What made you mad today?

[adrian]

hahaha Hindi? i have friends from India.... i really don't like them (the friends) lol

[Pumpkin_Man]

It sounds to me like there could be a clashof cultures there. Perhaps, since your friend is Hindu, he's forbidden by his religion to take part in the celebration of Halloween, or maybe he just doesn 't like horror movies. I can't say that for sure, but you never know. On the other hand, you did not go to India. He came here to the United States, and one of the costs of American freedom is that you have to TOLERATE the freedom of others. If your friend from India plans to become a U.S. citizen, he's going to have to learn that and get with the proverbial program. If he does not plan to become a citizen and decides to go back to India, he STILL needs to remember the old saying "when in Rome, do as the Romans." Most Americans do celebrate Halloween, and it's within our constitutional rights to do so. If he doesn't like it, that's really too bad. We also eat beef and pork, and we also have developed a unique culture that the rest of the world may not like or understand, but it's our culture. We have a right to it.

Mike

[adrian]

thats very true mike.. i can't stand it when i see a MAJOR change (the removing of our constitution, not saying Merry Christmas, ect) bc of other cultures moving in and becoming angered by it... like it really gets under my skin.. like you said.. this is OUR country, OUR culture, and i don't think its fair that we should feel compelled to move our beliefs out of an office that was built around those beliefs

we dont' go to there countries demanding to remove certain lines form their pledges and phrases off their currency

[Pumpkin_Man]

Amen to that! Another thing that bugs me, is when I walk into a restrurant and the person at the counter does not understand English. I believe that one has the right to speak in their native language, but if you are going to work and live in the United States, you must be able to communicate effectively with your fellow citizens. That means, that one must learn to speak ENGLISH. If I moved to Germany to live, I would be required to learn to speak German. If I wanted to live in France, Italy, China, Mexico, or any other country, I would have to learn the language of which ever country I wanted to live in.

And I'll tell you another thing. "Merry Christmas," "Happy Easter," and Halloween are the TRADITIONS which I was BORN AND RAISED with for the better part of 50 YEARS! I REFUSE to give them up because some one finds them to be "offensive." This is the UNITED STATES of AMERICA! Get with the program! Freedom. That's the program.

Mike

[adrian]

freedom isn't free! no there's a hefty ******* fee! and if you don't pitch in your buck o five who will?.... lol anyone see team america! world police lol

[Spookymufu]

.....is that you have to TOLERATE.......others.
Mike

seems like thats all I do these days.......LOL!

[adrian]

yea... it seems no one actually genuinely gets along anymore

[Spookymufu]

Amen to that! Another thing that bugs me, is when I walk into a restrurant and the person at the counter does not understand English. I believe that one has the right to speak in their native language, but if you are going to work and live in the United States, you must be able to communicate effectively with your fellow citizens. That means, that one must learn to speak ENGLISH. If I moved to Germany to live, I would be required to learn to speak German. If I wanted to live in France, Italy, China, Mexico, or any other country, I would have to learn the language of which ever country I wanted to live in.

And I'll tell you another thing. "Merry Christmas," "Happy Easter," and Halloween are the TRADITIONS which I was BORN AND RAISED with for the better part of 50 YEARS! I REFUSE to give them up because some one finds them to be "offensive." This is the UNITED STATES of AMERICA! Get with the program! Freedom. That's the program.

Mike

this is one of the things that annoys me the most......living here in S. Texas we have a lot of mexicans, okay, no big deal, but........I go to the local McD's (not very often but I do go) and at the counter and behind the counter I hear spanish.....blah blah blah.......then the hispanic girl at the counter wants to have long conversations in spanish with all the hispanic customers that come up......I WANT MY FOOD ASAP!!! but no, I have to wait for her to help the other two hispanics in the kitchen in-between her social interactions with her fellow countrymen.

Whats even worse then that is when I pull up to a drive through and cant understand a thing the guy on the box says.......I dont understand why they cant put the one token white guy on the drive through.

I hope that doesnt sound raciest, I'm not really, but some things just bug me

[Pumpkin_Man]

Good point, Spooky. I tolerate a lot of things, too. I tolerate language barriers. I tolerate Wiccans. I tolerate the Jewish religion, the Moslum religion, all the Protestant denominations of Christianity. I also tolerate agnostics, athiests, Hindues, Buddahsts, Native American religions, Santerini, and a whole host of others.

It's time that THEY tolerated ME. I am a CATHOLIC Christian. I celebrabe CHRISTMAS, EASTER, HALLOWEEN and that is all part of my culture and who I am. I try to play fiair with everyone. I realize that English is not the easiest language to learn as a 2nd language. I realize that when you are thousands of miles from your home, it's hard to get use to the culture shock that one feels at times. BUT, if we are going to be truely respectful of everyone's culture, it must actualy include ALL cultures, not just the ones that are "officialy" deemed 'politicaly correct.' We must respect Christians, White males, Catholics, Jews, and straight people EVERY BIT AS MUCH as we must tolerate Gays, Muslems, Atheists and those who are struggling with the English language.

Respect is a 2 way street.

Mike

[Spookymufu]

I keep hearing people, mostly on the left, saying the illegal immigrants are just immigrants like all our ancestors and should have every right to come into and stay in this country, but what they dont say is that when my ancestors came to this country it was because they wanted to actually be Americans, they wanted to act like Americans, live like Americans, and soak up America.....not try to turn it into their country....

[adrian]

thats very true... now days.. with our justice system as screwed as it is.. they're allowed not only to come in here... most illegally... but to voice oppinions and throw out law suits on good people who are doing nothing but merely living in certain ways they're supposably entitled to.. its sick. its only going to get worse though until we close our doors.. Big Government isn't intersted in America anymore.. our country is slowly becoming the United States of Big Government.

[Spookymufu]

what was that slogan of Obamas.........ah I remember, the US isnt #1, it's merely 1 of 91, or something like that.

[adrian]

man....... and the thing is.... i can't even blame the obamas... just the ones who voted lol

[iHaunt]

Ok, my ex-girlfriend that was from India. Shes not really religious because she loves to eat burgers, porks, and almost everything, but she didn't want her family to find out what she was eating. They're against meats, but not always. And, they don't believe to drink milk because if they do drink milk and when they die, they think they will be the cows on their re-birth! Yes, that's true. That's what my ex-gf told me.

[Pumpkin_Man]

My ancestors were from Ireland and Scotland, so they already spoke English, but you are right. They came here to become Americans, which meant that they had to absorb a lot of the culture that was popular during the time. Take the meal, Corned Beef and Cabbage for instance. The traditional St. Patrick's Day dinner in Ireland was actualy some kind of pork that was flavored in a way that was exclusive to Ireland. The Irish Imigrants held very well to their traditions and culture, but they had to make adjustments. Corned Beef, was somethng that the Irish borrowed from the Jewish people. It became synonimous with Irish Americans and with St. Patrick's Day over the years, but it was not the original Irish St. patrick's Day tradition by any means.

The ones who really had some tough adjustments to make were the Poles, Germans, French, Italian, Greek, and all the other non English speaking people who came here and had to learn an entirely new language system in order to obtain the most menial employment. But they did it. They worked all day in the meat packing industry, in the textile industry. They bagged groceries, they loaded trucks and box cars, they did what ever they had to do to make a buck to support themselvs, and then they went to English classes at night and learned the language of their new Country. I think they are to be truely comended for their work ethic.

Mike