Young 20-something beautician doing my waxing, upon hearing my age:
Her: wow, you don't look that old!
Me: (laughing) well thanks!
Her: err..not that that's old.. just err you don't ...
Me: (interrupting her to put her out of her misery of a potentially awkward moment) It's okay, I'll take that I don't look that old! Completely fine with me!
Her: (laughing)
I am so tired of political correctness I could vomit. I get very angry (you wouldn't like me when I'm angry hahaha).
Did any of you guys use the term "Indian Giver" when you were a kid? To this day I do not know exactly why it means what it means, but as a kid, everyone used it.
I get really frustrated with political correctness, and I think part of that is a symptom of being old. Old, to me, is when you realize that the people who drive political correctness push it in a way that only exxagerates our differences.
For the record, most native americans from the area where I grew up only used the term to differentiate ourselves from Indians. Where I currently work, 60% of my technical peers are Indians, Jordanians, Chinese and other nationalities to fill the jobs that local graduates are not qualified to fill.
My native american side just got more obvious as I aged. Now its unmistakable. I used to have lighter, curly hair, but that changed. My son is so hairy though, like his friends at school, that I sometimes wonder about him... He can grow a beard, also.
I do get picked on alot, based on silly old stories, about things like drinking alcohol, whether I'm going to scalp someone, or wear face paint. I've learned that it is definately not politically correct to turn it around and tell my white peers the things we say about them.
Young 20-something beautician doing my waxing, upon hearing my age:
Her: wow, you don't look that old!
Me: (laughing) well thanks!
Her: err..not that that's old.. just err you don't ...
Me: (interrupting her to put her out of her misery of a potentially awkward moment) It's okay, I'll take that I don't look that old! Completely fine with me!
Her: (laughing)
Old is ....being told you don't look that old.
Depending on what she was waxing, did you consider she wasn't talking about your face?
I get really frustrated with political correctness, and I think part of that is a symptom of being old. Old, to me, is when you realize that the people who drive political correctness push it in a way that only exxagerates our differences.
For the record, most native americans from the area where I grew up only used the term to differentiate ourselves from Indians. Where I currently work, 60% of my technical peers are Indians, Jordanians, Chinese and other nationalities to fill the jobs that local graduates are not qualified to fill.
My native american side just got more obvious as I aged. Now its unmistakable. I used to have lighter, curly hair, but that changed. My son is so hairy though, like his friends at school, that I sometimes wonder about him... He can grow a beard, also.
I do get picked on alot, based on silly old stories, about things like drinking alcohol, whether I'm going to scalp someone, or wear face paint. I've learned that it is definately not politically correct to turn it around and tell my white peers the things we say about them.
I can give as good as I get. I think stereotypes are funny. I have heard that Native Americans love to drink fire water, and the scalping bit. I would love to know what non-whites say about whites. There just isn't enough "white stereotype humor."
Care to share?
BTW, I personally think Native Americans are very cool. I still remember learning about the white men who came to America and stole it from the Indians. I remember being ashamed and sickened. Christopher Columbus didn't discover sh!t!!!!!!
You lose your eyesight.
You lose your hearing.
And, ummm ... I can't remember the third one.
Losing a bit of your eyesight as you age can be a blessing in disguise. My husband and I take our glasses off before we go to bed, and we look just as good to each other as we did 20 years ago. Everything's in nice soft focus
The first time I felt "old" was when the bagger at the grocery store called me "ma'am". I think I was about 30 at the time
I can give as good as I get. I think stereotypes are funny. I have heard that Native Americans love to drink fire water, and the scalping bit. I would love to know what non-whites say about whites. There just isn't enough "white stereotype humor."
Care to share?
Keep in mind that since I am mixed, some of the humor, ribbing, and comments were aimed at me as a kid, challenging me to decide what was important. They were a small group who fought for return to a small area that some educated ancestors had purchased back from the people of the state. To a white guy with mixed heritage, "being native american" is about blood, because everything is physical to the whites. To them, "being Istichata or Mvskoke" is what resides in your mind/spirit.
I would just say that most joking is very light hearted. There's a fine line where it changes into something to feel sad about. Little things, like people who can't see what is important, but are obsessed instead with selling everything, even the air. One joke I heard a lot as a kid: "How do you tell a white man that he is a coward?" Answer: "You don't. Ever tried to catch one of them to talk when they're running?"
Once, when I was watching The Simpsons, and the kids were trying to drop hints to Homer that they wanted to go to some Lolapalooza-type festival. They asked "Dad, what's the greatest music festival of all time?"
I fully expected him to answer "Woodstock", but then he said:
"Steven Wozniak's Us Festival?"
And I thought: "Wait a minute, was that an OLD joke?"
Actually, I knew I was grown up when I was lying awake in bed, and then it dawned on me:
When I was 4 or 5, and I would find myself in a jam that I couldn't seem to get out of, I found myself thinking:
"Boy, I sure wish Dad was here."
Then when I was 15-16, I found myself thinking:
"I bet I can take care of this myself, like a man. I bet I can do this WITHOUT Dad being here."
When I was 20-21, I found myself thinking:
"I can take care of this myself. I'm a REAL MAN now. I'm glad that Dad isn't here."
Now that I'm looking at middle age, I've got a job, a wife and kids, a mortgage, car payments, taxes and deadlines, when I'm in a jam that I can't find a simple solution to, I find myself thinking:
Location: On a clear day, I can see Mt. Rainier ... but you can't count on the days to be clear here ...
Posts: 1,860
Re: Old is............................
Quote:
Originally Posted by F-102
When I was 4 or 5, and I would find myself in a jam that I couldn't seem to get out of, I found myself thinking:
"Boy, I sure wish Dad was here."
Then when I was 15-16, I found myself thinking:
"I bet I can take care of this myself, like a man. I bet I can do this WITHOUT Dad being here."
When I was 20-21, I found myself thinking:
"I can take care of this myself. I'm a REAL MAN now. I'm glad that Dad isn't here."
Now that I'm looking at middle age, I've got a job, a wife and kids, a mortgage, car payments, taxes and deadlines, when I'm in a jam that I can't find a simple solution to, I find myself thinking:
"Boy, I sure wish Dad was here."
I wish I could like this one more than once. We didn't know what a good deal we had.
I've already been through those stages when my kids would look at me and ask me what they should do ... and I'm to the point where I now often just have to say, "I don't know." I wonder how often my dad thought that same thing ...
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Dolly speaks with a ****ney accent. On the drinks thread, we talk about ****tails. A confident person might be ****-sure. An arrogant person is ****y.
#%$@ TAM!!! It was a rooster long before it was an organ!!! FREE THE **** FROM THE EVIL TAM CENSORS!
Location: On a clear day, I can see Mt. Rainier ... but you can't count on the days to be clear here ...
Posts: 1,860
Re: Old is............................
Quote:
Originally Posted by heartsbeating
This happened today. Timely with the thread.
Young 20-something beautician doing my waxing, upon hearing my age:
Her: wow, you don't look that old!
Me: (laughing) well thanks!
Her: err..not that that's old.. just err you don't ...
Me: (interrupting her to put her out of her misery of a potentially awkward moment) It's okay, I'll take that I don't look that old! Completely fine with me!
Her: (laughing)
Old is ....being told you don't look that old.
That's not quite my problem. I DO look that old.
When asked how old I am, I used to say "I'm 19." It got really funny one day about 8 years ago when I had a birthday and answered "I'm 19" when someone asked how old I was. One of the guys I worked with turned around and looked and me thoughtfully, then said, "Well, the years have not been kind to you."
So now I say I'm 29 ... but if pressed, I will answer correctly. I'm not ashamed to admit my age, I'm just a cut-up normally. If I can get an answer like my co-worker gave me above, then that's great.
__________________
Dolly speaks with a ****ney accent. On the drinks thread, we talk about ****tails. A confident person might be ****-sure. An arrogant person is ****y.
#%$@ TAM!!! It was a rooster long before it was an organ!!! FREE THE **** FROM THE EVIL TAM CENSORS!
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Re: Old is............................ 
