geekchick | rantalicious

Current Mood: cranky
Current Music: Iris - Lose In Wanting

rantalicious

It's Monday, so I'm cranky.

Adding to the long list of things that have annoyed me lately:

Do not talk to me like I am a toddler. I am 33 years old; talk to me like I'm an adult, or please don't bother talking to me at all.

The fastest way to get me to disregard absolutely anything you're saying to me is to talk to me in a patronizing tone. If you talk down to me and treat me as if I am incapable of following you before I'm even given a chance to try, then I'm not going to stick around for it. If I can't follow what you're saying, I will let you know. And I know a fair number of 50-cent words myself, no need for you to act like you need to limit yourself to three syllables or less on my account. If you feel the need to ask me not to do something, don't try the verbal equivalent of grabbing a three year old's hand and saying "No, no, no; don't touch". Seriously. I am a grown woman and am reasonably intelligent, "Please don't" and a reason works perfectly well.
Not everyone in the South is an ignorant, racist, homophobic hick. This is a HUGE button of mine, which has gotten stomped on hard and repeatedly in the last week. Are there some? Yeah, of course. Are there ignorant, racist homophobic hicks in California, and Washington, and in the Northeast? Yes indeed there are. It's not like the South has ever had a lock on that kind of thing, no matter how superior large segments of the rest of the country like to try to make themselves feel.

I spent years, literally, trying to not discuss where I grew up (easier to do because I don't have a recognizable deep Southern accent most times). I did it because as soon as I said "I'm from Mississippi", I got saddled with a whole boatload of assumptions about who I was and what I believed. In my first week or two at Georgetown, the first thing (almost literally) I heard from more people than I care to count when they found out where I was from was "Oh, did you see Mississippi Burning?", with a tone that implied that they assumed that I was going to be burning crosses out on Healy Lawn. Hi, nice to meet you too.

With the recent election, I'm hearing this sort of "Southerners are backwards hicks" crap a lot more. I just ran across a link to a web site with the url "f*ckthesouth.com"; you can figure out what the ranting content looks like I'm sure. Y'know what? F*ck you too. Make no mistake, those of you ranting about moronic Southerners are every bit as bigoted and intolerant as anyone painting you as a "liberal, elitist, babykilling traitor", so get the f*ck down off your high horse.

And cut it out with the "Jesusland" map already.
People from the alumni association who call me at work to "confirm my information" for their upcoming directory (which I believe will be available for sale). You've sent me three hundred postcards at home with dire warnings about how you really need my information in order to make sure I'm included in this directory; the fact I've replied to none of them ought to tell you that I neither care about this project nor want to update my information with you. You've obviously gotten my current contact information somehow or else you'd not have my work phone number, now would you? Idiots.

Well, you've probably already seen my post full of annoyance at the Southerners = ignorant hicks idea, so you know I'm on your side.

I did indeed, I've been enjoying reading what you and

quinnclub have to say.

People from the alumni association who call me at work to "confirm my information" for their upcoming directory (which I believe will be available for sale). You've sent me three hundred postcards at home with dire warnings about how you really need my information in order to make sure I'm included in this directory; the fact I've replied to none of them ought to tell you that I neither care about this project nor want to update my information with you.

This must be the thing for colleges to do right now. Exact same thing happened to me. When I told the young man who I spoke to I didn't want anything but a generic email address listed (and definitely not my home, work, and cell numbers, plus fax number), he said, "whoa, you must have a stalker." And laughed. Even when I replied, "Yes, a couple." Grrrrr....

I'm mostly annoyed that they called me at work, as I don't give that number out as a way to reach me during the day. I suppose I should call them back though and tell them to buzz off and that I don't want them printing my contact information.

I like the map that's going around that shows it all in shades of grey or purple rather than red or blue. Because honestly, there are no "red" states. There are no "blue" states. I get a little crabby about the hatred on the liberal side too.

Because honestly, there are no "red" states. There are no "blue" states.

Yeah, the closest you get to that is like Utah and (ironically) DC on the other end of the spectrum. I much prefer the purple map myself.

Big ol' honkin' word about the whole issue with Southerners. That whole set of issues made living in Iowa downright unpleasant at times.

that you were from Mississippi. I have the dubious advantage of being from a city in the south that people have enough *other* associations for that I don't encounter the assumptions that I must be racist and stupid nearly so much.

(grin) no, from your point of origin they're more likely to assume shady politics or drunken debauchery. I think the latter gets you out from under the Bible-belt stereotype. That, and the cultural diversity there...

You and

patgreene share the same birthplace, as I recall... another parallel. (ducking)

I knew that Pat and I did...I just didn't realize that

geekchick was from right next door.

You seem to do a great job with geographical diversity of sweeties, but have a tendency to go for women who grew up in the same culture/region as yourself.

And, thankyouverymuch, I prefer my debauchery sober.

Yep. Technically I was born here in Fairfax, but I lived in Mississippi from ages 2-18. My mother was from Long Island, so I think that mitigated any obvious accent (my brother and sister both have very strong accents), and then living further north for as long as I have probably got rid of nearly anything that remained.

I run into complete bigots nearly daily here in So Cal. I also know a ton of people who voted for Bush. I had to wade through one woman's pro-bush rhetoric on Saturday night (though the fact that she was very attractive and I was very drunk helped ease my nerves).

I think people generally prefer to assume rather than think about people they meet. It so easier and more self-centric to assume the rest of the world is just two dimensional, until proved otherwise.

I had a friend this weekend recounting his experiences about living in So Cal and then traveling abroad. Everyone assumed he knew movie stars and lived near Melrose place.

I'm gonna form the independent republic of "HaveAClueLand" so refugees from the "Canadian States of America" and "Jesusland" have go to get away from ignorant assumptive people. I'll nominate you for president!

I think people generally prefer to assume rather than think about people they meet. It so easier and more self-centric to assume the rest of the world is just two dimensional, until proved otherwise.

Bingo.

Everyone assumed he knew movie stars and lived near Melrose place.

Wait, you mean you don't???? *blink* ;)

I'll nominate you for president!

Nah, I'd rather be the shadowy power behind the throne. ;)

Not everyone in the South is an ignorant, racist, homophobic hick.

A-freakin'-men to that.

Seeble regarding the Southerner = ignorant hick stereotype. I've grown so used to it living in California that my button there has become callused... rather than hurt or angry, I feel resigned and a bit exasperated.

Even worse is that after living out here for 17 years, most of my accent is gone (until I visit relatives for a couple of weeks ;) and so I keep getting the "oh, I didn't realize you were from *there* [and you actually have a brain, too!]... and you really don't have much of an accent! [which is assumed to be a Good Thing somehow, unlike, say, a Scottish or French accent]. Sigh...

And somehow I don't hear these same folks referring to, say, Bill Clinton or Jimmy Carter as ignorant hicks...

I spent years, literally, trying to not discuss where I grew up (easier to do because I don't have a recognizable deep Southern accent most times). I did it because as soon as I said "I'm from Mississippi", I got saddled with a whole boatload of assumptions about who I was and what I believed. In my first week or two at Georgetown, the first thing (almost literally) I heard from more people than I care to count when they found out where I was from was "Oh, did you see Mississippi Burning?", with a tone that implied that they assumed that I was going to be burning crosses out on Healy Lawn. Hi, nice to meet you too.

I'm also from Mississippi, and I don't have an accent either. (Actually, I never did. That's another Asperger's characteristic.) Frequently, when a white person finds out I'm from Mississippi, he/she will say, "Oh, that must have been just horrible for you!" Imagine the shock after I answer, "Actually, I experienced way more racism in Portland!"

I never really had an accent either, I chalk it up to my mother's influence (she was from Long Island; amusingly, after some number of years her Southern accent was much, much stonger than mine ever was).

Imagine the shock after I answer, "Actually, I experienced way more racism in Portland!"

I can only imagine the reaction to that. =)

In a parallel track, I have experienced more homophobia in the suburban parts of the Bay Area than I did in New Orleans.

(Incidentally, I think New Orleans *is* a part of the South, but a distinctly Catholic one.)

Oregon, which voted against gay marriage, is not part of Jesusland..because its electoral votes went for the Democrat. I guess that means that kind of bigotry is acceptable if you vote for the right candidate.

I won't even get into how "the United States of Canada" is an example of American ignorance about Canada. (Alberta, for one, would probably fit better in Jesusland, and Newfoundland, B.C and Nova Scotia arguably feel the same.)

Oregon, which voted against gay marriage, is not part of Jesusland..because its electoral votes went for the Democrat.

Indeed.

Sadly, there are loons on all sides of the fence.

Because

curiousangel and I got engaged while we were still living apart, most of my friends in Iowa had barely met him.

I got a lot of this: "But

rivka, I just never imagined that you would end up with a Southerner!"

"Why not?" I would ask politely. And they would falter. They couldn't actually bring themselves to explain to me that they were sure

curiousangel was an ignorant, racist, conservative hick.

Lucky for them, huh.

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rantalicious

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wow...didn't know

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What I love about the Jesusland map...

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