The Coffee House

[limr32 1]

PS- Great fishing, from tuna to swordfish to rock fish ... (surfing is just average). Gary can see you waking up every morning, stretching as you open the blinds, a fresh cup of coffee steaming in your hand, filling your nose with its fragrance, seals bark below as you stare out to the bright blue Pacific rolling across the rocks and cliffs of La Jolla.

Yep, under all that crusty Alabama exterior ... your heart says La Jolla.

No dis of San Diego intended, because there are many other places I wouldn't care to live either. I would agree that the further you move north from Hollywood it's probably better. Being as mobile as we are, we feel fortunate that we can experience many different climates, without being encumbered to living there permanently.

Unfortunately and of late, we seem to bicker about what that common good may be instead of seeking the common ground of compromise and cooperation.

and assimilation of the various ethnic/racial/religious groups in LA. In the Los Angeles Unified School District, there were approximately 100 different languages spoken.

Yes we agree on the lack of cooperation, but something you said in the last quote I feel has contributed to some of the disharmony in this country. I can remember a time not so long ago when English was the language of the land. Yes the local communities might have spoken their native languages in their home, but there was also a pride in learning the language of this country. People wanted to be recognized as American, and not so much as a native of their homeland. In the rush to "assimilate and accommodate" we've forgotten the "united" part of what made this country great. Assimilate means to become a part of the society, not a separatist within. To often people forget the lesson of Aesop’s Fable, "The Miller, His Son and Their Ass", in the misguided effort to accommodate and the reluctance to offend anyone, they are actually depriving these groups of privilege of becoming a part of the larger society.

When everyone, realizes that they have to act on what is the best for the country as a whole and not their own personal agendas, then maybe change will come. Time for the country to grow up and learn to say Yes to the good for the majority, and No when it's required, because as the fable goes "when you try to please everyone, you end up pleasing no one".

Do not assume that just because people speak another language that they don't also speak English. Also don't assume that just because they haven't mastered it doesn't mean it's because they aren't trying or that they have no interest. Trying to learn a second language in a new country is not as simple a task as some try to make it out to be.

One can have pride in more than one language. There is richness in diversity. "United" does not automatically mean absolute conformity.

 

[waday]

PS- Great fishing, from tuna to swordfish to rock fish ... (surfing is just average). Gary can see you waking up every morning, stretching as you open the blinds, a fresh cup of coffee steaming in your hand, filling your nose with its fragrance, seals bark below as you stare out to the bright blue Pacific rolling across the rocks and cliffs of La Jolla.

Yep, under all that crusty Alabama exterior ... your heart says La Jolla.

No dis of San Diego intended, because there are many other places I wouldn't care to live either. I would agree that the further you move north from Hollywood it's probably better. Being as mobile as we are, we feel fortunate that we can experience many different climates, without being encumbered to living there permanently.

Unfortunately and of late, we seem to bicker about what that common good may be instead of seeking the common ground of compromise and cooperation.

and assimilation of the various ethnic/racial/religious groups in LA. In the Los Angeles Unified School District, there were approximately 100 different languages spoken.

Yes we agree on the lack of cooperation, but something you said in the last quote I feel has contributed to some of the disharmony in this country. I can remember a time not so long ago when English was the language of the land. Yes the local communities might have spoken their native languages in their home, but there was also a pride in learning the language of this country. People wanted to be recognized as American, and not so much as a native of their homeland. In the rush to "assimilate and accommodate" we've forgotten the "united" part of what made this country great. Assimilate means to become a part of the society, not a separatist within. To often people forget the lesson of Aesop’s Fable, "The Miller, His Son and Their Ass", in the misguided effort to accommodate and the reluctance to offend anyone, they are actually depriving these groups of privilege of becoming a part of the larger society.

When everyone, realizes that they have to act on what is the best for the country as a whole and not their own personal agendas, then maybe change will come. Time for the country to grow up and learn to say Yes to the good for the majority, and No when it's required, because as the fable goes "when you try to please everyone, you end up pleasing no one".

Do not assume that just because people speak another language that they don't also speak English. Also don't assume that just because they haven't mastered it doesn't mean it's because they aren't trying or that they have no interest. Trying to learn a second language in a new country is not as simple a task as some try to make it out to be.

One can have pride in more than one language. There is richness in diversity. "United" does not automatically mean absolute conformity.

Wait wait wait, so you mean when someone is speaking another language, they're not always either (A) talking about me or (B) a terrorist? They may actually just be having a normal conversation in a language they feel more comfortable with?

Please see this as both tongue-in-cheek and biting my tongue at the same time.

 

[waday]

Also, we need to start speaking in terms of "integration" as opposed to "assimilation".

 

[vintagesnaps]

It was in more recent years at work that we started getting more Spanish speaking families here. Adults don't usually learn a new language that easily but the kids do. I remember one family that the dad was bilingual, mom only spoke Spanish but got tapes and books trying to learn English, but when the older elementary age kids were home on school breaks, those two jabbered away like any kids their age - you wouldn't have known listening to them that they didn't grow up in a home with two English speaking parents. It just takes time and maybe a generation.

And I found usually that the families/parents couldn't wait to tell us that their child had said a new word - in English. They seemed pleased and I guess if you come here from another country that you want your kids to be bilingual and to be able to communicate in school with the other kids.

Lunch break is over and I gotta get something done. This is just like college cramming for a test... not gonna pull an all nighter though!

 

[waday]

Integration/assimilation and acceptance/expectation are two different things.

We need to integrate, as well as accept.

For example, we should accept different cultures and peoples by integrating them into our society. We should be able to celebrate our differences, while also being a united country.

If we are to assimilate and have expectations, we will not be united; people are different, even across the US.

For example, people from NYC are completely different than people from California. People from California are completely different than people from Texas. If we were to expect people to assimilate, which group is a baseline for assimilation? Which accent should we start using? Do people need to learn the dialects from across the country?

Or should we respect and celebrate the differences? The fact that we're all different should bring us closer together.

 

[Gary A.]

That's easy ... California.

 

[Gary A.]

In favor of San Francisco ... What's wrong with the center of the known universe?

 

[smoke665]

Yep, under all that crusty Alabama exterior ... your heart says La Jolla.

You know I really hope that one day we can increase our time between doctor visits to the point that we can visit that area as well as all the coast line all the way up to Washington. I suspect that we could enjoy a spirited debate on many subjects and I know there is some beautiful country

 

[smoke665]

@limr and @Wayday rather than delve into a debate on things that will most likely get me censored by the moderators, I'll simply repeat this line from my earlier post.

"When everyone, realizes that they have to act on what is the best for the country as a whole and not their own personal agendas, then maybe change will come."

 

[Gary A.]

Yep, under all that crusty Alabama exterior ... your heart says La Jolla.

You know I really hope that one day we can increase our time between doctor visits to the point that we can visit that area as well as all the coast line all the way up to Washington. I suspect that we could enjoy a spirited debate on many subjects and I know there is some beautiful country

The geological/biological/environmental diversity of California is unmatched anywhere in the world. Other places may come close ... but fade because of California takes all of it's wonders into extremes.

 

[Braineack]

braineack today on TFP:

 

[smoke665]

This was on a Birmingham station, at least they were compassionate?

 

[Gary A.]

Nope ... more like this:

and this ...

This ..

Some of this ...

smoke's new house ...

and a whole lot of this ...

 

[smoke665]

@Gary A. beautiful country to be sure, but we aren't without here, and no way I would ever settle in a house with visible neighbors again. We have a few neighbors but our elevation and tree cover puts them out of view. We do like to travel, but frankly there are also times when we never leave our little mountain for days.

 

[JonA_CT]

braineack today on TFP:

You directed me to the right threads to read tonight, haha.