I got picked on by blacks and Irish people for being Jewish but I must love these people

Guys i get the feeling the originater of this thread is a troll who was
doing some baiting in this group

Yeah, I suspected that as well. But as long as we trim the newsgroups, we
can still turn it into a productive thread!

You are right and, in the long run, I have had a better life than those whom
I felt wronged me. You never forget, but you must forgive or learn to put
it in a box and leave it there.

"Cheryl P." wrote in message
...
john sumner wrote:
"Granby" wrote in
:

I think we all can look back on being picked on for one reason or
another.In my case it was the deaf kids from their school harassing
the blind kids from mine. No, it was really rough and those in power
had to be diligent in the times we were "socialized" together. Never
did figure out whose bright idea that was without some training in
communication first. Also there was the institutional "haves and
have nots". Sixty years later, it is still a bitter pill but, it is
60 years later.

Guys i get the feeling the originater of this thread is a troll who was
doing some baiting in this group

Undoubtedly, but it sparked some interesting discussion.

I've put a good deal of effort into forgiving and forgetting any childhood
bullying and picking on, and am a lot happier as a result.

Living well is the best revenge - especially when you have to make an
effort to even remember the incidents that were so painful at the time!

Cheryl

"Cheryl P." wrote in :



Undoubtedly, but it sparked some interesting discussion.

I've put a good deal of effort into forgiving and forgetting any
childhood bullying and picking on, and am a lot happier as a result.

Living well is the best revenge - especially when you have to make an
effort to even remember the incidents that were so painful at the time!

Cheryl
I agree cheryl, in 5th and sixth grade i was with a bunch of kids who for
lack of a better term, were white trash and could not wait to get out of
that place, well fast forward 5 years later when were all juniors and i
had not seen any of these jerks in years nor heard from them, i was going
to votech to learn a trade, and when i got on the bus,all i could think of
was how do i get out of this, and the strange part was that some of the
kids, who i had some real battles with, was how much they changed, so bye
the end of the school year, we were cordial to each other.

Dan M wrote in
:

Yeah, I suspected that as well. But as long as we trim the newsgroups,
we can still turn it into a productive thread!
Thats true, at first i thought this guy was a kook from alt.usenet.kooks
who just love to ruin other news groups

"Dan M" wrote in message
...
Guys i get the feeling the originater of this thread is a troll who was
doing some baiting in this group

Yeah, I suspected that as well. But as long as we trim the newsgroups, we
can still turn it into a productive thread!

I'm finding the thread very interesting. I studied Aspergers Syndrome a
little for my job because parents of Aspergers children often ask for them
to be taken into care when they are in their early teens as they cannot cope
with their behaviour.
It's typically because Aspies cannot empathise with other's feelings and
cannot understand social signals that would give them a clue that they are
p+ss+ng people off. They also take things very literally, with no idea of
irony or humour. This is easy to deal with for a parent of a small child,
but not a teenager.

It's not enough to be a geek, although Aspies can be very geeky and talk
about nothing except their current interest. The difference is that Aspies
will do it inappropriately to everyone.
I've seen no symptoms of Aspergers as I know it in this thread. What you
are all describing is fascinating aspects of your own personality where you
pursue an interest that is very important to you.

You are allowed to be a geek. It doesn't mean you have Aspergers.

Tweed

Yowie wrote:

wrote in message

Also, cats are
magical. I always feel very honored by their affection.

There's something about weirdos, writers and witches that attracts cats (or
alternatively cats attract weirdoes writers and witches) I do firmly believe
that cats are very mcuh in tune with a world beyond our senses and although
we joke about 'the mothership' and greeblings, I think they really do see
things we can't and are incredibly well tuned into our thoughts feelings and
moods.

Although we domesticated cats, we didn't do as thorough a job of it as
we did with wolves -- dogs. As sweet and cuddly as cats can be, they're
still part wild. So we have these partially wild animals in our homes,
bonding with us. It's absolutely a glimpse into another world!

We're working on that 'psychic connection', and whilst I am usually quite
skeptical about anything involving estra sensory perception, the cats of my
life has taught me that if they aren't actually 'psychic' they do a damn
good impression of it using their other senses.

I have a theory that ESP is based on natural and physical (as opposed
to supernatural or metaphysical) phenomena, which we simply haven't
developed the scientfic knowledge or the technology to understand yet.
Our brains block a tremendous amount of information in our environment
from consciousness, which they have deemed not sufficiently necessary
to our survival to warrant conscious attention. Yet, somewhere in our
brains, we do take note of everything we see, hear, smell, etc. Then we
get "hunches" and "premonitions".

They're often really arrogant about their opinions and beliefs,
and think they're smarter than everyone else. OK, maybe they are
smarter than most people, but they think that makes them *better*.

Bah! They're *nerds*.

Geeks are geeky, and are happy to celebrate their geekishness, but learnt
that arrogance, snobbishness and exclusion are *hurtful* to others (usually
by being the butt of it themselves).

You'd never know this by the people I've met. But I'm glad that there are
some nice geeks in the world! (I do know a few, such as yourself, and a
very nice guy who lives with a friend of mine. Whenever I hang out at
their house, he's always on the computer, and we joke about "the 3 of
us - you, me, and the back of James's head". )

Maybe in small numbers, geeks are nice because they still feel like
outsiders, and are just happy to have the friendship of like-minded people?

And Vicky,
you are not at all like that. If you are, you do a great job of hiding
it here! You have a very healthy amount of humility, by which I don't
mean low self-esteem. I just mean that you don't act like you feel
superior to other people.

Well, thankyou, but I can get snobbish and be a total biatch just as good as
anyone else. I just *try* not to. Its wrong.

Nobody's perfect! I'm a jerk too, sometimes. But like you, I try not to be.
You can only do your best.

Also, I'm really different from the average geek.

Hehehe. I am amused at the notion of the 'average' geek. Don't mind me.

I don't. But I think it might be different here. There is an enormous
geek community around here. I know, "geek community" might sound like an
oxymoron. But it's not! It's a well-established and strong subculture.
You can definitely feel like an outsider if you don't fit in. Maybe in
sufficient numbers, they're able to construct their entire lives so that
they interact only with other like-minded people. Work? No-brainer, of
course everyone you work with at your software job is a geek. Social life?
There are sf cons, gamer cons, and all kinds of groups that get together
for Babylon 5 or Iron Chef (the original) marathons, knitting marathons
(mostly, but not entirely, female geeks), or other types of marathons.
Have you noticed that "marathon" is essential to the geek lifestyle?
Obsessions R Us.

So yeah, around here, there is definitely a notion of the "average geek".

Maybe I'm just my own kind of geek... or maybe I'm not, at all.

There are all sorts of geeks (theatre geek, history geek, music geek etc
etc). Perhaps you are a cat geek?

Oh, yes, definitely!!

Well, traditionally, hypergeeks didn't breed because they weren't attractive
enough to the opposite gender and they weren't that *interested* in the
general members of the opposite gender to breed anyway. But now with places
like Silicaon Valley where hypergeeks suddenly become attractive because
they are rich and influential

Yes, wealth has definitely created a hipness factor. Plus, when the
Internet became available to the masses, geeks became gods, because they
were the people who not only understood, but *built* this wonderful,
magical new toy.

But geeks fall in love with each other because they're *smart*. Brains
are the ultimate aphrodisiac in that culture. You can have pimples, or
crooked teeth, or be fat, or bald, or have any of the various attributes
that are unattractive in the mainstream, but if you've got brains, you're
ultra sexy in the ultra geek world.

--
Joyce ^..^

(To email me, remove the X's from my user name.)

Rozagy, artistic Autistic wrote:

The fact that you were picked on has NOTHING to do with being Jewish.

How do you know this??

I'm Jewish, I never mention it and you can't tell by just looking at
somebody if they are Jewish or not because over the centuries we
became rather white in appearance (Jews are of Middle Eastern origin,
in case you didn't know).

It's true, many Jews can pass as non-Jewish. But if you live in a small
town where everyone knows who you are, there is no way to hide or to
"pass". Besides, you are making the mistake of assuming that pretending
to be something you're not, just so people won't harm you or make you
miserable, is an acceptable way to live. But closets are suffocating.

Another very important point to you and to anybody else reading it:
PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE STOP referring to it as a 'very mild version'!!

There is no such a thing as the 'mild version' of Asperger's. You
either have it or you don't!

Everything I've ever read about autism refers to it as the "autism
spectrum". There is a whole range of degrees of severity, as well as
many different combinations of abilities and disabilities. This includes
Asperger's as well.

You can't be a 'little bit black'. Even if you're mixed-race you are
not white!

That is only true in a racist culture. If race were not socially charged,
people from mixed ancestry would simply be whatever they are. In fact, race
itself is not meaningful in the biological sense. It's a purely social
concept.

I'm of mixed European descent. I'm part Russian, part Romanian, part
Norwegian, part English, Scottish and German. Your basic Euro-moggie.
But would you say that because I'm partly Norwegian, that means I cannot
also be Romanian? That's what you're saying above...

So if you do think you have Asperger's - that's what ****es people off
(it usually does on subconscious level - that's why they 'turn on you'
because humans always turn on anyone who is 'different' - it's
programmed in their psyche. Unless people use intellect to work around
the subconscious prejudice and try to understand you and accept you

Agreed on this. We do have a natural, built-in distrust of people who
seem different, unknown, foreign to us. Most likely this was a survival
advantage that we evolved millions of years ago. And I totally agree
that we need to use our intellect to overcome this fear. Really, it
doesn't take that much for a person, who may seem different at first,
to become familiar once you get to know them.

Sadly, it seems to be in the interest of some people to *encourage*
this natural distrust, and entrench it as bigotry within the culture.
Better to have poor whites and blacks hating and blaming each other
for their problems, than to have them realize that meanwhile, a few
folks are enjoying all the resources and are laughing up their sleeves.

It's not your Jewishness! Come on! Unless you live in a Communist
Russia, wear our religious headgear and openly go to Synagogue in
which case you may get some drunk shout obscenities at you - you're
just not gonna be identified as anything other than white

I don't know how old you are, but you seem to be lacking in a sense
of history - recent history at that. It's true that in the US, Jews
have done pretty well, not just economically relative to other minorities,
but socially, too. And yes, we can "hide", but I would prefer not to
pretend to be gentile just so some lout won't yell obscenities at me
(or worse). But it's a very recent phenomenon, and Jews have a long
history of being more or less accepted in a culture, only to be be
turned on after a change in the social or political situation.

I also posted about being ostrasized as a child for being Jewish, and
I'm certain that was the reason. I don't know, maybe it was something
about being called "Jew" by the other kids that tipped me off?

and
prejudice against the blacks and the Pakistanis in the Western World
is much greater than it is against the Jews or Irish or anyone else. I
know - I'm a Jew through and through.

Pakistanis? Do you live in the UK? Maybe things are different there,
but here in the US there are plenty of neo-nazi and aryan brotherhood
type groups. They are considered to be fringe fanatics by most people,
but they're there, alright, and they do commit violent and distructive
acts (setting fire to synagogues, desecrating Jewish grave sites, etc).
Sadly, anti-Semitism is not dead.

--
Joyce ^..^

(To email me, remove the X's from my user name.)

Hehehe. I am amused at the notion of the 'average' geek. Don't mind me.
I don't. But I think it might be different here. There is an enormous
geek community around here. I know, "geek community" might sound like an
oxymoron. But it's not! It's a well-established and strong subculture.
You can definitely feel like an outsider if you don't fit in. Maybe in
sufficient numbers, they're able to construct their entire lives so that
they interact only with other like-minded people. Work? No-brainer, of
course everyone you work with at your software job is a geek. Social life?
There are sf cons, gamer cons, and all kinds of groups that get together
for Babylon 5 or Iron Chef (the original) marathons, knitting marathons
(mostly, but not entirely, female geeks), or other types of marathons.
Have you noticed that "marathon" is essential to the geek lifestyle?
Obsessions R Us.

Edinburgh is a bit like that too. There was until recently a pub which
functioned as the Head Office of Geekdom: it had a transvestite manager
and served as a meeting place on different days of the week for a Linux
user group, a Goth fan club, cross-dressing and bondage/sadomasochist
social clubs, had a Scottish traditional music session and had a notice
board and a newsletter that covered vintage vinyl, chess and fencing.

There must have been a lot of people involved in more than one of those.
("Wrong night? oh ****, I spent all last night making copies of the new
Ubuntu release and that's what I've brought - can somebody lend me a whip
and a set of straps?")

==== j a c k at c a m p i n . m e . u k === http://www.campin.me.uk ====
Jack Campin, 11 Third St, Newtongrange EH22 4PU, Scotland == mob 07800 739 557
CD-ROMs and free stuff: Scottish music, food intolerance, and Mac logic fonts

Jack Campin - bogus address wrote:

There must have been a lot of people involved in more than one of those.
("Wrong night? oh ****, I spent all last night making copies of the new
Ubuntu release and that's what I've brought - can somebody lend me a whip
and a set of straps?")

Jack, that's hysterical. There does seem to be some sort of link
between geekdom and an inclination toward SM and bondage. What's that
about, I wonder? It's not my thing, but it's so prevalent around where
I live that it's become fairly mundane. I did go to a bondage/SM party
once, and I overheard a group of people in the next room, who had tied
up a guy in a chair, and were standing around admiring their work. They
were seriously geeking out about knot techniques, which soon devolved
into Unix jokes.

--
Joyce ^..^

(To email me, remove the X's from my user name.)

It's true, many Jews can pass as non-Jewish.

Or the other way round, in some circles. I've been taken for Jewish
twice. Once was by a guy in Pittsburgh with a "mitzvahmobile" selling
religious paraphernalia who thought I was a potential customer, and
once by a fascist newspaper seller in Glasgow when I took a photo of
him.


You can't be a 'little bit black'. Even if you're mixed-race you
are not white!
That is only true in a racist culture.

Only in a *very* racist culture, like the US. The UK is sufficiently
better that while the Formula 1 racing champion Lewis Hamilton looks
like Obama's kid brother, I've never seen him described as black in
the British media. Coffee-coloured people don't usually get an ethnic
label in the UK.

==== j a c k at c a m p i n . m e . u k === http://www.campin.me.uk ====
Jack Campin, 11 Third St, Newtongrange EH22 4PU, Scotland == mob 07800 739 557
CD-ROMs and free stuff: Scottish music, food intolerance, and Mac logic fonts