BREAKING NEWS

“Gem - check the weather and see if you're down wind. ;)”

“If they are anything like some of my small town South Carolina relatives I understand completely why they wouldn't evacuate.

And it is a particularly ugly reason.”

“Because if they do, someone will come while they are gone and clean out their house?”

“Find there Meth Labs?

In other breaking news: I have become one with my ambidexterwinkiness and cannot seem to stop displaying my new found power.”

“You Neocon!”

“I have friends that have friends in that area.”

“Neocon my ass.

Racism.”

“A cloth soaked in urine and placed over your mouth can save your ass from chlorine gas. But don't think you can hang out in the affected area.

Use sodium bicarbonate if you have some.



Edit: Neocon? Racist???? WTF?
last edited: 1/07/05 8:48:39 AM”

“They're probably fine Gem. The emergency response has been impressive indeed. I have some friends in the area also, I'm waiting to find out their status as well. They released the names of the deceased this morning so I know they weren't killed. I'm hoping they weren't among the injured, either. Especially their kids.


On the local news last night they were interviewing people who had been decontamined to get descriptions of the experience. One guy compared the taste of the chlorine gas to licking the end of a battery. I'm still LOL'ing over that one.”

“Try to follow along now, BM.

Skullcap couldn't understand why folks would not go to the public shelter.

I have family very close to there and there is still a very strong racist element. They would NEVER go someplace that forced them to interact with "coloreds" (that is the nicest term they use that I could use here)

Being forced to go to a public shelter where they might be forced to live with black people for even a night is intolerable to them.

I'm not saying everyone there is racist. I'm saying there are is a very real and very strong element of it there.
last edited: 1/07/05 8:58:09 AM”

“A couple of years ago, a train derailed in a town near my father's home--a few miles away. Chlorine was leaking. They evacuated the town for a week. Scary stuff.”

“Doh. I've only lived in the North. We practice covert racism here.
last edited: 1/07/05 9:00:40 AM”

“I hadn't considered the shelter angle.

My wife has relatives who use the term "colored" when they are being polite, but they are mostly older people.”

“wow HPM, that shows you how sheltered or ignorant I am. I have never really expirienced anything like that.”

“Yeah, I didn't think of it from that angle either. That is ugly. And very, very sad.”

“Darwin will work his magic in cases like that. Someone who won't evacuate themselves and their kids because they are racist? End of that gene branch.”

“Gemini, you'd be treated the same way in certain areas. A. You're a foreigner and B. You have an interracial marriage.”

“Racism can be learned by anyone”

“Techntrek, it's not just the shelter issue. Many believe that as soon as they leave someone will break in and ransack their houses.”

“yeah, prolly, but so far I am lucky I guess. could be also that I really don't give a rats a$$ what they say or how they look at me.

and oh...I am american citizen, so HAAA!! I show them!!! LOL

anyway, I hope everyone down there will be okay. I know they had a curvew (don't know how to spell it)last night. ”

“Gem's a furriner? I thought she just had a funny accent!


;)”

“Yeah, not like those people from "Bahstin."”

“But isn't Gemini from one of the "Acceptable" countries?”

“Silly Bearmagnet! In some areas there is no such thing as an "acceptable" country. Including the US if it's someone from another area, especially up north.”

“Mapleleaf likes her knees in the air when she sleeps. Thank you.”

“Is "sleeps" some kind of euphamism?”

“Too true skully! As a matter of fact, it's been my experience that racism against minorities is declining in the South, but it's still perfectly acceptable to treat Yankees like crap!”

“Um, I don't know. That is the term she used.
last edited: 1/07/05 9:22:51 AM”

“hey it is better then looking like a rabbit.”

“That comment sounded nasty, I apologize. Shoulda tossd in a ;)

Let me give you some examples.

In the town my folks are from there is a private school that was created for the express purpose to keep their kids from having to go to school with black kids. The tuition and entrance requirements are designed to keep them out. The name of the joint? Jefferson Davis Academy of course.

I have family members who will only let black repairmen or handymen work on things outside the house. If it is in the house or a structural element of the house they require a white guy.

My grandfather got pulled over by the new black sheriff for speeding. Grandpa had a fit and tried to blow off the officer because "Once you give a n***er a badge they think they rule the world."

Yeah, it's still there.


Gem please don't take offense, there are some people in those small towns you would do best to avoid.

BM. There is no such thing as an acceptable foriegner to these folks.”

“How come all those pictures Tree sent me shows her with her knees.................facing the other way?
last edited: 1/07/05 9:22:32 AM”

“The verbatim quote is:

"remeber I like my knees up in the air LOL"


hpm - guess I'm ignorant of this type of xenophobia. Maybe I should watch Springer? ;)”

“HPM, no worry... :)



now maple back to you...what's that with your knees? Explain! Or Tree...maybe you would like to explain?”

“It is pretty rare, but pervasive in some areas. It's unsurprising that someone from an urban area has never encountered it. Most of the stories I have heard are usually about WWII vets who won't do business with Germans or Japanese, due to their experiences with adversaries from those countries.”

“Exactly. It's the exception rather than the rule.”

“yep. Problem is those attitudes tend to congregate and then reflect badly on a lot of very good people who have the misfortune to live near those throwbacks.

Springer is a parade of human wreckage.”

“LOL gemini, I am looking for a tnet so that when I lay on my back I can sleep with my knees up.
with my tent now, my knees touch the top of the tent making everything wet.”

“Touching the top of Tree with your knees makes everything wet?”

“u know...really not talking much about racism, but yes ONCE I had sort of an experience....

actually it had to do with my kids.
back in TN Bryan had a friend in the neigborhood. the kid always came over and played with him, they did become real good friends. Byran never really visited his house and his parents didn't care to find out who their child was playing with, etc... I thought that was strange back then, but I didn't care, the kid was playing in my yard or house, so I was okay with it.

anyway, one day the kids sister came over to pick him up and we overheard her say "mom told you not to play with those "n...ers". I guess she must've found out...
well, I was pissed and went over there to confront her, and of course she denied it. the kid stopped coming over and they moved shortly after.

pretty sad, but I see it this way...that boy maybe raised as a racist, but that kid will also always remember my son, who wasn't so bad after all.

I learned not to care about #&%!$ like that. my kids don't look at color, it's almost funny because if they try to give me a discription of someone they never say he's white or black. I have to remind them that sometimes it's okay to refer to a person by his/her skin color.”

“bearmagnet, you aren't far from a lot of the same type thought process hpm speaks of. come on down to richmond and i'll introduce you to some of my coworkers. you will be speachless at the ignorance a person is willing to openly display.”

“There is a lot of it around here in Hammond. I wa shocked at first when I moved here. It was "wetbacks this" "#&%!$s that" "Zipperheads.." blah blah blah..what the hell is a zipperhead? Most of this stuff I'd never even Heard before.”

“Zipperhead - Someone who has had brain surgery.”

“you will be speachless at the ignorance a person is willing to openly display

And worse yet, be proud of.”

“you've obviously met a few of my coworkers hpm.”

“I've always wanted to visit Richmond.”

“At some point they all become the same person.”

“that's kind of what i was getting at hpm.


bm, come on down. there's good beer here, in a number of different places. and the best pizza you ever tasted. do you ever go backpacking?”

“haha









i was just funnin with the backpackin stab. i'm ready to hit the hills.

HOI? marko? bm? y2?

jerbear? spam? om? gemini?

beuller? beuller? beuller?
last edited: 1/07/05 11:21:14 AM”

“yep”

“A bunch will be on the AT trip in MD next weekend (Blair Witch), baume_66...”