# Help, I have a new job in the ER and it is making me prejudiced **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 29, 2012, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-i-have-a-new-job-in-the-er-and-it-is-making-me-prejudiced/645506 "2012-12-29T19:30:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![Nzinga\_Seated](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5ac83/32.png) [@Nzinga\_Seated](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nzinga_Seated)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2012, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-i-have-a-new-job-in-the-er-and-it-is-making-me-prejudiced/645506/121 "2012-12-30T18:18:31Z")
> [@MeanOldLady](#): > > And mocked it in a way that so obviously did not happen. He may as well have said a guy walked in there and said, “Ah, yessuh, I shol’ is mad ‘bout you not fixing my thumb. It be hurtin’, ah yessuh, hurtin’ real bad.” > > “Yo.” I forgot to add the “Yo” part which also didn’t happen. People, please, if you’re going to tell me some true story about the shiftless negroes you’ve encountered, get the speech patterns correct. “Black people use the word ‘be’ wrong, right? Yeah, okay, so this guy totally said, ‘My thumb be hurtin,’ and then he said ‘yo.’” Yes, we do use “be” wrong, but that’s now _how_ we use it wrong. Get it right! It’s all so clear as crystal! ETA: cracking UP at your slave speech ---
**Author:** ![Troppus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a587f6/32.png) [@Troppus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Troppus)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2012, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-i-have-a-new-job-in-the-er-and-it-is-making-me-prejudiced/645506/122 "2012-12-30T18:19:27Z")
Challenge for anyone nitpicking over the wording the OP used. Watch this [Jesco White video](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6FffzU7F6Lc), then, a day or so later, write the transcript. I have a feeling you’ll get a few wrong. (Not as wrong as Jesco hisself, but wrong nonetheless) If it isn’t your language, sharing it a day or so after the fact means you’ll probably muddy it up a bit. Lacking fluency in a dialect or language you don’t speak isn’t racist. ---
**Author:** ![Brynda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e79b87/32.png) [@Brynda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brynda)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2012, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-i-have-a-new-job-in-the-er-and-it-is-making-me-prejudiced/645506/123 "2012-12-30T18:21:51Z")
> [@MeanOldLady](#): > > This is true. People might also think you’re racist if you say “I’m not racist, but I don’t like black people anymore.” You left off “and I know it is not right to feel this way.” ---
**Author:** ![JackieLikesVariety](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackielikesvariety/32/296_2.png) [@JackieLikesVariety](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JackieLikesVariety)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2012, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-i-have-a-new-job-in-the-er-and-it-is-making-me-prejudiced/645506/124 "2012-12-30T18:27:56Z")
> [@Nzinga\_Seated](#): > > That’s the wrongest I’ve ever heard it used. superlative! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2012, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-i-have-a-new-job-in-the-er-and-it-is-making-me-prejudiced/645506/125 "2012-12-30T18:36:56Z")
> [@Troppus](#): > > If it isn’t your language, sharing it a day or so after the fact means you’ll probably muddy it up a bit. Lacking fluency in a dialect or language you don’t speak isn’t racist. No, it doesn’t. And I don’t think anyone said it does. But a smart person doesn’t go around quoting a speaker of a dialect that he isn’t fluent in and obviously doesn’t respect…not without expecting some backlash. The OP could have avoided some problems just by saying the man was yelling about his stupid thumb. Throwing in the fake Ebonics makes him look like the wrong one. I give **Nzinga** props for catching the obvious. I think I am so accustomed to white people doing the fake black thing that I don’t even notice it anymore. ---
**Author:** ![JackieLikesVariety](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackielikesvariety/32/296_2.png) [@JackieLikesVariety](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JackieLikesVariety)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2012, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-i-have-a-new-job-in-the-er-and-it-is-making-me-prejudiced/645506/126 "2012-12-30T18:37:11Z")
> [@LouLou7](#): > > Ha! Girl, you be too funny! > > 😃 I was thinking with Newcrasher gone we’d just devolve into silliness but apparently not so much. some lovely posts in this thread so it’s a shame his huff arrived and he left in it. lookit Brynda’s > [@](#): > > The OP is seeing the culture of poverty, and mistaking it for black culture. It’s easy to do. It took a trip to Kenya, where every social class is black, for me to really see this. Poverty has a profound effect on behavior. In the US, poverty and being a minority are correlated, so we tend to confuse them. and Chimera and drewtwo99 and MOL. and Newcrasher is missing it! seriously, he wrote that OP and wasn’t expecting any static? c’mon! ---
**Author:** ![SerafinaPekala](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecae2f/32.png) [@SerafinaPekala](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SerafinaPekala)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2012, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-i-have-a-new-job-in-the-er-and-it-is-making-me-prejudiced/645506/127 "2012-12-30T18:40:46Z")
> [@Troppus](#): > > And if the patient has no job, no bank account, and owns no property, how, exactly, will the hospital collect? Have you met any poor people dependent on government assistance? They aren’t terribly concerned about their credit rating. Hospitals have to eat the cost if the patient has no government assistance. Sure, the hospital can sue. RE: Physicians not getting paid if someone defaults on their bill. Most ER physicians I know of work for a contractor who pays them (if the contractor gets paid). Some douchey contractors neglect to pay their staff tho. ---
**Author:** ![MeanOldLady](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanoldlady/32/10737_2.png) [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2012, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-i-have-a-new-job-in-the-er-and-it-is-making-me-prejudiced/645506/128 "2012-12-30T18:43:35Z")
> [@Troppus](#): > > Challenge for anyone nitpicking over the wording the OP used. Watch this [Jesco White video](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6FffzU7F6Lc), then, a day or so later, write the transcript. I have a feeling you’ll get a few wrong. (Not as wrong as Jesco hisself, but wrong nonetheless) > > If it isn’t your language, sharing it a day or so after the fact means you’ll probably muddy it up a bit. Lacking fluency in a dialect or language you don’t speak isn’t racist. Right, and if I were to attempt to explain what he said, I’d just say he was speaking about huffing gas, without all of the unnecessary attempts to write in his dialect. If I were speaking with someone from a foreign country, I wouldn’t type in their accent. That’s just rude and seems like mocking. I mean, unless I’m mocking the person. Sometimes when I’m writing my sisters and we’re (lovingly) making fun of our parents, we write in their accents. Otherwise I’ll just say “Ma said,” and then I’ll just say what she said without all of the bullshit. > [@Brynda](#): > > You left off “and I know it is not right to feel this way.” Okay, so he’s not an \*unrepentant \*racist. Edit: > [@JackieLikesVariety](#): > > and Newcrasher is missing it! He’s not missing anything. He’s reading this thread right now. This is Fake Dope Flounce #5,012. ---
**Author:** ![Troppus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a587f6/32.png) [@Troppus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Troppus)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2012, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-i-have-a-new-job-in-the-er-and-it-is-making-me-prejudiced/645506/129 "2012-12-30T18:50:22Z")
> [@monstro](#): > > No, it doesn’t. And I don’t think anyone said it does. > > But a smart person doesn’t go around quoting a speaker of a dialect that he isn’t fluent in and obviously doesn’t respect…not without expecting some backlash. The OP could have avoided some problems just by saying the man was yelling about his stupid thumb. Throwing in the fake Ebonics makes him look like the wrong one. > > I give **Nzinga** props for catching the obvious. I think I am so accustomed to white people doing the fake black thing that I don’t even notice it anymore. Yabbut…I’m not sure if he misquoted or if he actually heard those exact words. Ebonics has regional variation, just like other language habits and patterns. I speak with a Southern drawl, but hillbilly speak like his’n, cain’t, fare up, yorn, Gawd, heerd, etc aren’t spoken by me or anyone in my peer group. I’ll use ain’t ironically on occasion, but I definitely don’t use the same words as the hill people 30 miles away from me, or the same language spoken in the city projects five miles away. But if you did quote one of my neighbors, I wouldn’t be in the least offended. ---
**Author:** ![Nzinga\_Seated](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5ac83/32.png) [@Nzinga\_Seated](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nzinga_Seated)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2012, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-i-have-a-new-job-in-the-er-and-it-is-making-me-prejudiced/645506/130 "2012-12-30T18:53:58Z")
> [@MeanOldLady](#): > > Edit:He’s not missing anything. He’s reading this thread right now. This is Fake Dope Flounce #5,012. Ha. Fake dope flounce. I died when JackieLikesVariety said, “his huff arrived and he left in it”. I’m stealing that. I’m gonna start telling hurtbutts, “Your huff is here. Now get in it and leave.” ---
**Author:** ![Troppus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a587f6/32.png) [@Troppus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Troppus)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2012, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-i-have-a-new-job-in-the-er-and-it-is-making-me-prejudiced/645506/131 "2012-12-30T18:57:05Z")
> [@SerafinaPekala](#): > > Hospitals have to eat the cost if the patient has no government assistance. Sure, the hospital can sue. > > RE: Physicians not getting paid if someone defaults on their bill. Most ER physicians I know of work for a contractor who pays them (if the contractor gets paid). Some douchey contractors neglect to pay their staff tho. Oh, I know how it works, I was one of those people who coordinated care for homeless broke kids and young adults. I was just trying to figure out if the poster I was replying to had a clue what emergency rooms are like. For the uninsured, ER = family practice. ---
**Author:** ![MeanOldLady](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanoldlady/32/10737_2.png) [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2012, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-i-have-a-new-job-in-the-er-and-it-is-making-me-prejudiced/645506/132 "2012-12-30T18:58:17Z")
> [@Troppus](#): > > Yabbut…I’m not sure if he misquoted or if he actually heard those exact words. I would bet you one bajillion dollars that the guy did not say “My thumb be hurtin’, yo.” One BAJILLION dollars. Now there’s no way we can prove this, but let’s just assume I"m right because no black person has ever described thumb pain that way in the history of time. ---
**Author:** ![Nzinga\_Seated](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5ac83/32.png) [@Nzinga\_Seated](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nzinga_Seated)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2012, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-i-have-a-new-job-in-the-er-and-it-is-making-me-prejudiced/645506/133 "2012-12-30T19:01:04Z")
Yeah, just accept it. It didn’t happen. I’m not offended. I am just calling bullshit when I see it. ---
**Author:** ![Troppus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a587f6/32.png) [@Troppus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Troppus)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2012, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-i-have-a-new-job-in-the-er-and-it-is-making-me-prejudiced/645506/134 "2012-12-30T19:05:08Z")
> [@MeanOldLady](#): > > I would bet you one bajillion dollars that the guy did not say “My thumb be hurtin’, yo.” One BAJILLION dollars. Now there’s no way we can prove this, but let’s just assume I"m right because no black person has ever described thumb pain that way in the history of time. And I’ll bet you that six months ago, not one person said “reneckognize” before that six year old chubby white kid said it. And some poor white people do speak in the frightfully coarse language as Honey Boo Boo and family. If you got stuck behind that family in the grocery and attempted to relate what you heard, you think any Southerners would call bullshit and take offense? ---
**Author:** ![Nzinga\_Seated](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5ac83/32.png) [@Nzinga\_Seated](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nzinga_Seated)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2012, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-i-have-a-new-job-in-the-er-and-it-is-making-me-prejudiced/645506/135 "2012-12-30T19:12:04Z")
Redneckognize\* is a word. It is not a rule of language. What if I just all of a sudden started speaking to you like this: “Troppus, all wrong are you on the topic this is.” Would you believe that people other than me and yoda go around speaking that way? He got caught mocking black English. And we caught him because he made a mistake in his mockery that tipped black posters off that he never heard that sentence uttered. It’s not a big deal. \*yes, I know ---
**Author:** ![Troppus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a587f6/32.png) [@Troppus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Troppus)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2012, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-i-have-a-new-job-in-the-er-and-it-is-making-me-prejudiced/645506/136 "2012-12-30T19:12:27Z")
> [@Nzinga\_Seated](#): > > Yeah, just accept it. It didn’t happen. I’m not offended. I am just calling bullshit when I see it. And I’m just saying that if you handed me a transcript from Here Comes Honey BooBoo before the show aired I’d want to believe it was Hollywood’s misguided take on poor white Appalachia, but you can watch the show and those folk sure as shit talk like drunk hillbillies. It’s embarrassing, not reflective of Southern white culture at large, but bad grammar do happen, ya’ll. ---
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2012, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-i-have-a-new-job-in-the-er-and-it-is-making-me-prejudiced/645506/137 "2012-12-30T19:13:34Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > Under my present association with the lower class/poor folks I’d say the noncompliance is as much due to poverty and lack of health coverage as it is to ignorance, stubbornness, or [insert trait of your choice]. I agree. I don’t think I said they were noncompliant due to being a minority. I didn’t elucidate, but poverty, with its paucity of resources, brings with it a whole host of solid reasons for non-compliance. But added to that is the amazing ability of the human being to exist in denial about their various conditions, as well as the dysfunctional support network that exists (and all this is true of the well-off as well). > [@](#): > > I don’t work in healthcare (anymore) but some days by the end of the day I’m convinced this group is all one way and this other group is all another way and none of them are flattering characteristics. One of the reasons we can’t have an honest discussion of race in this country, though, is because any time anyone _does_ start honestly discussing their feelings everyone else gets up in arms. We aren’t going to keep improving the social situation (and I do believe we have improved these past few decades) if we don’t allow each other to speak frankly about these things. Including the negative emotions and thoughts we ALL have about people who differ from us. I agree. Feelings are feelings. That’s it. Unless feelings are acknowledged, no progress can be made. But this is the Dope, so feelings are not allowed. I’ve always been amazed at how many posters here essentially say to the various OPs: “Don’t feel X way.” or “You’re a horrible human being for feeling Y way.” People do love to consider themselves morally righteous. ---
**Author:** ![Sleeps\_With\_Butterflies](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@Sleeps\_With\_Butterflies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sleeps_With_Butterflies)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2012, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-i-have-a-new-job-in-the-er-and-it-is-making-me-prejudiced/645506/138 "2012-12-30T19:15:51Z")
I am going to fully admit that I haven’t read this entire thread\* and I’m going to acknowledge that I’m probably going to deeply regret this and could very well get yanked over the coals as a racist bitch but I will SWEAR on my EYES this is true. It was bizarre and stupid and crazy enough that the three of us in the room were flabbergasted. The med student wrote it down on his notepad he carried so he was able to quote it back later for all to enjoy. Believe or disbelieve as you see fit, it won’t matter either way to either of us: Guy came into our emergency department with a bag of frozen peas on his lap. His answer when asked what happened? > [@Guy with hurtin' dick](#): > > I was hittin in that ho hard and then it feel like my dick be broke. That’s all I know. I will also tell you that I’ve heard worse than that. I’ve heard stupidity far and wide from black people and white people and every people in between in my time working in trauma. Like I said, I haven’t read the entire thread but anyone who thinks shit like that isn’t said should spend a little time hanging around an emergency department in any county hospital in a large city and have your mind blown. \*Again, I haven’[SIZE=1]t read the entire thread so I don’t know what people are believing or disbelieving specifically. I’m [SIZE=1]just saying that [SIZE=1]peo[SIZE=1]ple of all kinds say some crazy stupid shit when they’re in pain. Cra[SIZE=1]zy stupid shit.[/SIZE][/SIZE][/SIZE][/SIZE][/SIZE] ---
**Author:** ![Brynda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e79b87/32.png) [@Brynda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brynda)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2012, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-i-have-a-new-job-in-the-er-and-it-is-making-me-prejudiced/645506/139 "2012-12-30T19:16:18Z")
I read the OP as saying he has not had prejudiced attitudes in the past, and now is concerned that he is developing them due to his experiences at work. He is troubled by this. I don’t think labeling him as racist adds to the conversation, and frankly, this is why many of us who are not part of a minority group are afraid to say anything about these issues. He may have drawn a racist conclusion from his experiences, but he was asking for ways to change. If he’s a racist, he’s a piss poor one. Short version: he racist, not he be racist, yo. ---
**Author:** ![Troppus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a587f6/32.png) [@Troppus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Troppus)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2012, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-i-have-a-new-job-in-the-er-and-it-is-making-me-prejudiced/645506/140 "2012-12-30T19:16:19Z")
> [@Nzinga\_Seated](#): > > Redneckognize\* is a word. It is not a rule of language. What if I just all of a sudden started speaking to you like this: > > “Troppus, all wrong are you on the topic this is.” Would you believe that people other than me and yoda go around speaking that way? He got caught mocking black English. And we caught him because he made a mistake in his mockery that tipped black posters off that he never heard that sentence uttered. It’s not a big deal. > \*yes, I know “You be trippin’” fits the rule laid out in the OP, yes? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-i-have-a-new-job-in-the-er-and-it-is-making-me-prejudiced/645506.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-i-have-a-new-job-in-the-er-and-it-is-making-me-prejudiced/645506.md?page=8)