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In Memoriam
Apr. 26th, 2009 10:35 pmBea Arthur
1922-2009
She'll always be Maude to me.
Bea Arthur
1922-2009
She'll always be Maude to me.
The Binghampton Gunman: A Rant
Apr. 4th, 2009 10:30 amSo, I had my shower and I'm sitting here reading the news and my mind just boggled. I was following the story about the gunman in NY because one of the practices my previous employer billed for was based in Binghampton. And I just read this headline:
NY gunman angry over poor English skills, job loss
My first thought was of the numerous callers I get whose sole English consists of four words: "Need someone speak Spanish".* And then I actually read the article and now I'm outraged. According to the gunman's sister, he's been in the US for twenty-eight years.
Twenty-eight years. Gee, I know English is considered a difficult language, but it's not THAT damned difficult. I could see having some problems for the first few years, sure, but if it's that much of an issue after that length of time, then you're doing something wrong. Like maybe going home at night and speaking only your native language, living in a neighborhood surrounded by fellow immigrants and speaking only your native language there, and in general acting like America owes it to you to confirm to your cultural expectations.
In this case, the gunman was Vietnamese; it's the same principle: immersion, damn it. If you want the American Dream badly enough to come here in the first place, bear one thing in mind: it's the American Dream. A hundred years ago, immigrants came here and they wanted to be Americans. I'm thinking of my grandparents and my friends' grandparents, whose accents may have betrayed European origins, but who nevertheless spoke English at home, read English-language newspapers, and encouraged their children to be Origin-hyphenated-Americans, not just Origins who happen to be living here and working the American system for what it could give them.
That clinging to one's Origins with such fervent tenacity leads to things like this asshole shooting a bunch of people because he's dissatisfied with how life has mistreated him. Twenty-eight years and he doesn't have his piece of the American Dream---because he doesn't want to get go of his Origin enough to embrace it. It's like that fable by Aesop: the dog has a bone; he looks into a well and sees the reflection of a dog with a bone. He tries to snatch the other dog's bone and loses his own.
This isn't the American Dream, it's the American Nightmare.
=======================
* Have I ever claimed I was free of politically incorrect attitudes? I hear this on a daily basis---it's never, "I need someone who speaks Croatian." Or Korean. Or Swahili. Or French. It's always bloody Spanish. And at least half the time, we manage to muddle through in English. Imagine that.
NY gunman angry over poor English skills, job loss
My first thought was of the numerous callers I get whose sole English consists of four words: "Need someone speak Spanish".* And then I actually read the article and now I'm outraged. According to the gunman's sister, he's been in the US for twenty-eight years.
Twenty-eight years. Gee, I know English is considered a difficult language, but it's not THAT damned difficult. I could see having some problems for the first few years, sure, but if it's that much of an issue after that length of time, then you're doing something wrong. Like maybe going home at night and speaking only your native language, living in a neighborhood surrounded by fellow immigrants and speaking only your native language there, and in general acting like America owes it to you to confirm to your cultural expectations.
In this case, the gunman was Vietnamese; it's the same principle: immersion, damn it. If you want the American Dream badly enough to come here in the first place, bear one thing in mind: it's the American Dream. A hundred years ago, immigrants came here and they wanted to be Americans. I'm thinking of my grandparents and my friends' grandparents, whose accents may have betrayed European origins, but who nevertheless spoke English at home, read English-language newspapers, and encouraged their children to be Origin-hyphenated-Americans, not just Origins who happen to be living here and working the American system for what it could give them.
That clinging to one's Origins with such fervent tenacity leads to things like this asshole shooting a bunch of people because he's dissatisfied with how life has mistreated him. Twenty-eight years and he doesn't have his piece of the American Dream---because he doesn't want to get go of his Origin enough to embrace it. It's like that fable by Aesop: the dog has a bone; he looks into a well and sees the reflection of a dog with a bone. He tries to snatch the other dog's bone and loses his own.
This isn't the American Dream, it's the American Nightmare.
=======================
* Have I ever claimed I was free of politically incorrect attitudes? I hear this on a daily basis---it's never, "I need someone who speaks Croatian." Or Korean. Or Swahili. Or French. It's always bloody Spanish. And at least half the time, we manage to muddle through in English. Imagine that.
The Binghampton Gunman: A Rant
Apr. 4th, 2009 10:30 amSo, I had my shower and I'm sitting here reading the news and my mind just boggled. I was following the story about the gunman in NY because one of the practices my previous employer billed for was based in Binghampton. And I just read this headline:
NY gunman angry over poor English skills, job loss
My first thought was of the numerous callers I get whose sole English consists of four words: "Need someone speak Spanish".* And then I actually read the article and now I'm outraged. According to the gunman's sister, he's been in the US for twenty-eight years.
Twenty-eight years. Gee, I know English is considered a difficult language, but it's not THAT damned difficult. I could see having some problems for the first few years, sure, but if it's that much of an issue after that length of time, then you're doing something wrong. Like maybe going home at night and speaking only your native language, living in a neighborhood surrounded by fellow immigrants and speaking only your native language there, and in general acting like America owes it to you to confirm to your cultural expectations.
In this case, the gunman was Vietnamese; it's the same principle: immersion, damn it. If you want the American Dream badly enough to come here in the first place, bear one thing in mind: it's the American Dream. A hundred years ago, immigrants came here and they wanted to be Americans. I'm thinking of my grandparents and my friends' grandparents, whose accents may have betrayed European origins, but who nevertheless spoke English at home, read English-language newspapers, and encouraged their children to be Origin-hyphenated-Americans, not just Origins who happen to be living here and working the American system for what it could give them.
That clinging to one's Origins with such fervent tenacity leads to things like this asshole shooting a bunch of people because he's dissatisfied with how life has mistreated him. Twenty-eight years and he doesn't have his piece of the American Dream---because he doesn't want to get go of his Origin enough to embrace it. It's like that fable by Aesop: the dog has a bone; he looks into a well and sees the reflection of a dog with a bone. He tries to snatch the other dog's bone and loses his own.
This isn't the American Dream, it's the American Nightmare.
=======================
* Have I ever claimed I was free of politically incorrect attitudes? I hear this on a daily basis---it's never, "I need someone who speaks Croatian." Or Korean. Or Swahili. Or French. It's always bloody Spanish. And at least half the time, we manage to muddle through in English. Imagine that.
NY gunman angry over poor English skills, job loss
My first thought was of the numerous callers I get whose sole English consists of four words: "Need someone speak Spanish".* And then I actually read the article and now I'm outraged. According to the gunman's sister, he's been in the US for twenty-eight years.
Twenty-eight years. Gee, I know English is considered a difficult language, but it's not THAT damned difficult. I could see having some problems for the first few years, sure, but if it's that much of an issue after that length of time, then you're doing something wrong. Like maybe going home at night and speaking only your native language, living in a neighborhood surrounded by fellow immigrants and speaking only your native language there, and in general acting like America owes it to you to confirm to your cultural expectations.
In this case, the gunman was Vietnamese; it's the same principle: immersion, damn it. If you want the American Dream badly enough to come here in the first place, bear one thing in mind: it's the American Dream. A hundred years ago, immigrants came here and they wanted to be Americans. I'm thinking of my grandparents and my friends' grandparents, whose accents may have betrayed European origins, but who nevertheless spoke English at home, read English-language newspapers, and encouraged their children to be Origin-hyphenated-Americans, not just Origins who happen to be living here and working the American system for what it could give them.
That clinging to one's Origins with such fervent tenacity leads to things like this asshole shooting a bunch of people because he's dissatisfied with how life has mistreated him. Twenty-eight years and he doesn't have his piece of the American Dream---because he doesn't want to get go of his Origin enough to embrace it. It's like that fable by Aesop: the dog has a bone; he looks into a well and sees the reflection of a dog with a bone. He tries to snatch the other dog's bone and loses his own.
This isn't the American Dream, it's the American Nightmare.
=======================
* Have I ever claimed I was free of politically incorrect attitudes? I hear this on a daily basis---it's never, "I need someone who speaks Croatian." Or Korean. Or Swahili. Or French. It's always bloody Spanish. And at least half the time, we manage to muddle through in English. Imagine that.
