I recently rediscovered 'Stuff White People Like', which is a website where people (or one person?) take(s) a satirical look at, well... stuff white people like. Some of the things I don't really get because the site is mainly about Americans, but most things are funny because they're very true. There's lots of stuff on there that I could comment on, so there may well be a Part II in the future.
#99 Grammar
"When asking someone about their biggest annoyances in life, you might expect responses like “hunger,” “being poor,” or “getting shot.” If you ask a white person, the most common response will likely be “people who use ‘their’ when they mean ‘there.’ Maybe comma splices, I’m not sure but it’s definitely one of the two.”"
Oh yes :D My biggest annoyances are poor grammar and spelling. If you can’t spell you’re and they’re and think that “should of” is proper English, then you'll have a hard time earning my respect.
That said, I wonder about the person who’d reply ‘hunger’ or ‘getting shot’ when asked about their biggest annoyances. “Yeah, some thug just shot me in the chest and punctured a lung, it’s rather annoying... sigh”.
#90 Dinner Parties
Gah. My parents have so many dinner parties and brunches and breakfasts and “why don’t you drop by for a cup of coffee today, and bring whoever’s visiting you along”s every year that I can’t be bothered to count them. Usually they’re only minor nuisances because I can pretend not to be home. It only becomes difficult when I’m hungry and I know they’re feasting on a three-course meal and ice cream downstairs – that’s when I have to decide whether satisfying my hunger is worth all the obligatory ‘How are you? What are you doing? How do you like it? What do you want to do when you graduate?’ questions.
#89 Saint Patrick’s Day
Half the world celebrates Ireland’s national holiday – I don’t think any other country in the world can compete with that. It’s a nice opportunity to go on a bit of a binge and seeing as it’s two days before my birthday, I usually get treated to free drinks on top of that, so celebrating St Patrick’s Day as such is fine by me. But unfortunately it’s also a great opportunity for all those pseudo-Irish to celebrate their non-existent Irish heritage, which is a particular pet peeve of mine – everyone claims to be Irish these days on the grounds of some greatgrandfather who emigrated from Cork to Boston in 1896. No, sorry... you’re NOT. Someone way down the line in my family tree was born in Hungary – have you heard me claiming I’m Hungarian yet?
#59 Natural Medicine
I’ve grown up with root extracts and hot onions and potatoes and beet juice and the whole range of leaves and vegetables, and even now we have a wide array of herbal remedies at home that I can all administer correctly and discuss the pros and cons of sugar beet vs hot water and lemon juice for sore throats. Everyone’s really into that stuff, and it does work, but to my eternal shame I admit that if I do feel ill and no one’s around to crush chicory roots for me, I’m much more likely to just grab something from the pharmacy.
#55 Apologies
I wrote a blog entry on this but didn’t feel like it was finished, and now it may never see the light of day if I address this topic here. People here apologise all day long, me included. I don’t think they even mean it (I know I don’t always), it’s just the polite thing to do, and doesn’t depend at all on who is actually at fault. If someone knocks your drink out of your hand you’ll apologise all the same, simply because you were standing there. Those apologies aren’t very heartfelt, half the time they’re unnecessary if you really think about it, but it’s still kinda nice.
#31 Snowboarding
All my friends love snowboarding, and so do their parents and siblings and everyone else too. It IS fun, even though not a single person in my (UK/Ireland) family is into it and I’m cross with it ever since I sustained an injury which made me pretty much give up football, but the thing is, we’re in the UK. We have hills and lakes and meadows and it’s no surprise people like golf here, but snowboarding/skiing? I don’t know where that obsession comes from because it inevitably involves going abroad and lugging your heavy equipment all the way to Switzerland.
3 comments:
good post :D
Grammar doesn't bother me to the point of annoyance. Except for 'of' instead of 'have' because that's a lapse in logic and non-logical people annoy me.
Dinner parties, not so common in my antisocial family. I always go and say 'hi' because I am a well brought up Indian child. Also it means yummy foods.
St. Patrick's Day - yeah, they're not Irish, the fakers.
Natural Medicine - Ayurveda, Dadima ke Nuskhe, 'nuf said
I don't apologise unless I mean it. Not that I won't, I just can't bring myself to. It's a LIE!
Snowboarding... what is this 'snow'?
Ooh I love that site. Although have you noticed he seems to have run out of things to say? These days the only times Google Reader tells me there's an update is when he's either been featured in some article or when he makes some appearance somewhere. Bah.
Right. Your post.
Grammar: I'm a snob about it. What, you didn't know? Never heard "should of" though. Trying to figure our how it could be used exactly.
Dinner parties: Fairly infrequent at our place. I'm supposed to help with the serving etc., so getting out becomes tough. The brother, on the other hand, has been known to say he'll be back in a minute and go to his room and go off to sleep. Till I come and drag him out of course. Why should I suffer alone?
Saint Patrick's Day: Umm... never experienced it. Sounds like fun though. :)
But you know, it'll soon be that way with Indians in the US too, if it isn't already.
Natural stuff: The family's big on it; I've never been into it that much. I don't have much faith in it, and it doesn't work much for me either. I suspect there's some cause and effect thing going on there, kinda like the placebo effect, but who knows?
Apologies: Umm... nope, not here. Here people won't apologize even if they are in the wrong!
Snowboarding: Never experienced it. Would love to, except that I suspect I'd probably chicken out if the chance ever does come my way.
This "comment" is *way* too long.
I am big into being annoyed by grammar. And I enjoy wearing my peacoat (#111)in winter time, so I guess that makes me a really white person, like milk white instead of ecru.
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