urge to kill... rising...

[rone]

Just got e-mail from the CEO:

In true Macromedia spirit, we want to make sure that we're taking some time out to have fun in the midst of driving 'business as unusual' and integration planning.

Please join us for drinks, appetizers and informal Q&A at 4pm at 601T in the Town Hall on...

• Thursday, July 7 is Mexican Fiesta (don't forget your Sombrero)
• Thursday, August 18 is Hawaiian Luau (don't forget your Luau gear)
• Thursday, September 15 is Irish Pub night (please forget your leprechaun outfit and just stick to green)

I'm sure all of my Mexican, Hawaiian, and Irish coworkers are just pleased as punch to be pigeonholed by some Canadian jarhead who just sold us out a couple of months ago.

Comments

[tritone.livejournal.com]

Tacky and kind of dumb I'll grant you, but I think it's a bit of an overreaction to see this as ethnically insensitive. Are Irish people offended by the fact that Americans wear green on St. Patrick's Day? Does it demean Mexicans when we find Incredibly Strange Wrestling funny? For that matter, we make fun of Canadians all the time, and laugh at jokes about the French surrendering.

My guess is that the general reaction of people in these groups is "Oh, look at you silly people latching onto something that was once associated with our culture but is now kind of outdated", not "I'm horribly offended because you think all of us wear sombreros/have luaus/wear green."

I'm not saying that all stereotypes are fine, but stereotypes about particular facets of a culture that happen to be outdated and kitschy don't seem particularly harmful to me among people whom I trust to be generally good people, especially since there's usually an unstated ironic acknowledgement that the stereotype is ridiculous.

Black and Jewish stereotypes are different, because they involve negative attributes attributed to all members of a group.

[hwrnmnbsol.livejournal.com]

Perhaps it's a regional thing, but I guarantee you that if you suggest to a local-area person of Mexican origin that wearing a sombrero on some kind of 'Mexican day' is a good idea, you're going to get punched in the nose. The offense seems to stem from an urge to dispose of a piece of cutural identity that suggests unsophisticated or backwater roots, i.e. hillbillies and banjos.

[tritone.livejournal.com]

I'll buy that the sombrero thing is the most marginal, and I think you're right that it's probably regional. I note that there are no Chevy's restaurants in Texas.

[ronebofh.livejournal.com]

GRRR CHEVY'S i swear i want to kill whenever i hear "El Machino".

[tritone.livejournal.com]

Yeah, that one does actually offend me, but mostly because it's just DUMB STUPID.

?

[skipernicus.livejournal.com]

I'm Irish (and an Irish National, no less, so don't spoonfeed me that "well so is everyone nonsense"), and I have to tell you, I've had it up to here with the second class treatment we STILL get - you know, that we're all drunks, and oafs and dumb as a box of rocks. But I don't complain about it because it shows me who the real fools are. And on St. Patricks Day, you know, the day when everyone is Irish, I'm embarassed that Throngs of Americans dye rivers green, serve green beer, and eat bright pink brisket (the real thing is grey), and generally spend alot of time pissing outdoors. Thanks for saluting my rich island heritage. So I celebrate Ugly American day, where generally, I scratch myself, use the word "fuckin'" as a comma, treat everyone like shit, and spread flatulence wherever I go.

No offense, of course. I mean honestly, what do you care?

Hey, it's Black History Month - don't forget your burnt cork!

Just because we don't bribng it up doesn't mean we don't care - it means we think your thick.

Re: ?

[tritone.livejournal.com]

> So I celebrate Ugly American day, where generally, I scratch myself, use the word "fuckin'" as a comma, treat everyone like shit, and spread flatulence wherever I go.

And if you actually put your money where your mouth is and did that, I would think that was funny in a dumb way, and actually a somewhat accurate depiction. So what's the problem?

You should note, by the way, that I'm a lazy, assimilating Filipino.

Re: ?

[skipernicus.livejournal.com]

So you take my point... Actually, i just stand around being self righteous most of the time - it rarely helps, and does nothing to satisfy my soul, but being smug is it's own reward.

Funny, I had a conversation with a co-worker the other day in which we concluded that it's human nature to segregate - you get three brothers and isolate them, and two will gang up on one.

Listen, lazy Filipino - as a lazy Irishman I've noticed that virtually everyone in the world has a better work ethic than Americans - so what do you think they are on about?

[ronebofh.livejournal.com]

I'm not looking at it like we should be offended, but i do think that our management needs to display a little more sensitivity. We can have ethnically themed events without having to go the extra mile ("sombrero", "leprechaun suit"). At least "luau gear" is more general than "grass skirt".

[waider.livejournal.com]

Are Irish people offended by the fact that Americans wear green on St. Patrick's Day?

Those of us living outside the US tend to be more perplexed at the fact that other countries go to far greater lengths than we do to celebrate our National Holiday. And my brother tends to be more ticked off at the steady parade of people approaching him to say, "I'm Irish too!" despite the fact that they couldn't, if challenged, point out Ireland on a map of the Western British Isles. Of course, he's American now.

They say

[skipernicus.livejournal.com]

Of course, he's American now.

Soon, everyone will be. Look out!