You Know What Really Grinds My Gears?

[Umaril The Unfeathered]

I still hate it when people wear their pants halfway down their butts.  Hey, moron, that does NOT look cool!

Baggy clothes, sideways trucker hats pulled down tight, goofy looking tuques in all weather. Over the past two decades, there always seems to be a percentage of youth who think it's cool to dress like a Peanuts character.

Not to sound ethnocentric or racist here, but the baggy clothes and sideways hat you mention reminds me of the all the white kids in my neighborhood who always try to act like they're gangster..

You see em' all the time, white kids dressed in their baseball jerseys, baggy-assed pants, sideways hats and with a ton of gold or stainless steel jewelery, some of them walking their pit bulls.

They start a conversation with "yo, homes, 'sup dog"?  and then start speaking in an alien language consisting of the usual phrases and hand gestures and symbols that you need Eminem to translate for you (being he's the king of white wannabee's.)

Not trying to make anyone angry here,  but people, get real..society is already filled with people trying to be something that they're not.  We already have one Eminem....

[AndyC]

I still hate it when people wear their pants halfway down their butts.  Hey, moron, that does NOT look cool!

Baggy clothes, sideways trucker hats pulled down tight, goofy looking tuques in all weather. Over the past two decades, there always seems to be a percentage of youth who think it's cool to dress like a Peanuts character.

Not to sound ethnocentric or racist here, but the baggy clothes and sideways hat you mention reminds me of the all the white kids in my neighborhood who always try to act like they're gangster..

You see em' all the time, white kids dressed in their baseball jerseys, baggy-assed pants, sideways hats and with a ton of gold or stainless steel jewelery, some of them walking their pit bulls.

They start a conversation with "yo, homes, 'sup dog"?  and then start speaking in an alien language consisting of the usual phrases and hand gestures and symbols that you need Eminem to translate for you (being he's the king of white wannabee's.)

Not trying to make anyone angry here,  but people, get real..society is already filled with people trying to be something that they're not.  We already have one Eminem....

Suburban white kids pretending they're inner-city black kids. I find that hugely annoying. People adopting the dress and speech of someone else's culture - a culture of which they often have a limited understanding, if any - because they think it makes them cool. To me, a white, middle-class kid dressing up like a kid from Compton and affecting a phony accent because he likes hip hop is no less ridiculous than if he were to start wearing a cowboy hat and affecting a Texan accent because he's a country fan (although it does happen), or putting on a kilt and talking with a fake brogue because he has a fascination for Scotland. You can't just put on someone else's culture as a fashion accessory.

[Olivia Bauer]

I still hate it when people wear their pants halfway down their butts.  Hey, moron, that does NOT look cool!

Baggy clothes, sideways trucker hats pulled down tight, goofy looking tuques in all weather. Over the past two decades, there always seems to be a percentage of youth who think it's cool to dress like a Peanuts character.

Not to sound ethnocentric or racist here, but the baggy clothes and sideways hat you mention reminds me of the all the white kids in my neighborhood who always try to act like they're gangster..

You see em' all the time, white kids dressed in their baseball jerseys, baggy-assed pants, sideways hats and with a ton of gold or stainless steel jewelery, some of them walking their pit bulls.

They start a conversation with "yo, homes, 'sup dog"?  and then start speaking in an alien language consisting of the usual phrases and hand gestures and symbols that you need Eminem to translate for you (being he's the king of white wannabee's.)

Not trying to make anyone angry here,  but people, get real..society is already filled with people trying to be something that they're not.  We already have one Eminem....

Suburban white kids pretending they're inner-city black kids. I find that hugely annoying. People adopting the dress and speech of someone else's culture - a culture of which they often have a limited understanding, if any - because they think it makes them cool. To me, a white, middle-class kid dressing up like a kid from Compton and affecting a phony accent because he likes hip hop is no less ridiculous than if he were to start wearing a cowboy hat and affecting a Texan accent because he's a country fan (although it does happen), or putting on a kilt and talking with a fake brogue because he has a fascination for Scotland. You can't just put on someone else's culture as a fashion accessory.

Why is it "hip" to be a stupid little ruffian? Kids today (I'm 18. How funny is that? I already feel old!)...

These people would say "Aw, your just a cracker!" in rebutal. To which I say... What the f**k does that mean? If "Cracker" means, somebody who upholds the proper morals of society and isn't trying to be a "hardcore*", police hating, gun toting, woman raping, gas station robbing, little cretin that can't spell worth his life because he dropped out of school? Then yes, I'm a cracker and proud of it. 

*This word from what I've seen means either you've been to prison a lot, or you touch yourself because you have a high rank on Call of Duty: Black Ops.

[Mr. DS]

Suburban white kids pretending they're inner-city black kids. I find that hugely annoying. People adopting the dress and speech of someone else's culture - a culture of which they often have a limited understanding, if any - because they think it makes them cool. To me, a white, middle-class kid dressing up like a kid from Compton and affecting a phony accent because he likes hip hop is no less ridiculous than if he were to start wearing a cowboy hat and affecting a Texan accent because he's a country fan (although it does happen), or putting on a kilt and talking with a fake brogue because he has a fascination for Scotland. You can't just put on someone else's culture as a fashion accessory.

Indeed, if a kid grows up in the safety of fenced in suburbia I'm not sure what mania causes this to be honest.   I recall alot of these wannabes in my high school.  One in particular was a girl who before the ghetto transformation was the all American cheerleader type.  She dated some kid from the hood and after not seeing her for two years she had that accent.  It was odd to say the least.

I feel the same way about certain metalheads that go over and beyond dressing the part.  I've already made mention of that too much already though.

[Flick James]

Suburban white kids pretending they're inner-city black kids. I find that hugely annoying. People adopting the dress and speech of someone else's culture - a culture of which they often have a limited understanding, if any - because they think it makes them cool. To me, a white, middle-class kid dressing up like a kid from Compton and affecting a phony accent because he likes hip hop is no less ridiculous than if he were to start wearing a cowboy hat and affecting a Texan accent because he's a country fan (although it does happen), or putting on a kilt and talking with a fake brogue because he has a fascination for Scotland. You can't just put on someone else's culture as a fashion accessory.

Indeed, if a kid grows up in the safety of fenced in suburbia I'm not sure what mania causes this to be honest.   I recall alot of these wannabes in my high school.  One in particular was a girl who before the ghetto transformation was the all American cheerleader type.  She dated some kid from the hood and after not seeing her for two years she had that accent.  It was odd to say the least.

I feel the same way about certain metalheads that go over and beyond dressing the part.  I've already made mention of that too much already though.

What causes it? The same thing that caused kids in suburbia to embrace punk rock as if they were tough inner-city punks. It's called youth. Some of them will grow out of it and some won't.

[Trevor]

Ricers. Why the hell do you need to pimp out your car to make it look absolutely audacious?

I had to Google that.  I'm so non-familiar with cars its painful.

Anyway, I found this:

Never mind the bleachers BTM: why does that person have a tree growing out of the car's roof? 

[AndyC]

Suburban white kids pretending they're inner-city black kids. I find that hugely annoying. People adopting the dress and speech of someone else's culture - a culture of which they often have a limited understanding, if any - because they think it makes them cool. To me, a white, middle-class kid dressing up like a kid from Compton and affecting a phony accent because he likes hip hop is no less ridiculous than if he were to start wearing a cowboy hat and affecting a Texan accent because he's a country fan (although it does happen), or putting on a kilt and talking with a fake brogue because he has a fascination for Scotland. You can't just put on someone else's culture as a fashion accessory.

Indeed, if a kid grows up in the safety of fenced in suburbia I'm not sure what mania causes this to be honest.   I recall alot of these wannabes in my high school.  One in particular was a girl who before the ghetto transformation was the all American cheerleader type.  She dated some kid from the hood and after not seeing her for two years she had that accent.  It was odd to say the least.

I feel the same way about certain metalheads that go over and beyond dressing the part.  I've already made mention of that too much already though.

What causes it? The same thing that caused kids in suburbia to embrace punk rock as if they were tough inner-city punks. It's called youth. Some of them will grow out of it and some won't.

Yep, that time-honoured practice of asserting your individuality by imitating someone else.

[Umaril The Unfeathered]

I still hate it when people wear their pants halfway down their butts.  Hey, moron, that does NOT look cool!

Baggy clothes, sideways trucker hats pulled down tight, goofy looking tuques in all weather. Over the past two decades, there always seems to be a percentage of youth who think it's cool to dress like a Peanuts character.

Not to sound ethnocentric or racist here, but the baggy clothes and sideways hat you mention reminds me of the all the white kids in my neighborhood who always try to act like they're gangster..

You see em' all the time, white kids dressed in their baseball jerseys, baggy-assed pants, sideways hats and with a ton of gold or stainless steel jewelery, some of them walking their pit bulls.

They start a conversation with "yo, homes, 'sup dog"?  and then start speaking in an alien language consisting of the usual phrases and hand gestures and symbols that you need Eminem to translate for you (being he's the king of white wannabee's.)

Not trying to make anyone angry here,  but people, get real..society is already filled with people trying to be something that they're not.  We already have one Eminem....

Suburban white kids pretending they're inner-city black kids. I find that hugely annoying. People adopting the dress and speech of someone else's culture - a culture of which they often have a limited understanding, if any - because they think it makes them cool. To me, a white, middle-class kid dressing up like a kid from Compton and affecting a phony accent because he likes hip hop is no less ridiculous than if he were to start wearing a cowboy hat and affecting a Texan accent because he's a country fan (although it does happen), or putting on a kilt and talking with a fake brogue because he has a fascination for Scotland. You can't just put on someone else's culture as a fashion accessory.

These people would say "Aw, your just a cracker!" in rebutal. To which I say... What the f**k does that mean? If "Cracker" means, somebody who upholds the proper morals of society and isn't trying to be a "hardcore*", police hating, gun toting, woman raping, gas station robbing, little cretin that can't spell worth his life because he dropped out of school? Then yes, I'm a cracker and proud of it. 

Right on, friend. Well said 

Actually, "cracker" is also a derogatory term for Southerners, as well as those who promote their conservative beliefs.  But over the years, the term has been basically used to attack whites in general. 

During the one mission in Hitman: Blood Money a black gang-banger comes up to 47 and asks him, "what do YOU want, cracker"?  Not the best source of reference, but it has it's place in today's vocabulary in the capacity mentioned.

[Mr. DS]

Speaking of racial divides, I can't stand people who use the term "racist" at the drop of a hat.  Either that or somehow form a conspiracy theory that something didn't happen for them due to their ethnicity when often that isn't the case.  Example:  "I didn't get into that school because I'm (insert)..."  or "I didn't get the job because I'm (insert)..."

Granted if this were the actual case its something I can't stand for.  However, I think certain people go overboard making accusations like that.  One example I can think of is at my last job this woman raised holy hell at her daughter's school because she didn't get selected for some team or committee.  She said it was because she was "Asian".  The odd point to this whole dilemma was that her daughter was adopted and the woman was white...

Another thing, people who can't laugh at their ethnicity's stereotypes.  Its one thing to be racist but it's another thing to simply poke fun at stereotypes. Are people that proud that they can't laugh at their own stereotypes?  I'm Polish, I understand that there is a stereotype that Poles are stupid and I find it hilarious.  I have known quite a few Pollocks in my day who fit the description.  Hell I even use the term "Pollock" to describe myself at times.  Why can't everyone embrace it like I have?  Just because they're calling my ethnic background "stupid" doesn't mean it relates to me.  I also embrace the fact I'm your average nerdy white guy fitting many of the stereotypes.

I tell you, PC will kill humor in our society.  

[Flick James]

Speaking of racial divides, I can't stand people who use the term "racist" at the drop of a hat.  Either that or somehow form a conspiracy theory that something didn't happen for them due to their ethnicity when often that isn't the case.  Example:  "I didn't get into that school because I'm (insert)..."  or "I didn't get the job because I'm (insert)..."

Granted if this were the actual case its something I can't stand for.  However, I think certain people go overboard making accusations like that.  One example I can think of is at my last job this woman raised holy hell at her daughter's school because she didn't get selected for some team or committee.  She said it was because she was "Asian".  The odd point to this whole dilemma was that her daughter was adopted and the woman was white...

Another thing, people who can't laugh at their ethnicity's stereotypes.  Its one thing to be racist but it's another thing to simply poke fun at stereotypes. Are people that proud that they can't laugh at their own stereotypes?  I'm Polish, I understand that there is a stereotype that Poles are stupid and I find it hilarious.  I have known quite a few Pollocks in my day who fit the description.  Hell I even use the term "Pollock" to describe myself at times.  Why can't everyone embrace it like I have?  Just because they're calling my ethnic background "stupid" doesn't mean it relates to me.  I also embrace the fact I'm your average nerdy white guy fitting many of the stereotypes.

I tell you, PC will kill humor in our society.  

The racist card gets thrown down all too often. It's like the Godwin's Law, bringing up Hitler or the Nazi's in a debate as the ultimate trump card. The fact is that virtually EVERYBODY has prejudices. In many cases, they are based on real things. I can't fault too much a black person for not trusting white people if they've been screwed over by them, or if one of their grandparents were lynched, just like I can't fault a white man for crossing to the other side of the street if they see a black man who looks a little hood-ish. There are cultural and ethnic tendencies that are real. Reacting to them in ways that are personal, but yet don't affect the person in terms of being treated equally under the law, is no justification for necessarily calling one a racist. That's like saying "you can't have any feelings." As long as equaly treatment under the law is in place, then it's really nobody's business what someone thinks.

That having been said, I do respect a great deal people who are able to remove as much as possible preconceived notions about racial and cultural tendencies and give everybody a fair shake. It's not an easy thing to do, removing prejudice from one's life. People who are able to do it deserve to be respected for it, because ultimately it IS a bit unfair to assume that a certain ethnic subset are incapable of a certain thing or predisposed to a certain behavior. Although a certain amount of it can be forgiven in my opinion, it still is at least somewhat racist.

[AndyC]

What I hate about casual accusations of racism is that the alleged offender is frequently someone who acknowledges that people are not all the same. I don't mean unequal, just different. People of different cultures and different places often have different ways. Their customs and values, for one reason or another, are not exactly the same. Sometimes the differences can be funny, sometimes frustrating, and sometimes just worth noting, and many stereotypes are rooted in real cultural quirks, but to acknowledge that is to be a racist in some people's minds. But I find that a lot of political correctness is based on outdated ideas of treating everyone the same, to the point that their differences become an elephant in the room. To me, that in itself reflects a patronizing attitude - as if acknowledging that someone else is different is somehow a judgement on them, that you might hurt their feelings if you notice that they aren't just like you in every way. I think you can treat everybody with the same courtesy and respect without necessarily treating everybody as if they are the same.

And as far as laughing at the quirks of your own ethnicity, I think that's a great thing. My family background is mostly Scottish. Scots have a reputation for being tight with money, and are frequently portrayed in North America as loud, angry people who live on whisky, oatmeal and sheep guts, when they aren't fighting or playing bagpipes. Groundskeeper Willy, Mr. Scott, Mike Myers characters, and any number of spokesmen in television commercials all fit that image to some degree. I don't find it offensive, and in most cases, I find it hilarious.

And portrayals of stereotypical Canadians generally make me laugh too. There is usually some truth to them, which is what makes them funny. I've known people like Bob and Doug McKenzie. Heck, I used to work with a guy who was the spitting image of Zap Rowsdower. I get a kick out of South Park making Canadians physically different. To be honest, the most potentially offensive thing you can say about Canadians is that we're NOT different from Americans.

I find that most of the best ethnic humour comes from within the group being mocked, because there is a self-awareness and a truth to it, not to mention some immunity to accusations of bigotry.

One of the most ingenious pieces of TV comedy I know was the Bigot Family, from John Byner's show, Bizarre, back in the 80s. Every character was an ethnic stereotype played by someone of that ethnicity, everybody was targeted equally, everybody gave as good as they got, and they were a family who got along. It was brilliant. Probably the only way you could get away with sitting around telling ethnic jokes on TV.

Too bad the only clip I could find of the Bigots didn't have a complete sketch. This is just Byner's intro, and stops before they all get going.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YT1WV5_TCNE&feature=related

[AndyC]

The fact is that virtually EVERYBODY has prejudices. In many cases, they are based on real things. I can't fault too much a black person for not trusting white people if they've been screwed over by them, or if one of their grandparents were lynched, just like I can't fault a white man for crossing to the other side of the street if they see a black man who looks a little hood-ish. There are cultural and ethnic tendencies that are real. Reacting to them in ways that are personal, but yet don't affect the person in terms of being treated equally under the law, is no justification for necessarily calling one a racist. That's like saying "you can't have any feelings."

Absolutely. I grew up in a small, primarily rural area, where the population was virtually all white, European and Christian. In my high school, which had over a thousand students and took in a pretty wide area, I recall seeing fewer than ten kids who weren't Caucasian. My mom had one black friend, and always seemed unusually proud of the fact. My exposure to other races and cultures came mostly through television. The one exception was the areas largest visible ethnic group, Mennonites, and they're of white, European stock.

Coming from that background, I can like and respect and admire people of other races, and I would never discriminate on that basis, but I'm always conscious of the difference. There is always some sense of "otherness" when I interact with somebody of another race, and that's a perfectly natural, perhaps even instinctive thing.

Mind you, I still live in a community that is not all that diverse. Less so, because we don't have the Mennonite population here. I would imagine that awareness of race would lessen through greater contact. I can recall Tommy Chong telling a story from his youth, about hanging out with the black kids and eventually dating black girls. He mentioned that it was initially a big deal for him, and that he always wanted to touch his girlfriend's hair, and felt like her colour might rub off on his hands. Over time, he stopped noticing entirely, and they were just two people.

[Flick James]

Hehe.

I went through boot camp with a guy that was from some small town in North Dakota. Before coming to boot camp, he had never seen a black person in person in his life. His only exposure was what he saw on tv and movies, and whatever was said by people in his provincial all-white small town. Talk about a guy who was hopelessly plagued by stereotypes. He was almost freaked out by being around them. Now, he was a sweetheart of a guy, and over the course of boot camp he started feeling more comfortable, but it didn't help at first that there was a guy that really was from South Central who exhibited all the stereotypical behaviors one would associate with that based on watching Boyz in the Hood or Menace to Society. It was at times comical to watch his adjustment to the situation, and at times sad because was just so out of touch and it led to a few uncomfortable moments. Still he was a really good guy at heart and as I got to know him over the next year or so he proved really to be not racist at all.

[Jim H]

Coming from that background, I can like and respect and admire people of other races, and I would never discriminate on that basis, but I'm always conscious of the difference. There is always some sense of "otherness" when I interact with somebody of another race, and that's a perfectly natural, perhaps even instinctive thing.

Yeah.  I grew up in the suburbs outside Detroit, which was and is one of the most segregated places in America.  What's funny is it's mostly a black/white segregation - there were a number of Asian people (both Japanese and Chinese, often workers and their descendants in the auto industry), hispanics, and a TON of people of Middle Eastern descent (southeast Michigan is the biggest Arab population center in the USA).  So, I really didn't have much interactions with black people (except when we went in the city, in which case I got stared at a lot for being an Aryan looking blonde kid) until high school.  And yeah, I perceived black people in my high school as separate somehow.  And I was aware, even then, that this wasn't a natural thing, but a built in thing from where and how I grew up. 

It's funny too, I can remember seeing Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story, around the age of 12 and that being the first time I became fully aware ANYONE was racist against asian people.  I was always aware of black-white racism, of course - that's unavoidable.  But yeah, I never thought of asians as particularly different than whites.  Yeah, they might speak another language and the parents of the kids I knew spoke pretty bad English, but it just didn't occur to me that they were any different as people otherwise. 

After going through high school though, and especially after living in St. Louis (which has segregation issues, but the newer communities are quite diverse and people travel between geographical regions A LOT here) for so long, my feelings on the separateness are basically gone.  Which I'm glad about. 

[Mr. DS]

People who reek of body odor.  In the age of 99 cent deodorants do we really need to deal with this? 

Side note, I saw a show the other day about a woman who actually had to get medical treatment for her BO.  However it was a rare condition so I'm sure the people that I come across who stink are just lazy.