Cozumel COVID-19 updates

[BoundForElsewhere]

By using that word, you are embarrassing yourself. Do you use the "N" word (a word that once was widely used without a thought), too? I would assume you probably do (though maybe not in public), because the "O" word you insist on using is equally offensive and racist.

You are free to be that way, just be aware how it makes you look to others (like someone dressed up in a sheet, burning crosses at night).

That klan reference might be a little much, my friend.

 

[DandyDon]

You might be right, Don but I would hope Americans are learning to be a little less offensive when given the opportunity.

Most of us are I think, altho there are certainly some exceptions, but when the occasion arises to refer to any population by a racial or national term, not all of us have kept up on the changes in polite terms. When I was a kid in Texas, desegregation was slow being adopted as the government fought against following supreme court rulings and we had Colored drinking fountains and restrooms at courthouses. That was the polite term tho. Courteous terms have changed a couple of times since.

Do you use the "N" word...because the "O" word you insist on using is equally offensive and racist.

Really? Ok.

 

[BRT]

OK, I guess Pete should get that nasty word on his x-out list. I had no idea that it was one of the words that are now bad. I think it is stupid, but I'm sorry I upset you and I will attempt to find other words in the future to explain what seemed so simple. IMO ignorant is deciding that words that are just words are now bad words. Silliness.

 

[BoundForElsewhere]

OK, I guess Pete should get that nasty word on his x-out list. I had no idea that it was one of the words that are now bad. I think it is stupid, but I'm sorry I upset you and I will attempt to find other words in the future to explain what seemed so simple. IMO ignorant is deciding that words that are just words are now bad words. Silliness.

The problem, my friend, is that words are not just words. They are tools. Tools a that can manipulate, cajole, obscure, inspire, and condemn.

"We find the defendant guilty." are just words but carry the power to change the course of a life. The words we use to address or label one another are equally as powerful.

Some words are assimilated, others are manifested, but all words have power. Just read The Declaration of Independence and tell me you don't get goose bumps.

Now let's get past this and start planning dive trips.

 

[Saxonjd]

A story from my boss while on a school tour with HS students in Japan a few years ago. His Japanese tour guide/interpreter was awesome and a lot of fun. My boss made reference to "oriental" people and they had a not so long discussion on the dislike for that term in Japan. She asked what country that referred to and what country she was from? She explained there is a lot of intense dislike from many many years of conflict amongst various people from different parts of Asia and lumping Japanese people in with people from those other regions was, for lack of a better term, not preferred. Found his story and the perspective from it really interesting and enlightening.

 

[BoundForElsewhere]

A story from my boss while on a school tour with HS students in Japan a few years ago. His Japanese tour guide/interpreter was awesome and a lot of fun. My boss made reference to "oriental" people and they had a not so long discussion on the dislike for that term in Japan. She asked what country that referred to and what country she was from? She explained there is a lot of intense dislike from many many years of conflict amongst various people from different parts of Asia and lumping Japanese people in with people from those other regions was, for lack of a better term, not preferred. Found his story and the perspective from it really interesting and enlightening.

Exactly. No matter our background, age, or persuasion, we should all be open to learning other people's perspectives. That is what makes us American. Or should, anyways.

 

[nwflyboy]

Exactly. No matter our background, age, or persuasion, we should all be open to learning other people's perspectives. That is what makes us American. Or should, anyways.

Yep. We learn, we evolve. At least I hope we do. And some of us take a while.

When I was a kid, the N word was widely used and nobody made any fuss over it (at least not in my circle - which was white, mainstream, the "dominant" culture). Of course, soon enough I figured out that if I used that word in some circumstances, I better be ready for a fight. Regardless of whether a fight would leave me hospitalized, as I grew up, and as society evolved, it became painfully obvious how inappropriate (and how hurtful, and how racist) that term was.

When I was a kid, the O word was routinely used, too. We had words for all sorts of ethnic and racial groups. Lots of us used those words, with no thought to it. Fast forward to today. If you still use those words (including some that would have once seemed acceptable to refer to someone from Cozumel), people would cringe (in some cases, a fight may still occur). We all did stupid things long ago. Hopefully with the passage of time, and gaining a wider perspective, we come to treat other people with what they would recognize as more respect. And that's the point: as an old, white guy (just speaking for myself, but knowing the demographic here), it's not for me to choose how other people prefer to be recognized and described. I can assure you, all those people whose ancestors come from the largest continent on earth don't appreciate anyone using the O word. Trust me, or just ask one of them.

So yeah, maybe you're late to learn this lesson. As someone else said upthread: carpets can be oriental. To refer to a race of people that way is like using the N word. Really. I bet tossing around the N word here would get moderated pretty fast. This is no different.

I like MMM and went diving with her a bunch last year. She's got a good head on her shoulders and I figure she has sense enough to see this fairly. Onward.

 

[BoundForElsewhere]

Trying to get this back on track... Does anyone know of any data that would indicate the effects of reopening on the number of cases in Q. Roo?

 

[BRT]

A story from my boss while on a school tour with HS students in Japan a few years ago. His Japanese tour guide/interpreter was awesome and a lot of fun. My boss made reference to "oriental" people and they had a not so long discussion on the dislike for that term in Japan. She asked what country that referred to and what country she was from? She explained there is a lot of intense dislike from many many years of conflict amongst various people from different parts of Asia and lumping Japanese people in with people from those other regions was, for lack of a better term, not preferred. Found his story and the perspective from it really interesting and enlightening.

So how is Asian better?

 

[Saxonjd]

Didn't use the term Asian???.....Point was she said people from Japan are Japanese, not Orientals.