As threads go, this one's been quite a ride. My thanks to all
Be kind. Be wise is all I really want to say. Beyond that, this
may be worth sharing. I hope so.
When a child comes into this world someone will usually say, "It's a boy." Or "it's a girl." - very important information, for any number of reasons. Beyond that, it's a
child. These little bundles of joy are our
children. Don't lose sight of that. We complicate things further at our own peril. The rest, the naming of things, is just convention.
Conventions, customs, aspects of one's culture, can and
do sometimes give the game away and can be a bit embarrassing, as the years march on. Sometimes, they set us apart and bring great joy to all who witness and abide. No complications. When customs
aren't so good, we get
lucky. People will let us know, people with good intentions, good people who sometimes suffer under the thumb of good intentions.
Here, "Howzit goin' you old
bastard," is a friendly greeting, unless you happen to be illegitimate. You may then not be so interested in reciprocating. But, then again, you will most likely recognize the intention and feel the love. There's often good humor in these exchanges which always has the opposite effect to what the uninitiated might imagine.
I doubt that any of these modes of communicating have any real power to undermine someone's status. But when they do, it's time to take notice, move on
