# The Saga of My Life in NYC: Latvian boyfriend edition **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 13, 2010, 6:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-saga-of-my-life-in-nyc-latvian-boyfriend-edition/546507 "2010-07-13T06:12:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2010, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-saga-of-my-life-in-nyc-latvian-boyfriend-edition/546507/21 "2010-07-14T03:59:14Z")
Doesn’t the census have an ‘other’ box where you can write in something that doesn’t fit the categories, like Ashkenazi or Kashubian or Greenlandic or whatever? ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2010, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-saga-of-my-life-in-nyc-latvian-boyfriend-edition/546507/22 "2010-07-14T04:30:50Z")
> [@Eva\_Luna](#): > > I tried that - no dice. Apparently the US Census has a box to check for Samoan, but not Ashkenazi. I’m taking a wild guess that there are a ton more Ashkenazi people in the US than Samoans. Thus, the debate with the census enumerator. This sounds like a debate we had in Intro to Sociology over weather “Jewish” was a religion or an ethnicity (it’s _both_). ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2010, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-saga-of-my-life-in-nyc-latvian-boyfriend-edition/546507/23 "2010-07-14T04:44:51Z")
> [@Sunspace](#): > > Doesn’t the census have an ‘other’ box where you can write in something that doesn’t fit the categories, like Ashkenazi or Kashubian or Greenlandic or whatever? The regular census doesn’t actually ask any of those questions. It asks you what your race/ethnicity is, but in very general terms. (Black, White, Asian, American Indian/Pacific Islander, and Hispanic of Any Race.) I’m assuming **Eva Luna** got picked for the more detailed questionnaire. I’m surprised that they only wanted one country of origin. I’m pretty sure _most_ Americans are descended from people from multiple countries. I’m only a third generation American, and I’m still descended from people from four different countries. ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2010, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-saga-of-my-life-in-nyc-latvian-boyfriend-edition/546507/24 "2010-07-14T14:29:15Z")
> [@thelurkinghorror](#): > > Confusing Balkan with Baltic, hmm? Don’t make an issue of it, or she’ll take her Bal- and go home. ---
**Author:** ![Eva\_Luna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e495f1/32.png) [@Eva\_Luna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eva_Luna)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2010, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-saga-of-my-life-in-nyc-latvian-boyfriend-edition/546507/25 "2010-07-14T14:48:58Z")
> [@Kyla](#): > > The regular census doesn’t actually ask any of those questions. It asks you what your race/ethnicity is, but in very general terms. (Black, White, Asian, American Indian/Pacific Islander, and Hispanic of Any Race.) I’m assuming **Eva Luna** got picked for the more detailed questionnaire. I’m surprised that they only wanted one country of origin. I’m pretty sure _most_ Americans are descended from people from multiple countries. I’m only a third generation American, and I’m still descended from people from four different countries. Well, this was a few years back, and I think it was for the American Community Survey or whatever the more detailed survey was called. This was a phone interview; I never even got a written questionnaire in the mail (or it went AWOL), so an enumerator followed up with me. I don’t remember what the exact wording was. The enumerator was laughing her head off by the end of our conversation. Seriously, Ashkenazi is certainly a concrete ethnic identity shared by millions of Americans, many of whom are nonpracticing Jews (such as me). Why is it not a choice on the Census? ---
**Author:** ![Martiju](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e8c25b/32.png) [@Martiju](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martiju)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2010, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-saga-of-my-life-in-nyc-latvian-boyfriend-edition/546507/26 "2010-07-14T15:05:01Z")
> [@In\_Winnipeg](#): > > Actually, he’s closer to being Finnish than he is to being Russian. No, no, no! It was the firefighter with the trigger text finger that was finnish… 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Two\_Many\_Cats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8dc957/32.png) [@Two\_Many\_Cats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_Many_Cats)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2010, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-saga-of-my-life-in-nyc-latvian-boyfriend-edition/546507/27 "2010-07-14T19:17:23Z")
Here’s a real Latvian joke: A Latvian was walking down a street in Riga when he noticed a crowd had gathered up ahead. When he reached the crowd, he asked someone there what was going on. The man told him, “It’s so sad. A brick fell off that building and killed a man on the street here.” The Latvian shook his head. “Yes, that is sad. There are so few Latvians left in Latvia, and now one has died so tragically.” The man replied, “Oh, it wasn’t a Latvian that was killed. It was a Russian. Still, it’s so sad.” The Latvian nodded. “Yes, that is sad. There are so many Russians in Latvia that a brick can’t fall off a building without hitting one.” ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2010, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-saga-of-my-life-in-nyc-latvian-boyfriend-edition/546507/28 "2010-07-14T20:32:41Z")
Now I’m thinking about [Inguna Butane](http://thisisdiversity.com/js/js_tid/tiny_mce/plugins/imagemanager/files/images/user_/Inguna_Butane/Inguna_Butane2.jpg) and [Eliza Vinokurova](http://img99.imageshack.us/img99/4801/145437rw7.jpg) making out. Hot Latvian-on-Latvian action. ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2010, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-saga-of-my-life-in-nyc-latvian-boyfriend-edition/546507/29 "2010-07-16T15:28:23Z")
Is your lesbian boyfriend one of them Russian spys? ---
**Author:** ![Mississippienne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d2c977/32.png) [@Mississippienne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mississippienne)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2010, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-saga-of-my-life-in-nyc-latvian-boyfriend-edition/546507/30 "2010-07-24T04:33:32Z")
> [@Zebra](#): > > Is your lesbian boyfriend one of them Russian spys? None of the above. He broke up with me tonight. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![MoodIndigo1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e8c25b/32.png) [@MoodIndigo1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MoodIndigo1)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2010, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-saga-of-my-life-in-nyc-latvian-boyfriend-edition/546507/31 "2010-07-24T04:53:03Z")
> [@SaxFace](#): > > Tas loti biezi radas ka cilveki doma ka latviesi ir krievi. Bet musu valoda un kultura ir pilniga citada. > > Es ceru ka tavs draugs nav liels dzerajs. Latviesiem loti patik dzert un mes biezi dzeram visu nakti! Bet mes ari esam loti stradigi. Ja vins ir godigs pret tevim, tad tev ir laba laime un es jums abiem nosvinu daudz laimi un prieku! > > Just to reiterate what Hello Again said: Latvians are not Russians. We have a distinct language, culture and history. The Latvian territory has been occupied by many different nationalities since the capital city, Riga, was founded in the year 1201. I had to check your profile, SaxFace. For a moment, I thought you might be an excellent saxophonist of Latvian origin who now lives and plays in Montreal. His name is Janis Steprans. There has been so much drift on this thread that I guess apologies for causing it to drift further might be unnecessary. **Mississippienne** , I’m sorry the romance didn’t work out. ---
**Author:** ![ShelliBean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f9ae1b/32.png) [@ShelliBean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShelliBean)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2010, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-saga-of-my-life-in-nyc-latvian-boyfriend-edition/546507/32 "2010-07-24T05:26:05Z")
> [@Mississippienne](#): > > None of the above. He broke up with me tonight. ☹ Just as well. I’m tired of the motherfuckin’ communist lezbens on my motherfuckin’ fellow mississipians, anyway. Sorry it didn’t work out. ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2010, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-saga-of-my-life-in-nyc-latvian-boyfriend-edition/546507/33 "2010-07-24T15:34:12Z")
Jesus you just can’t catch a break. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2010, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-saga-of-my-life-in-nyc-latvian-boyfriend-edition/546507/34 "2010-07-24T17:03:03Z")
Sorry to hear about the breakup. At least he wasn’t Latverian. That would have been messy. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2010, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-saga-of-my-life-in-nyc-latvian-boyfriend-edition/546507/35 "2010-07-26T15:56:32Z")
> [@Sunspace](#): > > Gotta watch out for those Latvians! Why, the President of Latvia once cut me off on the way to work! > > It’s true. I was on the bus to work, we were just merging onto the 427, and suddenly a police car got in front of the bus and blocked the entrance to the express lanes. We continued in the collectors while I looked at the empty express lanes. Suddenly a motorcade bearing an unfamiliar maroon-and-white flag rushed past, heading for the airport. Then the cops were gone and we continued as normal. > > Turns out the Latvian president was a former Canadian citizen who had returned to Latvia after its independence. That’s true. Although I never met her, I once spoke to her husband and a good friend of mine knows her well. In fact, my friend is either now or just was in Latvia to help celebrate her 50th anniversary. Both she and her husband were professors in one or the other French universities in Montreal. The OP reminds me that I have met a male Lesbian. He owns a Greek restaurant in town called Molivos, named after his native village on the isle of Lesbos. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-saga-of-my-life-in-nyc-latvian-boyfriend-edition/546507.md?page=1)