What offends you?

+..Well Said...:2thumbsup:



Cheers Glen.

 

Well, if you asked me I don't dislike French people in general but a lot of people I know who have been there say they hate Americans, and on occasion even turned their nose up at their attempt to speak French. I mean at least they tried instead of just walking in a restaurant or hotel assuming everyone knows English.

Fuck that, I don't give people speaking French in America the death stare. Because we're a melting pot, if you discriminated against everyone who was different, you'd be enemies with more than half the country. That's a lot of fuckin hate. lol

 

I think that's exactly the point of tension between french and english people in North America. English people do not try to speak french at all, and may feel that because english people are the majority, the responsibility should be on the french people to learn english in order to fit in better.

Here in Canada one of the first times it ever became a mainstream issue was with Maurice Richard (the greatest hockey player that ever lived) back in the 40s or 50s. The media used to always ask him questions in english (he was french, played for the Montreal Canadiens) and he would respond with very broken english, leaving people to think he wasn't very intelligent. After awhile he brought it to people's attention and some media began to make the effort to talk to him in french.

I spent half my time growing up in Quebec, my dad spent most of his life in Quebec and never spoke french. Everywhere I've ever gone in Quebec people have spoken to me in english once they realised I'm english. I've since learned the phrases, "how are you?" and "I'm sorry but I don't speak french," in french so that I can at least meet them half way. I have never had a french speaking person turn their nose up at my effort to try and communicate in their language. In fact most appreciate the effort and will tell you they do. The french have always accommodated the english because there's more pressure on them to fit in with the rest of Canada.

Now a lot of the tension is coming from the english people here, at least in Ontario. It's law, and has been since the 70s or 80s, that most signs, instructions, maps, etc. must be in english and french. As well, if you plan on working for the federal government, I'm not sure about the other provinces but in Ontario it is mandatory, you must speak french to the level required by your job, there is a grade to ensure this, and employees are retested every few years in order to prove they're maintaining their french. This is a real point of contention, though mostly for people who don't work in the government. Why? Because they're ignorant, probably afraid of change, and they don't feel that the government should represent the french. Many will bring up that separatism shit (a minority of French-Canadians who feel that Quebec should be its own nation) and this is why they don't feel we should have to accommodate the french.

Due to the language laws and whatnot in the workplace, there have been incidents that caused people to get pissed off. One postal worker was fired (but later re-hired) because they couldn't speak french, yet they lived in a town that was probably an hour from the closest living french person (not in Quebec). Another was a fire chief who couldn't speak french, they either let him go, or threatened to do so because of it. It pissed people off because he was the chief in a city that isn't in the french province.

As for the separatists, you can see why the rest of Canada really doesn't like them...

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/dozens-protest-william-kates-visit-montreal-220001052.html

 

the french were rude to me when i attempted their language, so instead i spoke in welsh. they looked confused.

 

tight shorts on fat people
tank tops on fat people
skinny people

 

visit the motherland :mickey:

 

rednecks
coal companies
greedy bastards
people who don't give a fuck
anyone who mistreats animals.....:-/

 

When people speak for me. I try to be understanding when people think badly of my morals, strength, or intelligence, but when they speak for me it is worse than all those combined. If I want to say something I'll say it myself.

 

Someone telling me that I have to think and act a certain way because of the color of my skin. Other than that, feeling offended is a rarity for me. Annoyed maybe but not offended.