to belittle another.

It's more about being different than anything else... and a dollop of severe annoyance at something.

PasturesNew

vivatifosi wrote: »

The debate will be whether we want to climb into the loft to put it with the rest of the decs. I suspect the answer will be know and this time next year we'll be scratching our heads to remember where we had put it.

Ah yes, the last item you forgot/overlooked and now where to put it so it's still with all the other items it belongs with.

How about getting a big envelope out of the bin, writing on it in BIG RED LETTERS: XMAS FRIDGE MAGNET..... then just sliding it into the loft - so the next person up there puts it away properly and, at least, it won't get overlooked/lost by next year.

vivatifosi

PasturesNew wrote: »

Ah yes, the last item you forgot/overlooked and now where to put it so it's still with all the other items it belongs with.

How about getting a big envelope out of the bin, writing on it in BIG RED LETTERS: XMAS FRIDGE MAGNET..... then just sliding it into the loft - so the next person up there puts it away properly and, at least, it won't get overlooked/lost by next year.

Now that is a very good, sensible idea. Thanks!

LydiaJ

vivatifosi wrote: »

Maybe I'm getting old but I would use oriental. Similarly, I would not be upset if someone referred to me as occidental. I would be more concerned about, say , calling someone Chinese who is actually Korean.

Where I work we have lots of people from all sorts of bits of Asia. If I don't know which actual country they come from, I would say "Indian subcontinent" or "far east Asian" if I needed a general term.

vivatifosi

LydiaJ wrote: »

Where I work we have lots of people from all sorts of bits of Asia. If I don't know which actual country they come from, I would say "Indian subcontinent" or "far east Asian" if I needed a general term.

Me too... though I'm told that Indian subcontinent is offensive to Pakistanis so I'm not sure I get that right.

I think at the heart of this I'm a curious person. People don't like to ask people where they are from, even if they've worked with them for a while. I want to know lots about their language, culture, food, traditions... because I find it really interesting. I think we've become so politically correct that we miss out by being scared to ask, which is sad.