@lmbrls?ÿ
Who wants to take on the job of editing the Merriam-Webster dictionary for every brand of correctness?
Maybe one day someone will look at one of my topo's and say "You know... it should be a personhole, not a manhole".?ÿ And on that day they will feel the wrath of a surveyor.?ÿ ?????ÿ
@bstrand When they ask you what "MH" stands for, just say maintenance hole. ?ÿ
My only experience with the Roma still terrifies me.?ÿ I was on a French Club trip to France, Monaco, and Italy when I was fifteen.?ÿ While wandering around and taking in the sights of Florence, Italy, a group of about a dozen children began to follow my group.?ÿ Eerily similar to the way other scavenging animals act, an opportunity presented itself and three of them darted in and latched onto a girl's purse.?ÿ It all happened in seconds, but as Crystal struggled to hold on to her purse, a friend and I grabbed her and began pulling her away from the pack.?ÿ I got a good hard look into the eyes of one of them.?ÿ It was like looking into the eyes of serpent, stone-dead, devoid of emotion.?ÿ I broke eye contact and noticed the lifeform in front of me had a knife but thankfully we able to wrench Crystal and her purse free.?ÿ They continued to follow us until we entered our hotel.
We were told they were Roma but I never found out if they were orphans or part of group that included adults.?ÿ I'm positive that the eight or nine year old with a knife would have stabbed any of us for a nickel.?ÿ
The name may change, but as long as there are people who behave like that and belong to an easily identifiable group, there will continue to be negative connotations associated with them.?ÿ
Don't judge a large group by a few members.?ÿ Al Capone, Timothy McVey, Lee Harvey Oswald, Clyde Barrow, John Wilkes Booth, and many other undesirables were middle aged white guys. Does that make middle aged white guys evil?
@bill93?ÿ
There was no judgment in my remarks.?ÿ I did not share that story to encourage prejudice, but rather to give an example of how Europeans may have experiences with subsets of the Roma that differs from ours.
Your accusation of prejudice is a gross pedantry that aligns well with the zeitgeist that is leading us to such profound actions as changing the name of moths and ants to combat bigotry.
@bill93?ÿ
There was no judgment in my remarks.?ÿ
When you said "My only experience with the Roma still terrifies me" you tarred a large group with a brush that should have been aimed at a small bunch of street urchins.
Scabs are still pretty fresh in our still evolving country.
Europe and even the middle east and Russia tore down the statues and imagery of their evil despotism and filth, and now we're doing similar. Changing the names of invertebrates to further the process is about as stupid as the story I heard recently about how the great salt lake needs to be saved....um...What????? It's an Endorheic lake!!!!
Anyway, we all get to agree to disagree about things as it's a primary tenet of our country, doing so with vigor and vehement opposed views is ok, as long as we don't lose the intra-personal respect needed to maintain and foster that.
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Carry on...
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@bill93?ÿ
From reading your posts over the years, I'd assume you are above average in terms of any metric of human decency.?ÿ I would, however, suggest that you self reflect on how quickly you assumed prejudice.?ÿ If culture exists, it must have both good and bad aspects and these aspects should be discussed without disclaimers pointing out what was once obvious, that individuals should be viewed as individuals and not extensions of their group identity.?ÿ I take your accusation seriously, and am disturbed by the legions of humans who seem to think this form of slander is acceptable and even mandatory.
Y'all is gittin to sensitive.
N
Keep picking at a scab and it'll never heal.?ÿ I remember a time when we were making progress in race relations.?ÿ Apparently their are some who believe it is in their best interests to impede that progress.?ÿ That's unfortunate.
Based on this, we are all Africans.
