I feel hostile towards french looking people today

[mockney piers]

"essentially a decent people" doesn't mean that there aren't plentiferous sh!tty examples among the populace. But that's just human nature isn't, or back to the 90% of everything's sh!t?

[Brendan]

I would agree with ?essential a decent people.? You can see this by just how socially accepting and liberal much of British public opinion is compared to some other countries. It does however have an underlying vein of peculiarly British mean-spirited nastiness. This sometimes surfaces varicosely in unsightly blemishes.

[Michael Palaeologus]

... but we can rely on some of our guests from overseas to act as surgical stockings.

[Brendan]

Don?t look at me mate. My people have enough of our own unpleasant carbuncles on our national persona to deal with.

[Keef]

A mid 50s colleague of mine spent about 5 minutes earlier telling, in his very loud voice, me and a colleague just how rude and blunt South Africans are (note ARE, not can be, but ARE!!!!!!!). He didn't realise that the blonde girl sitting opposite me (whom I think he actually quite fancies) is indeed one of these rude blunt people! I made no move to tell him either, pure gold! >:D

[Azul]

Declan Wrote:

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> Oh there you are you slimey greasy Portugese good

> for nothing pric*! That's what I would say if I

> was to belittle myself. Obviously I wouldn't want

> to do that. However it is about time you showed

> your face. You started the thread or don't you

> remember?

well you asked for it

[Guest]

For what it's worth, I used to work for a fairly large multinational company based in Europe which included employees from many countries, with the largest groups coming from France, Germany, the Netherlands, Italy and the UK. The thing I remember everyone saying when they left was that they would never work with French people again.

[Narnia]

SeanMacGabhann Wrote:

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> Mostly good stuff Piers - but again, I don't think

> it was Britain's in-power elite who posted the

>

> "No blacks No dogs No Irish" signs in B&B's across

> the land in teh 50's 60's and 70's

>

> Not that the Irish are behaving any better now

> they have a few coppers mind you....

Why do you say the Irish are not behaving any better Sean?

[Narnia]

Brendan Wrote:

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> I would agree with ?essential a decent people.?

> You can see this by just how socially accepting

> and liberal much of British public opinion is

> compared to some other countries. It does however

> have an underlying vein of peculiarly British

> mean-spirited nastiness. This sometimes surfaces

> varicosely in unsightly blemishes.

Brendan, are we talking skin disease here?

[Narnia]

Azul Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> Declan Wrote:

> --------------------------------------------------

> -----

> > Oh there you are you slimey greasy Portugese

> good

> > for nothing pric*! That's what I would say if I

> > was to belittle myself. Obviously I wouldn't

> want

> > to do that. However it is about time you showed

> > your face. You started the thread or don't you

> > remember?

>

>

> well you asked for it

Ugh.....I did not ask for that. First you throw a hand grenade, then you vanish and now you are so afraid you have to wear a disguise. I feel hostile towards people who look like bananas this evening!

[Tony.London Suburbs]

Declan Wrote: I feel hostile

> towards people who look like bananas this evening!

Oh! Marvellous! You make a comment like that and then you split(6)

[blinder999]

Ms B Wrote:

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> For what it's worth, I used to work for a fairly

> large multinational company based in Europe which

> included employees from many countries, with the

> largest groups coming from France, Germany, the

> Netherlands, Italy and the UK. The thing I

> remember everyone saying when they left was that

> they would never work with French people again.

I worked at Paris Disneyland a few years ago, with lots of French, English, Irish and Dutch people. Everyone got along really well - though I did meet a couple of Irish people who really hated the English.

[Tony.London Suburbs]

blinder999 Wrote:

Ms B Wrote:. with the largest groups coming from France, Germany, the

> > Netherlands, Italy and the UK. The thing I

> > remember everyone saying when they left was

> that they would never work with French people again.

.......and that included their French Colleagues:))

[SeanMacGabhann]

Seriously Declan?

Apart from fairly widely reported increases in racism in Ireland generally.. far more vivid for me are my trips back home where, many in my extended family and circle of acquatainces drops the sort of racist accusations that would have had Irish up in arms (oops..) back in the 80s

All the usual accusations of foreigners taking jobs, driving down wages etc. And yet all of the feckers have standards of living I could only dream of growing up in Ireland. they bemoan the death of the pub and yet spend most evenings in front of their new plasma screens

The world has moved on and they know they can't put signs up in B&Bs saying "no Polish" - but jaysus a fair few people I know would if they could

We Irish spread everywhere until the 90s, doing jobs cheaply that others wouldn't, and sent money back home to mammy. And we stand in judgment of others who would do the same in Ireland now? Frankly I'm embarrased when I go home these days

[tinagwee]

mockney piers Wrote:

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> >

> Those with power just happen to be bastards to

> those without, not just to foreigners, and then I

> read this wonderful article in the Irish

> independent.

>

> "more perverse was the general attitude that saw

> Ireland as being oppressed for centuries by the

> British, and especially by the English.

>

>

>

> We will come nearer home: even in the worst times

> of the bombing in England by our "Freedom

> Fighters", there was no significant backlash. This

> proved, if proof were needed, that George Orwell

> was right when he always claimed that the English

> were essentially a decent people."

I do agree that in Ireland we do need to get over our irrational hatred of the English people as a whole because you can't blame the people for what their government do and that over the centuries the English peasant definetly didn't have it too good either. Nowadays though, even in a democracy the English marched in force to oppose the invasion of Iraq and the government went ahead anyway, so Iraqi's hating the general English populace would be wrong, hate the government yes, but not the general guy on the street.

But I have to disagree that there was no backlash to the "freedom fighters" in northern ireland. Try living there during the 70's 80's and part of the 90's and say that, and any free staters on here are just as clueless about what it was like. There was certainly a lot of backlash to the people in northern ireland in their day to day lives, like the humiliation of being searched at random in the street with no warrant or reason, internment with no trial of anyone they liked to lift and arrest, "searches" meaning wrecking of houses at random at 2am if you lived in a "bad" area and had a son, having an armed occupying force on your streets, (generally meaning a 19 year old lad in your garden with a machine gun) and so on and so on. I am not saying they were not entirely unjustified in their actions but their treatment of the Northern Irish only perpetuated the situtation by making their lives so crap that they saw only one option. As soon as they allowed people to have a more normal life then recruitment to terrorist organisations slowed down because people had a future that wasn't totally pointless.

I, much to much of my family's unease, did date a soldier for a while (not whilst he was on duty in Ireland) so don't hold any rancour towards individual people but I definetly hold a little for the Government of the time ie Maggie et al.

[Brendan]

Tina, I think the in the general public opinion during the 80s and 90s in most countries in the world (except Britain I?m assuming) was that the British military occupation in N Ireland was overly aggressive and oppressive.

Well that is at least the way it was reported and the impression I got growing up in SA and I have heard similar sentiments from my American and Australian cousins.

[tinagwee]

Brendan Wrote:

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> Just thinking about what you said earlier Declan.

> You said that the title of this thread is

> blatantly offensive (or some thing similar). I

> have to disagree with you there. If you look at

> the phraseology used it is quite blatantly tongue

> in cheek. Especially the use of the words hostile

> (over the top) and looking (a little silly in this

> context).

>

> Now if the title was something like, I hate the

> French who?s with me or What?s the difference

> between a Frenchman and a Belgian I would agree

> with you. But I can?t see anything serious in, I

> feel hostile towards French looking people today,

> followed by And normally I only feel this way

> about pigeons.

very well put Brendan. Everyone who is used to Azul's posts in the past (absent for a while) knows they are usually very tongue in cheek or just plain ridiculous.

[tinagwee]

Tony.London Suburbs Wrote:

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> > Don't get me wrong there ARE some English

> folk(misguided arrogant fools say I) who might

> think it a little rich being castigated(poetic

> licenceB)) by a group of people who are guests in

> their house but not I.I think its all part of

> lifes rich tapestry myself:)-D

I can see why being castigated by "visitors" would rankle until you remember that most of the nationalities who have come to "visit your house" have done so as a result of the Empire coming in and squatting in their house (indeed they still are in mine so I came here instead) messing it up somewhat, shitstirring and then leaving when it wasn't clean and tidy anymore.

[Brendan]

I don?t mean to be too controversial but this map significantly negates the guest in our house argument.

[mockney piers]

Mere Childsplay Brendan.

[Brendan]

Bloody hell!

[mockney piers]

indeed

[Brendan]

I'm moving to Namibia.

[mockney piers]

I gather it's quite the place to cut a dash

 

[Brendan]

Is he waiting for a tube?