Cultural/Stereotypical contradictions....got any?

[will33]

Earlier this evening, some guy pulled up next to me in a mid-late '80's corvette jamming to Def Leppard's "Photograph" quite loudly. When he got out of the car, he had a normal, short-hair, business haircut, was wearing typical beige cargo-pocket shorts, a simple t-shirt, and either flipflops or some sort of "normal" shoes.

No mullet, no spandex......very "plain"....probably worked in a cubicle somewhere at some tech-related company and looked the part.

When I was in Army AIT....one of our friends was a black guy from west texas who wore big belt buckles and tight jeans, listened to country music, and chewed tobacco/dipped snuff.

Another guitar player I knew looked like a typical '80's hair rocker at gigs, but in his dayjob was a very business oriented investor who probably never associated with drugs or loose women his whole life.


I like breaking stereotypes/societal expectations. What are some people you've met or things you've seen that defy cultural or stereotypical expectations?

 

[slobake]

I once saw a bass player with a girlfriend.

 

[will33]

FWIW, my girlfriend likes a bass player, but she doesn't know any better. If I ever catch that guy around here, I'm gonna kick his ass.

 

[Bocete]

A very alternative, communal, culture defying sort of person, anti-establishment and anti-corporate, simultaneously being the biggest Apple fangirl I've met.

 

[will33]

A very alternative, communal, culture defying sort of person, anti-establishment and anti-corporate, simultaneously being the biggest Apple fangirl I've met.

I find it odd that some of these "neo-hippies", as I call them nowdays, seem to at the same time be "anti-culture/anti-electronic" while at the same time being completely dependent on it.

They want to "save the planet", while at the same time could not know how to relate without chunks of plastic, toxic batteries, electric useage (usually generated by natural gas or coal), and plenty of other "hip" things that Grizzly Adams would never need to function and would see as unnecessary frivolities.

 

[Bocete]

Here's another one to keep it balanced. Craig T. Nelson famously said

"I've been on food stamps and welfare. Anybody helped me out? No."

 

[will33]

Here's another one to keep it balanced. Craig T. Nelson famously said

"I've been on food stamps and welfare. Anybody helped me out? No."

There's a lot of wisdom in that statement. Dependency (on anybody else, including gov't), leads to a lesser sense of self-worth/self-respect. Lesser sense of self-worth, etc., leads to more dependency....and it's a downward spiral. Sometimes just giving people "stuff" isn't helping....it's hurting. Giving them "stuff" is demeaning. Giving them knowledge and opportunity to get and maintain their own "stuff" is uplifting.

It's kind of like the adage, "Give a man a fish, you feed him for a day. Teach him how to fish, you feed him for a lifetime".

Sounds simple, but it's true and applies to many things.

 

[Bocete]

I see what you're saying and respect that sentiment but, in context, that's not what the author was saying. He was specifically talking in a very direct, blunt, self-contradictory sense.

 

[will33]

I see what you're saying and respect that sentiment but, in context, that's not what the author was saying. He was specifically talking in a very direct, blunt, self-contradictory sense.

I have no knowledge of the original author...I'm just babbling...

 

[JennySuzuki]

I'm Hafu: half-Japanese, half-European-American. Though I was born in Japan, by the time I was six months old, we were living in Southern Arizona, where I grew up. As an adult, I joined the US Navy, where I was a Hospital Corpsman stationed aboard an aircraft carrier. One of the guys I worked with was Korean-American... actually born in the US, though of Korean descent.

Our ship pulled into Hong Kong for liberty, and one of the officers looked at Kim and I and said, "So where's the hot spots here?"

Kim looked at me, and I looked at Kim, and we shrugged. "Dude," Kim said, "I'm from Kentucky."

 

[Milk]

A lot of people used to assume i play metal because i used to dress in black a lot and while i never had metal length hair, i did wear them in my face and all. Anyone who might have clicked on the link in my sig knows i play the faggiest music (and that's not even the best example)

Nobody who doesn't know me well will believe i never smoked pot. The friend of an ex gf actually thought i was a heavy drug user....(but somehow kept it secret?)


About the Craig T Nelson quote...hmm....the food stamps and welfare IS what helped you isn't it? Anyway the general right wing mentality seems to be that even food stamps and welfare is too much....i mean for god sake these people aren't poor they have fridges and a tv! (i mean thats what they say...)

 

[Milk]

There's a lot of wisdom in that statement. Dependency (on anybody else, including gov't), leads to a lesser sense of self-worth/self-respect. Lesser sense of self-worth, etc., leads to more dependency....and it's a downward spiral. Sometimes just giving people "stuff" isn't helping....it's hurting. Giving them "stuff" is demeaning. Giving them knowledge and opportunity to get and maintain their own "stuff" is uplifting.

It's kind of like the adage, "Give a man a fish, you feed him for a day. Teach him how to fish, you feed him for a lifetime".

Sounds simple, but it's true and applies to many things.

Ok so...how does someone get knowledge and opportunity if they don't have the money to feed themselves or a roof over their head?

I think instead of food stamps they should show people how to steal their own food. Make them work for it you know.

 

[will33]

I'm Hafu: half-Japanese, half-European-American. Though I was born in Japan, by the time I was six months old, we were living in Southern Arizona, where I grew up. As an adult, I joined the US Navy, where I was a Hospital Corpsman stationed aboard an aircraft carrier. One of the guys I worked with was Korean-American... actually born in the US, though of Korean descent.

Our ship pulled into Hong Kong for liberty, and one of the officers looked at Kim and I and said, "So where's the hot spots here?"

Kim looked at me, and I looked at Kim, and we shrugged. "Dude," Kim said, "I'm from Kentucky."

That's @*$&#?/ funny, girl. Stupid and funny, all at the same time.


Reminds me of my drummer here. He has a Hispanic surname, looks Mexican, etc. He's as coconut as they come (brown on the outside, white on the inside). People here start speaking Spanish to him as if he's supposed to know. The guy's all-american, doesn't know a lick of spanish. I'm a blonde-haired, green-eyed white guy and even I know more Spanish than him.....which consists of "trabajo, aqui, aqui", and "enchiladas pollo y salsa verde por favor".

 

[will33]

Ok so...how does someone get knowledge and opportunity if they don't have the money to feed themselves or a roof over their head?

I think instead of food stamps they should show people how to steal their own food. Make them work for it you know.

Relax, I'm not Rush Limbath.

Of course if people can't meet the basics, they really don't have time/resources to put towards improving themselves. I'm also down there towards the bottom of the economic ladder and my foot keeps slipping, so it's not like I'm some corporate baron.

Ya, if people can't meet the basics, we should absolutely help them get on stable footing. Beyond that, helping them to be truly self-sufficient is truly helping. Making them dependent on "assistance" is demeaning and doesn't help a damn thing, other than to further entrench the position of the ruling class.

 

[will33]

Anyway...this thing isn't supposed to get off in some political deal (which, in all admissionness, I did perpetuate), it's supposed to be for cultural and stereotypical things that don't always add up culturally or stereotypically. JenniSuzuki and Slobake are good examples of this....the rest of us are not.

So....if you get your little sensitive butt hurt over mild life-experiences, do yourself a favor and ignore. If you can actually be human and celebrate some of the weird differences between us humans......welcome.

Olay.....

 

[will33]

I'm Hafu: half-Japanese, half-European-American. Though I was born in Japan, by the time I was six months old, we were living in Southern Arizona, where I grew up. As an adult, I joined the US Navy, where I was a Hospital Corpsman stationed aboard an aircraft carrier. One of the guys I worked with was Korean-American... actually born in the US, though of Korean descent.

Our ship pulled into Hong Kong for liberty, and one of the officers looked at Kim and I and said, "So where's the hot spots here?"

Kim looked at me, and I looked at Kim, and we shrugged. "Dude," Kim said, "I'm from Kentucky."

Again I'm just laughing at this......as if you automatically know where the cool bars are in HongKong.

I'm of German descent. I was actually stationed in Wiesbaden, Germany. That was 20 years ago. Somebody asking me where the "hotspots" to hang out, then or now, would be a fool.

Thank you for your service, ma'am.

-Will
1st MI Battalion, 205th MI Brigade.
Wiesbaden, Germany
1992-1995

 

[fhm555]

There's a lot of wisdom in that statement. Dependency (on anybody else, including gov't), leads to a lesser sense of self-worth/self-respect. Lesser sense of self-worth, etc., leads to more dependency....and it's a downward spiral. Sometimes just giving people "stuff" isn't helping....it's hurting. Giving them "stuff" is demeaning. Giving them knowledge and opportunity to get and maintain their own "stuff" is uplifting.

It's kind of like the adage, "Give a man a fish, you feed him for a day. Teach him how to fish, you feed him for a lifetime".

Sounds simple, but it's true and applies to many things.

But the hard truth that proves this to be true is raising an individual up rather than just making them dependent on handouts only works if the individual desires the knowledge you wish to impart.

I was involved in CNC machining at a very early stage of it's development, back where there was no real talent pool from which to draw operators, so the model was for me to go from machine to machine in the shop, program the machine, then set it up, run a part and get it bought by QA, then turn the machine over to an operator who would load the material push the start button then measure the finished part and let me know when tolerance started to drift.

I always told my operators I would teach them how to do what I did if they were interested.

Only about half had any interest in learning more than how to load material, push the start button, measure the finished part, and call me if there was a problem.

I always thought it was my lack of ability to properly motivate them to higher aspirations that caused so many to not care, so I was always looking for ways to do better job of engaging them.

After 16 years of this I finally realized that a whole lot of people are perfectly content to just take the handout and had no interest whatever in making any effort to better themselves.

It's a real feel good sentiment to think all we need do is teach and the world will be a better place.

The sad truth, at least in my limited experience is as long as people don't need to better themselves, a whole lot of them could care less.

In short, not everyone is motivated by pride or self respect to be self supporting.

 

[96tbird]

Greenpeace volunteer with leather shoes.

Badum tsh.

 

[machine gewehr]

Few years ago Billy Sheehan was giving a concert with a side project of his.

There was this man, mid 40s, who looked like your average bus driver and was completely out of context of the place. Every one that looked at him was looking again, probably with the same question in mind: "is he lost or something?".

When Mr. Sheehan's solo ended, I heard him say to his friend: "wow, that was amazing he's a really terrific bass player!".

If I saw that man in the street, I'd easily bet $100 that he has no idea what a bass guitar is.

 

[machine gewehr]

Greenpeace volunteer with leather shoes.

Badum tsh.

Next time a GreenPeace volunteer walks up to me, I'm going to say: "I want a nuclear war to end the life on the planet as we know it, where as you are opposing to any kind of nuclear power. You'll have no support from me." just to see that expression on their face.