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Salamander
Fire Walking

PC vs. ME
Fri Feb 08 2008

Being naive, I googled "oriental vs. Asian" to see where I had gone astray. I hate unintentionally offending anybody; I prefer any offensive remarks to be painstakingly planned. My first hit was:

Model Minority: The Guide to Asian American Empowerment.

Until this very moment, I had been quite unaware of either the "left-wing-politically-correct-thought-police-mind-control" or the "typical right-wing-politically-correct-knee-jerk-response" points of view.

I'm getting too old, it would seem, to have much patience for PC. I do not feel like banning Mark Twain for his use of the n- word (though at least I have enough social awareness to prevent me from spelling it out). I do not feel like looking up whether or not the correct label today is "physically challenged" or "differently abled". I will not embrace the use of "bitch", "queer" or "gimp" simply because some have claimed (or reclaimed, as certain erudite articles put it) these indentifiers.

Searching the web for where I went wrong led me to a variety of sites, some serious, some tongue-in-cheek, and some foot-in-mouth. While I'm not entirely sure that many of my ways will be mended by the experience, I can forsee me fixing one thing: in the future I shall stop referring to people as dead and now properly refer to them as "metabolically challenged".

9 Comments
  • From:
    CatControlled (Legacy)
    On:
    Sat Feb 09 2008
    An elderly guy going through the women's underwear rack, disappearing when you do, and then coming back when you do? Eeeuuuwwww!
  • From:
    KiwiKimi (Legacy)
    On:
    Sat Feb 09 2008
    Thanks for sharing! And yes, that's the first "sensible" reason I've heard for the existence of those things. They make me uncomfortable just looking at them.

    I must say I *have* seen plain black ones, but it's a long way to come for a thong.
  • From:
    Franny (Legacy)
    On:
    Sat Feb 09 2008
    dang Sal, your trials and tribulations surely take you to some interesting places...
    i can't believe they didn't have a basic black one.
    ps. perhaps the asian gentleman was smitten?! (insert one of those smirky grins you like to use)
  • From:
    LightsOfParis (Legacy)
    On:
    Sat Feb 09 2008
    I wear them on occasion when I wear certain jean and with my yoga pants. I buy mine from Macy's I don't know the brand. Maybe try Target they sell cottons ones with out the porno lace.

    I have to correct you as this is a pet peeve of mine like people who spell a lot as one word. Oriental is a form of art, Asian is a nationality.
  • From:
    Welshamethyst (Legacy)
    On:
    Sat Feb 09 2008
    I'm quite sincerely sorry to hear that you have to wear butt floss.

    I suspect you nabbed the only pair that the elderly oriental man actually wanted.......

    *prances off grinning like a fool*
  • From:
    Allimom (Legacy)
    On:
    Sat Feb 09 2008
    Why not just make your own thong with some dental floss and a bandaid?
    ;^D
    Alli
  • From:
    TraumaMama (Legacy)
    On:
    Sun Feb 10 2008
    LOL...I could picture you in Ross...he does sound like some kind of stalker.
    Glad everything is going okay.
  • From:
    Franny (Legacy)
    On:
    Sun Feb 10 2008
    pc-ness is over-rated.
    ps. i used "asian" because i like the sound of it, it's shorter to write and only 2 syllables. i like short words. ;-)
  • From:
    SitsWithAnAddingMachine (Legacy)
    On:
    Mon Feb 11 2008
    What strange experiences we have had in stores the last few days.

    I usually use "Asian", probably because I knew so few people from there and had so little exposure to the word "Oriental" growing up that the word never stuck in my brain till the PC movement began. I have had some difficulty using "African American" spontaneously, though, because I knew "black" people for years. It feels fake to me and makes me self-conscious, especially since I know some people don't like that word applied to them. "I'm not African," one friend said.

    Plus, what do you call a person of African descent who grew up in France or Vietnam or Angola instead of the U.S.? African-French, African-Vietnamese, and African-Angolan (or just African)? It just requires too much assuming of where the person is from.

    Anyway, as if medical care didn't force people to give up their dignity enough as it was! One time I forgot and wore something, er, other than plain white cotton granny panties to a doctors appointment, but she didn't blink an eye. I guess they see everything.

    You might try Victoria's Secret if you don't find that horribly embarrassing. Every year or so they send me a card for a free panty, and almost every style (thong, bikini, briefs, etc.) come in at least plain white and plain black. If not perhaps you can block up the keyhole with a little piece of fabric.