Here's one for the annals of ignorance: I overheard incompetent!boss this morning telling another co-worker that he was surprised to find out that one of our vendors was Asian, because "She speaks English as good as any of us!"

This is a slightly different kind of bone ignorance, but years ago my mother was at the registrar's office at a local college applying for admission and the clerk's comment when she noticed her Canadian citizenship was "oh, you speak English so well!"

When I used to work for an ESL program at my university, we were required to test the English Speaking abilities of everyone with a student visa. Which included Canadians and people from Great Britain. It was very strange.

"I remember when you could tell by looking at someone if they were an ignorant bigot. But now, you never can tell -- they even show up in your workplace."

I'm going to post a Craigslist ad offering to pay you to say this and then wait for Scola to link to it.

I'm going to post a Craigslist ad offering to pay you to say this and then wait for Scola to link to it.

Meta-link-y-ness!

Teppy, if I had the money, I'd offer you a year's pay to say that. The stupid, it burns.

I need to do battle with the mountain of laundry that has accumulated and yet somehow get to the gym today.

Huh - I've cooked with it (casseroles etc) and it's worked fine, but I wouldn't use it in my coffee because then I'd be able to taste it.

I tried to use it for a soup, so maybe that’s the issue.

Thoughts? It's not something I'd ordinarily do, but they did specifically request that he keep them informed of change in status and he is going to go to town on job hunting starting next week. Is this too aggressive?

I don’t think it’s too aggressive, just a bit long. I might say.

Thanks for the information. Per your request, I wanted to let you know that my current position has been downsized, and my last day is ____. I will be stepping up my job search significantly in the coming weeks, as this certainly impacts my time horizon for wanting to start something new.

Calling Vortex: I just saw the Dean in charge of that job you applied for here. She hopes to get back to it next week. She also said she thinks it should be two jobs, bar stuff and tutoring stuff, and the fact that it is structured as one job is making it hard to fill.

Yeah, I thought that when I saw it, that they might have a hard time finding someone with all of those qualifications. But, I rock, and I learn quickly.

That seems like a WAY too formal way to address a letter (well, even the envelope) to your boyfriend's parents. Unless they're exceedingly formal people, but your description didn't make them sound that way.

I think that it’s better to go too formal that not. People who don’t care about formality don’t mind when it’s done, but those who are sticklers notice the assumption of informality. It’s like the person who wants to be called Tom isn’t offended if you call him Mr. Smith. But, Mr. Smith might well be miffed that you assumed to call him Tom.

Even for this bunch, this is a staggering level of delusion and obliviousness. What the hell are they on?

Well, she finally has a chance to use that Soviet Union specialist skill, so she’s got to throw out the analogies while they’re still marginally relevant.

I remember when you could tell by looking at someone -- if they were obviously foreign -- that they wouldn't speak good English. Now you can never tell.

blink

blink

Wow....

Oh, and re: the ancestry? My people are good at throwing other people out of windows, bar fights, and just generally kicking the crap out of anyone who crosses them. I'm ready to join the Brute Squad. First target: GG's employers. Second: Tep's sort-of boss.

I'm ready to join the Brute Squad. First target: GG's employers. Second: Tep's sort-of boss.

awesome. on all three counts.

Brute Squad could be Buffista Academy PE requirement-fulfillment, to raise those plans up again.

I've had fat free half & half before. Once. By accident.

I've had fat free half & half before. Once. By accident.

This is me. In fact, I never would've even conceived of such a thing until I unpacked the grocery bag.