Fashionistas you have arrived 3-25-03 - 10-3-03

[bilmore]

Originally posted by Bad_Rich_Chic
. . . . "black people don't eat mayonaise," . . . .

Oh oh. This guy I had lunch with is gonna be really pissed.

(He swims, too. He's just screwing up left and right. Probably a UT.)

[Did you just call me Coltrane?]

Originally posted by Bad_Rich_Chic


And, while I'm on the subject (sort of), what is this "black people don't swim" thing? I've never heard of this in my life, so I am doubly surprised to find so many people backing it annecdotally. Is this up there with "black people don't eat mayonaise," which seems a bizzarre and random thing to assert but apparently is annecdotally borne out? Where the hell do these kind of strange, seemingly fairly neutral, stereotypes come from?

I don't think anyone is "backing" it. People have stated specific instances in specific locales where they've witnessed it. These instances aren't conclusive and probably are exceptions.

Similarily, someone has probably witnessed a person dating a relative in Kentucky. Do all people date their relatives in Kentucky? Well, yes, except for Ashley Judd, who dates that race car driver.

[NotFromHere]

Originally posted by Bad_Rich_Chic
Is "people of color" still on the radar screen? I always hated that phrase, so I rather hope not. Sounds somehow like social-worker patronizing to me. Like being one of the "special" people who ride the short bus.

My dermatologist friend uses the term people of color to explain certain tendencies (and skin ailments) for people with any color. It's a frequently used term in medical - it means anyone not completely white. So if you're even half something not-white, you're a "people-of-color."

And my social worker friend uses it as well.

[Greedy,Greedy,Greedy]

Originally posted by greatwhitenorthchick
This is silly (not you Anne, just this debate). My brother in law + nieces (black African although nieces are peculiarly considered white because of white mother) swim well because they are rich and swim at the freaking Nairobi club whenever they get the urge and they vacation in Mombassa and the Seychelles. I very much doubt that their housekeeper, gardener, nannies or driver knows how to swim because they are poor. Nothing to do with skin color. Everything to do with access to safe water (requires money).

Thanks, Gwinky.

I grew up in the somewhat rural north. A few blacks but not many. But everyone swam, regardless of color. Why?

Swimming holes were free (muddy, sometimes with little squigglies in there, but free).

(BTW, we also all ate watermelon).

But in most major urban areas there is very little access to free, clean swimming. So you play hoops instead.

[Anne Elk]

Originally posted by greatwhitenorthchick
...swim well because they are rich and swim at the freaking Nairobi club whenever they get the urge and they vacation in Mombassa and the Seychelles. I very much doubt that their housekeeper, gardener, nannies or driver knows how to swim because they are poor. Nothing to do with skin color. Everything to do with access to safe water (requires money).

Now that makes sense. Probably also has to do with leisure time.

[NotFromHere]

DES MOINES, Iowa, Sept. 30 — McDonald’s Corp. launched its “I’m Lovin’ It” marketing campaign this week, but it’s doubtful the company is saying that about a survey of drive-thru service.
FOR THE SECOND YEAR in a row, Chick-fil-A Inc. finished atop trade magazine QSR’s annual “Best Drive-Thru In America” rankings.
QSR hired an independent market-research firm, g3ACT, which visited restaurants across the United States between April 1 and June 15. In all, 25 fast-food chains were studied.
McDonald’s, despite a recent push to improve service, tumbled to 12th from fourth. The big burger chain ran into problems in order accuracy, QSR said. In that category, McDonald’s fell to 19th from ninth last year.
Filling orders incorrectly also hurt Wendy’s International Inc., which dropped to 17th from second in that competition.
Wendy’s remained the speed king, though, taking an average of just one minute, 56 seconds to fill an order. That was 30 seconds faster than its nearest competitor and nearly 11 seconds under its average time last year.
The top 10 overall rankings this year, with last year’s in parentheses: 1. Chick-fil-A (1), 2. Taco Bell (3), 3. Wendy’s (2), 4. Burger King (5), 5. El Pollo Loco (13), 5. Jack In The Box Inc. (10), 7. Taco John’s (20), 8. Arby’s (6), 9. KFC (19) and 10. Checkers Drive-In Restaurants Inc. (8).

While I've never seen a Chick-fil-A, a Taco John or a Checkers, I can fully attest that the rest of these morons will fuck up your order. It's maddening to get home to find out they've either left something out or just screwed up what you requested (like no onions, no mayo).
Do you go back and bitch or call or just live with the results. I hate hate hate when people sit in the line and rummage through their order - so what's a person to do?

[Bad_Rich_Chic]

Originally posted by Did you just call me Coltrane?
I don't think anyone is "backing" it.

Yeah, that sounded wrong. I don't mean that people are agreeing that black people don't swim. I was just surprised that so many people have apparently witnessed examples of black (etc.) people, in fact, not being able to swim. It's like sitting aroud with 10 friends, and someone says "dogs love licking bicycle pumps," and you're like "WTF?" but 4 or 5 of your other friends are immediately like "my dog licks the bicycle pump, he loves it," and you're just doubly thinking "WTF did I miss?"

Or it's like the "black people don't eat mayo" thing. I first heard that and was like "whaaaa?" But now having heard it, I notice that a good number of black people I know treat mayo like it is strychnine. I have no clue if this is because, in fact, statistically, more black people than other ethnicities dislike mayo, or because, having heard this stereotype, everytime I now see a person, who also happens to be black, say "mayo - eew" I immediately think "aha! See, they do hate mayo!" Not that any of it is remotely important one way or the other, but I just find the whole thing odd.

[Did you just call me Coltrane?]

Originally posted by Bad_Rich_Chic


Or it's like the "black people don't eat mayo" thing. I first heard that and was like "whaaaa?"

This is just as new to me as the swimming thing was to you.

According to Chris Rock, trailer (white) trash LOVE mayo sandwiches, which is something else I've never heard of either.

[AngryMulletMan]

Originally posted by robustpuppy
Why did you take a hiatus from posting? Welcome back from lurkland!

Thank you! I have been busy having my mid-life crisis and wondering why I am participating in this particular pie-eating contest where the prize is only more pie.

AM(stole that from a legal news article but it sounds more like porn)M

[Greedy,Greedy,Greedy]

Originally posted by Did you just call me Coltrane?
According to Chris Rock, trailer (white) trash LOVE mayo sandwiches, which is something else I've never heard of either.

Folks put lots of different things on bread to moisten it and give it flavor. A lot of the Italian folks around here will put olive oil on any bread, even wonder bread, rather than butter. I've seen folks put mayo on bread in the same way (often just toast with mayo). It's a lot cheaper than butter or margarine, and tastes better than marg in my mind.

But I haven't seen someone turn the mayo into a sandwich, even in the trailer side of my family.

[Atticus Grinch]

Originally posted by Bad_Rich_Chic
Or it's like the "black people don't eat mayo" thing. I first heard that and was like "whaaaa?" But now having heard it, I notice that a good number of black people I know treat mayo like it is strychnine.

Another thing the blacks and Jews have in common --- irrational hatred of mayonnaise, one of life's simple pleasures.

The only other racial generalization I have observed in wide enough application is the following: African Americans are singularly responsible for the continued sale of orange soda in this country. I worked in a restaurant (not fast food) in a suburban area of California, and you could bet your paycheck that fully 50% of African American customers would ask if we served orange soda (we didn't). Of these, about 75% would then ask for root beer (which we did serve) instead. It was eerie. I don't think a single white customer ever asked me for orange soda, but almost half of the black customers did.

Originally posted by Bad_Rich_Chic
I was just surprised that so many people have apparently witnessed examples of black (etc.) people, in fact, not being able to swim.

I should add that my example was not of black people not being able to swim - they were excellent swimmers or they wouldn't have been in the class to begin with. They just could not pass the final tests - including the brick test, which has more to do with bouyancy than swimming ability.

I wondered if low body fat had something to do with it in this case. Fat floats. If I have to save a skinny man or a fat chick from drowning - I'd pick the fat chick since she will be much easier to drag back to shore overall.

My dad puts mayo on fries (chips). I have to turn away.

-TL

[Bad_Rich_Chic]

Originally posted by Greedy,Greedy,Greedy
(BTW, we also all ate watermelon).

Reminding me of another random story ...

In college I was on this committee planning a charitable cook-out, and we decided the main food would be fried chicken. This girl, a total upper middle class urban north-eastern liberal, immediately said "then we have to have watermelon." Having a bunch of southern family, I just got hungry thinking "yeah," but everyone else (fellow urban north-eastern college-liberal types) just looked at her in total horror, like she had vomited or something. The girl was completely baffled, and looked around saying "what? Fried chicken and corn and watermelon, it's the ultimate summer outdoor meal, what's the matter with you people?" And everyone else realized that she had never in her life heard fried chicken/watermelon stereotypes/jokes and just sincerely wanted watermelon with her chicken, and the debate about whether serving watermelon and fried chicken at the same function would be deemed "racially insensitive" commenced.

I found it sad that so many people would first assume that someone pairing fried chicken with watermelon was making a racial slur rather than a menu. I also was sad that, by majority vote, we did not in fact get watermelon with our chicken.

BR(fucking college committees)C

[evenodds]

Originally posted by Atticus Grinch
The only other racial generalization I have observed in wide enough application is the following: African Americans are singularly responsible for the continued sale of orange soda in this country. I worked in a restaurant (not fast food) in a suburban area of California, and you could bet your paycheck that fully 50% of African American customers would ask if we served orange soda (we didn't). Of these, about 75% would then ask for root beer (which we did serve) instead. It was eerie. I don't think a single white customer ever asked me for orange soda, but almost half of the black customers did.

In Houston's Third Ward, everyone serves Strawberry Soda. I don't know why. I cannot explain it. All I do know is that it's impossible to clean from the carpets.

[Greedy,Greedy,Greedy]

Originally posted by Bad_Rich_Chic
Reminding me of another random story ...
[Story about watermelon sterotype]

There's something about the grease on good barbequed chicken that really lets you spit the seeds a long way.

This is the ultimate summer bar-b-q, but I wouldn't fry the chicken, I'd put it on the grill with a thick chili-paste sauce.

I am now feeling very hungry.