# Terrorist Barricades in My Neighborhood **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 17, 2005, 8:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terrorist-barricades-in-my-neighborhood/285171 "2005-01-17T08:55:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![js\_africanus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/87869e/32.png) [@js\_africanus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/js_africanus)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2005, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terrorist-barricades-in-my-neighborhood/285171/21 "2005-01-18T13:30:25Z")
> [@Silentgoldfish](#): > > But I’d hate to be thought of as illitarate so I soldier on. Two cops were standing one a street corner. They are approached by a man who says (_pardon my lack of language skills —jsh_), “Parley vou Francais?” The cops shake their heads “no.” “Sprechen zee Doitch?” the man asks. “No,” the cops say. “Gavberitch pa Ruskie?” the man asks. “No,” the cops say. “Habla Espanyol?” the man asks frustratedly. “Nope,” the cops say. So the man walks off in a huff. “I really oughtta learn another language,” one of the cops says as they watch the man walk away. “Why?!” the other cop demands. “That guy knew four languages and it didn’t do _him_ any good!” ---
**Author:** ![Hyperelastic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Hyperelastic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hyperelastic)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2005, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terrorist-barricades-in-my-neighborhood/285171/22 "2005-01-18T16:16:23Z")
> [@Silentgoldfish](#): > > Gosh, you’re right. I’d better get cracking on my quest to read and write every language in the world. I’ve only got 1.25 down so I’ve got aways. Who said anything about knowing every language in the world? I am merely puzzled as to why it’s considered a good thing not to be able to read a sign in your own neighborhood. We’re supposed to be fighting ignorance on this board, not celebrating it. Wouldn’t you want to know what the store is selling? Maybe you’d be interested in buying some. By the way, you’re a _futrablisk niashama_ and I hope you _kabramer_ yourself. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2005, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terrorist-barricades-in-my-neighborhood/285171/23 "2005-01-18T16:46:40Z")
I am from Spain, from one of the parts with a large Basque population. The part that used to be a kingdom, actually, not the one that is right now trying to get independent… _forces herself back on track for once_ I spent 2003 working in the US. Due to a mistake on the part of the guy in charge of voter registration in our NYC consulate, I missed two elections (one local, in 2003, and the March 14 one). It’s the only times in my life I’ve missed an election. The first time I voted, I was 18years and 2 days old and everybody in the room cheered when my table’s president mentioned it 🙂 I have also been conscious of being in ETA’s death lists since I was 8. My youngest brother was 2 months old at the time: his name was on the list already. The whole family is listed, even the ones who are independentists. To me, having people who want to kill me for pseudopolitical reasons is kind of an incentive: every time I vote I feel like I’m giving them an “up yours!” (wonders how do you call in English that gesture of rapidly raising the left fist with your middle finger up and at the same time hitting the inner part of that elbow with the other hand) ---
**Author:** ![js\_africanus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/87869e/32.png) [@js\_africanus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/js_africanus)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2005, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terrorist-barricades-in-my-neighborhood/285171/24 "2005-01-18T17:03:47Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > The whole family is listed, even the ones who are independentists. When one’s terror organization puts supporters of its cause on the list, one should wonder if maybe the mission statement should be revisited. ---
**Author:** ![lizardling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f4b2a3/32.png) [@lizardling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lizardling)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2005, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terrorist-barricades-in-my-neighborhood/285171/25 "2005-01-18T22:23:20Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > (wonders how do you call in English that gesture of rapidly raising the left fist with your middle finger up and at the same time hitting the inner part of that elbow with the other hand) Unrelated to the OP: This is equivalent to the American gesture of just waving a fist with the middle finger up, palm in, at the offending person or object – that gesture’s called ‘flipping off’ or ‘giving the bird’. Related to the OP: As someone else said, For the President, heck yeah. For the dog catcher, nah. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2005, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terrorist-barricades-in-my-neighborhood/285171/26 "2005-01-19T00:34:16Z")
> [@Hyperelastic](#): > > Who said anything about knowing every language in the world? I am merely puzzled as to why it’s considered a good thing not to be able to read a sign in your own neighborhood. We’re supposed to be fighting ignorance on this board, not celebrating it. Wouldn’t you want to know what the store is selling? Maybe you’d be interested in buying some. > > By the way, you’re a _futrablisk niashama_ and I hope you _kabramer_ yourself. I think I’ll show my ignorance by 1.assuming that you just said something extremely Pit-worthy and, 2.officially warning you not to do it again. ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2005, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terrorist-barricades-in-my-neighborhood/285171/27 "2005-01-19T00:52:52Z")
**Tranquilis** , I gotta come to **mhendo’s** defense: The joke wasn’t that **mhendo** was calling the newly enfrachised Iraquis traitors or quislings or thought in any way that they were, but that **Zoe’s** humorous use of the wrong homonym, “ex-patriots” instead of “expatriates,” inadvertantly called the Iraquis traitors and quislings and exactly had the opposite effect of what she was intending to convey. It’s the cute-but-disturbing malaprop that’s funny. Kind of like when Melanie Griffith complimented Antonio Banderas by saying he was quite the “pseudo-intellectual.” ---
**Author:** ![World\_Eater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f04885/32.png) [@World\_Eater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/World_Eater)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2005, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terrorist-barricades-in-my-neighborhood/285171/28 "2005-01-19T01:27:16Z")
> [@Zoe](#): > > Would you vote if you had to travel several hundred miles _twice_ and/or possibly put your life in jeopardy? If the person in office was bad enough, I’d go to the moon. ---
**Author:** ![Hyperelastic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Hyperelastic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hyperelastic)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2005, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terrorist-barricades-in-my-neighborhood/285171/29 "2005-01-19T19:59:16Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > I think I’ll show my ignorance by 1.assuming that you just said something extremely Pit-worthy and, 2.officially warning you not to do it again. Incorrect assumption! Those were words from a language I made up. It translates as “You’re a fine person and I hope you enjoy yourself.” Now, if I had said something like “P\*_ **x f** _z,” I would be steeling myself for a banning. That was not meant to be moderator-bait, just an illustration of my point that when people can’t understand each other, society stops functioning. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2005, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terrorist-barricades-in-my-neighborhood/285171/30 "2005-01-19T22:54:16Z")
(Did you ever get the feeling that some threads are cursed by the Gods of Chaos and won’t stay on topic no matter what? That they somehow attract thin-skinned hijackers who misunderstand one another and get angry about it for no reason?) Anyhooo. Yes. I’d go quite a ways to vote in an important (read: non-dogcatcher) election. Even one I was afraid was a sham. Because that’s the only way I’d feel like I had at least made the attempt to see the right thing done. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2005, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terrorist-barricades-in-my-neighborhood/285171/31 "2005-01-20T01:51:03Z")
> [@Hyperelastic](#): > > Incorrect assumption! Those were words from a language I made up. It translates as “You’re a fine person and I hope you enjoy yourself.” Now, if I had said something like “P\*_ **x f** _z,” I would be steeling myself for a banning. > > That was not meant to be moderator-bait, just an illustration of my point that when people can’t understand each other, society stops functioning. Obviously, you didn’t get _my_ point-if you do not post in a language I understand, I will have to assume that you are saying something that is not appropriate for this forum. My job is hard enough without having to go through “clever” word games. ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2005, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terrorist-barricades-in-my-neighborhood/285171/32 "2005-01-20T02:32:55Z")
> [@fetus](#): > > I’m surprised–I did not know that Nashville was so diverse, or that people would be voting in foreign elections there. What are the qualifications for an Iraqi-American to vote in the Iraqi elections, I wonder? Nashville has one of the largest Kurd populations outside of Iraq. They were relocated here by a Catholic charity organization in the mid-1990s. Interestingly enough, one of the things the Catholic organization does is relocate various ethnic groups in areas that _aren’t_ diverse. They’ve brought Laotians and Vietnamese in large numbers to this area as well. They don’t just dump the people in areas, either, but have a group of volunteers who work closely with the new immigrants, finding them employment, showing them the sights, and generally helping them assimilate into America. Oh, and **Zoe** , it could be worse. The street Al Gore lives on, is barricaded like that all the time. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2005, 10:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terrorist-barricades-in-my-neighborhood/285171/33 "2005-01-20T10:35:42Z")
> [@Scruloose](#): > > Well this thread has taken some odd turns. You said it. I’ve never seen anybody get worked up over a pun. 😛 > [@Hyperelastic](#): > > I am merely puzzled as to why it’s considered a good thing not to be able to read a sign in your own neighborhood. We’re supposed to be fighting ignorance on this board, not celebrating it. She’s proud to be in such a diverse neighborhood, not of her inability to read the other languages. It was pretty obvious, I thought. ---
**Author:** ![Anastasaeon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/73ab20/32.png) [@Anastasaeon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anastasaeon)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2005, 11:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terrorist-barricades-in-my-neighborhood/285171/34 "2005-01-20T11:17:58Z")
> [@Hyperelastic](#): > > Who said anything about knowing every language in the world? I am merely puzzled as to why it’s considered a good thing not to be able to read a sign in your own neighborhood. We’re supposed to be fighting ignorance on this board, not celebrating it. Wouldn’t you want to know what the store is selling? Maybe you’d be interested in buying some. Since it’s in her town… I’d think it was safe to assume that one of those languages might be English. I, too, thought she meant she was proud of living in such a diverse town. I am also proud, the town I come from was quite diverse. We had a handful of Vietnemese move in several years ago, and signs were put up in stores and around the workplace, written in their language, to help them feel welcome. I know four languages, but yet never learned Vietnemese before I moved. Now I’m among Swiss. A little further south there are many Russians. Unless I become good friends with one of them, or decide to move to their country, chances are, I won’t learn the language. I’m proud of living in a diverse area. But I can’t beat myself up for not being able to learn every single language I come across. ---
**Author:** ![Hyperelastic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Hyperelastic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hyperelastic)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2005, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terrorist-barricades-in-my-neighborhood/285171/35 "2005-01-20T17:27:01Z")
> [@Anastasaeon](#): > > Since it’s in her town… I’d think it was safe to assume that one of those languages might be English. You would think so, but she did say she couldn’t read _any_ of the languages. That was what surprised me. I know the OP’s overall point was that she liked the diversity and that the sign she couldn’t read was to be taken as an example of diversity. But I think that was a somewhat careless example. If diversity means not being able to read the signs in your neighborhood, would you welcome diversity? I sure as heck wouldn’t. There are people who think diversity is always good, which is just as mistaken as thinking diversity is always bad. There is nothing good about not being able to understand your next-door neighbor. There can be no community in a situation like that. But a lot of people evidently like it that way. I find people like that look at their neighbors and the businesses in their neighborhood not as people, but as scenery. A nice Thai restaurant or a Sikh neighborhood makes your city seem cosmopolitan and modern, never mind the fact that you don’t actually know, and maybe cannot know, any of the Thais or Sikhs. I have a real problem with that point of view. ---
**Author:** ![Tabby\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Tabby\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tabby_Cat)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2005, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terrorist-barricades-in-my-neighborhood/285171/36 "2005-01-20T18:39:40Z")
So, what you’re actually saying is that putting up a sign with words you can’t read is a bad form of diversity? ie: Foreigners should not be allowed to put up signs in their own language? Yeah, them china people canna spik ingleese so good, shoulda sheep dem bak to cheena. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terrorist-barricades-in-my-neighborhood/285171.md?page=1)