hoping for a legit discussion

[stumped.]

(read as, lets hope this doesn't fall into micheal dorn territory)

one of my friends statuses was this today:
i was born and raised in vancouver. why the fuck do i need to speak cantonese, mandarin, or korean to apply for a job here? fuck.

is it just me being too p/c or does that strike anyone else as being a sketchy statement from a twenty-something realativley affluent white girl?

[Jordan f.]

most people are shit and think the world revolves around them

[ZACH ATTACK]

I'd probably be sketched out too. Sounds like a case of a middle class white girl with a sense of entitlement. Perhaps she should try applying for jobs at English speaking establishments instead of Mandarin, Cantonese, or Korean speaking ones.

[age of quarrel]

wow, one of the biggest chinese populations in the world outside of china... if she grew up here she should be used to it and stop crying

[dave mac]

statement is definitely ignorant. girl is misguided... and it might be prudent to point out some logic regarding the situation she is referring to. Though try not to be condescending or to make her out as a bad person, then you might actually have a chance in changing her mind or at least planting a seed to move in that direction.

[grind/bro]

try not to be condescending or to make her out as a bad person, then you might actually have a chance in changing her mind or at least planting a seed to move in that direction.

That is my sentiment also.
I think it would be awesome frequent a place that would engage my language barriers. It would further push me to discover the beauty of the worlds other modes of communication.

[Hollow]

I guess it depends on context. If she's applying for a job at McDonalds, then yeah that's a lot to ask for a counter jockey or someone who flips burgers. But then I'm gonna guess that McDonalds doesn't give a fuck what language you speak. SO, she's probably applying for a job that would require her to regularly interact with a heavy Asian population that more than likely doesn't speak English. My experience has shown me that that generally tends to be people in incredibly important positions (social workers, ER nurses, etc.) In which case she can eat a dick. Fair enough if she doesn't want to speak those languages, no one can force her to, but that's kind of the consequence of taking that approach. There are a lot of jobs I can't get because I don't know how to speak French. That's life.

Does that make her a racist? Not sure. Nationalistic? Absolutely. Bullshit? Damn straight. Thoughtless, inconsiderate and tactless? Fo' sheez. But racist? I dunno. Maybe. I would not be surprised if she was, but that comment itself isn't particularly racist as a whole.

ALSO, Dave/Nick's way works well up to a point. Some people are simply ignorant and need to be educated, and really will learn and become better people for it. Some people. However, some (most, IMO) people just fucking suck and there is literally nothing you can do about that. If she turns out to be one of the former (and excuse my overt cynicism for leading me to believe that she is) be prepared to either tell her to get fucked AND/OR stop talking to her entirely. There are a lot of people out there that can't and shouldn't be reasoned with. No need to drive yourself nuts over one of them.

[stumped.]

good points all around, i felt the same way zach did when i first read it. she's not a racist as far as i know, just everything else Willa listed. but for the life of me i cannot figure out where she's applying that'd require her to know a second language though, she works in retail in the robson/granville area. and its not like there is any lack of well paying jobs with no language requirement, i've never missed an employment opportunity because i'm unable to speak anything outside of english
what i really find weird is the lack of weight it seemed to carry with anyone else. i asked a few of my friends what they thought and either shrugged it off or agreed with the general sentiment of what she was saying. its almost like theres this casually bigoted (is there a better word?) attitude towards esl people, it seems like there is a large percentage of people who find non-english speaking people either a) suspicious b) annoying or c) a general burden on society. its really scary/discouraging to realize in a city like vancouver where the ethnic population is so vast.

[Human-Demise]

i'm gonna take a wild stab and say it was more a veiled statement of the high asian population in vancouver than an event that actually occurred.

[Hollow]

what i really find weird is the lack of weight it seemed to carry with anyone else. i asked a few of my friends what they thought and either shrugged it off or agreed with the general sentiment of what she was saying. its almost like theres this casually bigoted (is there a better word?) attitude towards esl people, it seems like there is a large percentage of people who find non-english speaking people either a) suspicious b) annoying or c) a general burden on society.

This is one of those things that seems to slip under the radar for people. They can say what they want, when they want, and WE CAN'T UNDERSTAND THEM OMG SCARY!!

Eh, xenophobia seems to come across as legit for some reason. It's why you'll never see a piece in a major American media outlet about the terrifying aspect of black folk, but you'll see a thousand and one stories about how truly awful Muslim's (especially FOREIGN Muslims!!) are.

I have a long, involved, idiotic story about being called a racist because I mentioned that people in Victoria may or may not speak English, but I don't wanna write it out. Just ask me about it when we're at a show together.

Also, Alexis has the right idea.

[Jordan f.]

I have a long, involved, idiotic story about being called a racist because I mentioned that people in Victoria may or may not speak English, but I don't wanna write it out. Just ask me about it when we're at a show together.

is this the one involving that chud in your class at Uvic?

[justin]

I would also be very curious what jobs she was applying for. Those languages aren't easy ones to learn, we don't get taught them all through grade school like French, and I doubt there's a really large population of white Vancouverites who can fluently speak them. Of all the people I know in that city, who do all sorts of jobs, I've never heard of anyone having to brush up their Mandarin for an interview.

[officespace]

Not really surprised. There are tons of people who think/act this way in Vancouver. People normally will just shrug behaviour like this off but it's very alarming that people can think this way(undertones of racism/nationalism) and not be confronted on it. We're all fucking people it's bulllshit. But w/e They Took Our JOBS http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KLni3wbndls

[freedrugzone]

back to the pile boys!