I’ve gotten a lot of feedback on my last post, mostly from plurkers but also some inworld and in the comments. I didn’t realize it would be such a controversial topic and I’ve enjoyed hearing peoples thoughts on it.
There does seem to be a cultural difference between Sweden and America regarding this. My friends inform me that is in fact common to hear these terms from customer reps and the likes in America. The south seems especially good at this, I was informed. In Sweden however, you would be seriously reprimanded, maybe even lose your job if you called a customer “Hun”.
I really do enjoy a good discussion and I’m always ready to hear people out and change my opinion if I feel it needs revising. But then someone comes along that just proves my point. I got IM’d inworld by someone with no profile information what so ever, obviously an alt account.
Alt Person: Just a thought… today you bitched about someone calling you “honey” and how inappropriate and rude it was. Ever stop to think that flipping people off of a community blog and using the F word all the time is a little inappropriate?
Alt Person: Grow up, little girl.
First of all, yes, you’re right, it is rude to flip people off. It was kind of the point. Secondly, “F word all the time” is a bit of an exaggeration, don’t you think? This blog has one (1) count of “F-word” in it, and it’s in the context of “Effing Ace”, meaning positive context. If you’re that sensitive, I’m sorry, but I really can’t help you.
Third and last. Don’t IM me from an alt account and tell me to “grow up” and call me “little girl”. It just makes you look stupid and proves my point.
Rude Outfit:
Hair; [rQ] – Crush, PitchOnyx
Skin: Belleza – Jesse, Deep tan 4
Eyes: [CDD] – CyberTron Eyes (Open Portal)
Tee: + blacklisted + – i herd Diva-T (yale)
Belt: Primitive Design – Studded belt (dark leather)
Pants: Deviance – Leather pants (black)
FMRBMAN9JXBN
Now, I’ll admit, I like being called little girl, but that’s another thing altogether. *laughs* I find it odd that this person didn’t post in the comments so the rest of the world could see that remark and I find it doubly strange that someone got that pissed off in the first place.
I like to say the word fuck. I’m definitely not a child, and I’m not trying to prove a point or make people angry. I like to swear, plain and simple and I feel it accents my points.
So you flipped someone off? Big deal, I do it all the time. It’s called life. That person was probably just jealous you found a fucking flipping off pose and they didn’t.
Honey/Hun is usually a term of endearment. I’m in the US, and the only person I would call hun/honey is my wife. I rarely use the word “Fuck”, but if someone decided to call me out on it to say that I used it all the time, just because I had an opinion without the use of the word, it would just make me boil. The person obviously doesn’t know what they are talking about and is just trying to egg you on.
The funny thing is, has s/he left out the last part, I would’ve actually taken his thoughts into consideration and maybe even apologized for the flipping off. The only thing this did to me now was give inspiration to write a follow-up.
I’ll tell you why too. Americans as a whole are arrogant as fuck… moreso than the rest of the world. Want to know the irony of that – The American sheeple as a whole are also one of the most unintelligent batches of folks when compared with other free countries like those in the European Union. Ask a basic geography question to an average American high school student and you’ll get a blank stare or some completely screwed-up answer… Ask that same little pisstard how to send an SMS message to his homies on his or her little airhead type-n-text cell phone, and he or she would be able to explain that in great detail.
I live in a country of moronic sheep ready to follow any foolish shepherd with a bit of charisma and a big bag full of bullshit.
Howls,
Snarl
I live in the South where it is perfectly acceptable to say, “Dear,” “Ma’am,” “Hun,” “Suga,” and various other terms of affection to random people. We get offended when people say things like, “Babe” or curse at us. I had no clue people in other parts of the country did not do the same thing until Second Life and until now had no clue that people in other parts of the world were offended by it. When I say it, I am not looking down on the person. I am not speaking with arrogance or with disdain. I am speaking through with the terms my culture raised me with. I am being myself in a virtual world. I would never change for a person in real life, so why would I change for a person in Second Life?
To be honest with you, I have been offended by a few things that people from other parts of the world have said when they did not know that it would offend. Instead of snapping a snarky reply (I am not saying that you did, I am speaking of others who I have seen do this), I politely told them in my Southern drawl why it offended me. I love Second Life for this aspect – we get to learn about other parts of the world without stepping out of our doors. It opens up our minds to differences that we might not see in our own front yards.
Oh, and on an aside to Snarl… I have found that many Americans are arrogant. Certain regions have this attribute more so than others, so please be careful when making a generalization like this. I am sure that I have met plenty of Europeans who are arrogant and quite a few Kiwis who believe they are God’s gift to the world. As a teacher, I also find that you are right about the education system in America, but if you truly have an issue about it, you would do something other than complain – go out and fight against No Child Left Behind. That policy has brought about more bad than good, but politicians and general America have no clue because all they see are the test scores. Teaching to the test leaves no room for subjects not on the test – like music, world events (current), and other subjects that we had in the curriculum before NCLB came into existence.
/me steps off her soap box.
@Snarl: I think if you ask anyone a question about a subject that they are not interested in regarding school studies, they’ll often draw a blank unless it’s been drilled in them repeatedly from an early age. This SMS stuff is probably something they work with on a daily basis, and interactive. I wouldn’t imagine their “homies” giving them high fives for knowing the state capital of Utah. The geography subject is probably the most played card in proving students in the US are not smart. The fact of the matter is, it is probably the least important thing on the curriculum.
@Nat: Being unwilling to change and adapt to other peoples cultures when you are well aware that it would offend them (in RL) comes off as being a little self-sentric. I would at least try to hold my tongue and apologize if I am asked not to call them by those names. In the real world, letting those remarks slide may lead to legal problems. I can just see a lawyer insisting on addressing a witness or judge by “hun” when she has expressed her discomfort. Second Life, however, is quite different. People just teleport away or put you on mute.
Stereotypes exist for a reason – because their roots lay in truth. The only difference being is that today, the Orwellian thought police clamp down on “generalizations” regardless of how true they are or how large a percentage they accurately represent simply because they might upset folks.
It is that nonsense that makes my blood boil – and I refuse to ever censor my thoughts or statements – regardless of how un-politically-correct they are. So if what I say pisses off the sheeple – Good. It means they’re actually thinking for a change.
My point exactly. The young today are mostly idiots plain and simple. They value nothing of real importance, have no morals, and only give a damn if there is immediate gratification tied to it. I thank the bleeding-heart liberal pissants for that lovely trend.
Folks… Being happy is NOT a right… despite the efforts of so many screwball liberals out there. Everyone fails throughout their life. It is normal, acceptable, and no – it doesn’t make you happy *gasp*. If everyone is ‘equalized’ – how will we ever determine true worth? We won’t, but we’ll all be fat, happy, equal and stupid. Woo Hoo! What a great country.
Howls,
Snarl
@Snarl: Part of the problem is that knowing geography becomes unnecessary for most professions over time. Most people know the continents, local states near them, and some popular states far away. It’s often needed when traveling, but even then we have computers that map out directions for us. Why should it concern me where a specific state is, or what its capitol is?