KIR cage match, baby

OK, so I was really thinking hard on Paulie's post all the way home. I dislike the overall slant of it, the in your face let me teach you a lesson cracka approach. I went into my post doing my best to say what I wanted to say, how I wanted to say it, with the utmost respect and separation between what my message was, and who got me started to thinking about it. Cause you know, I wasn't on the attack. But Paulie, you take the opposite approach, you take my words and sentences and forge them with many more of your own into sharp swords to throw at me. OK. Yeah, my knee jerk reaction is to get all caught up in that and just address the intrinsic pitfalls and shortcomings of your means, but you know, we've all gotten so far away from my original intent I just decided I didn't even want to go there. And thinking about all the stuff I would have to say to get my frustration with it all out just made me tired. And, I have a party to go to tonight, I'm out of town next week. I just don't have time. I still like you. We're still friends. I'm not going to clam up (in spite of you, damn you, you bastard... wink wink).

So I'm going to boil it down. Most of what you said - right on. I can see and acknowledge all that - you're right, it's not about white not having an accent, black having an accent, its about educated vs. not, and hip vs. not.

I feel two more things are important - first, you are not the only ones who have ever experienced hateful things. I've always been a member of the geek patrol. Ask me about being spit on by the other kids. Yeah, I know, I've never even had a taste of it, but don't patronize me by acting like I don't even know it exists. I know it does. Ask me about being called "baby," "honey," or my personal least favorite (because it almost seems respectful at first blush until you realize how condescending it really is) "young lady" by the male techs I work with. Being hit on. Yeah, there are worse things, but that doesn't mean that these don't bother me some.

Second, you and Fuzz got all sidetracked into talking about your experiences growing up, your history. That's all cool, it is who you are and I want to hear it. But Pablo, I feel like in between you were kind of spewing some pent up race frustrations at me that weren't about me. You know, even that's ok, it's not always about me. The issue I take is that your method used sentences and continous references from my post to do it. You got race frustractions to vent? Yeah, I'm not really the one you should be using for that, maybe. And you used my words as you saw fit to make your point, make a good piece for the readers, but you committed a cardinal sin by doing all that and then leaving out my point, which I'm feeling has been missed or skimmed over. So, since I obviously stated it badly the first time, I'm going to try it again:

I wish people wouldn’t discriminate against each other (or anyone else!) if someone speaks differently.