Ethnicity and Perception

[P3D Earl Keyser <earl_keyser@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

        Reply to:   Ethnicity and Perception

Holy smokes, Rocky!  And I thought Frost Bite Falls got a cold reaction!

First, to Michael Kaplan and others - NO HURT was intended.  To the one very
paranoid person who sent private, ugly, racist e-mail - go to Hell.

Many of my good friends are proud of their heritage - black, white, Jew,
Christian, handicapped, gay, free, over 21, unmarried, Republican, whatever. 
I agree with Gavin Stokes that cultures have certain characteristics and our
stereotypes come from there.

To wit:

I was at an antique show.  A local dealer was talking with a woman and said,
"Well, would you like a lower price?"  She became incensed and walked away,
saying to her friend, "He was trying to rob me.  He's just a Jew."  But, SHE
was the one who didn't understand - was in the wrong.

To Ken, the dealer, the fun of the transaction was in the bargaining.  Sure,
he needs to make money to stay in business.  But the bargaining was a basic
PART of the transaction.  The customer didn't understand this.

Is this an ethnic stereotype?  Probably.  Is it unfair?  I would say yes to
that customer's misunderstanding of the situation and insult to Ken.

In my post, I was making a joke, using a stereotype.  NO offense was intended.

Now, could we return to our regularly scheduled program and can I get an
answer to the original question?

PS - if you are at NSA in Rochester, please come up and say HI in case you
want a personal apology.

Earl (stereotyped) Keyser


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