In a message dated 4/5/2002 12:07:34 PM Eastern Standard Time,
[log in to unmask] writes:


> Nah, being from the South, we really thought otherwise until my brother
> encountered the Dutchman who gave him that information re: Indonesia. I
> call
> myself a red neck and I detest political correctness, although I go through
> the motions when I must. You know the drill.
>
> Bobby
>
Ah yes, the PC drill.  That fixes everything, dudn't it?  I didn't care about
it anymore after a conversation with my african american black type work
partner, who half jokingly mentioned that he wished they hadn't changed it
from 'black' to 'african american,' since he just got his mom to stop saying
'colored.'    I had to laugh because I just got my own Mom PC trained the
same way.  What are ya gonna do?

Around here, in emergency response speak, the radio term for a black male was
"No. 1 male", for white, it was No. 2 male.  This wasn't part of my fire
department lingo, but guys I worked with were also FD volunteers in various
other places where this was used.  So...if you were on the air to the
emergency room or whatever, describing a patient's condition, you might say
"we have a No. 1 male, approx 35 years, with (whatever his medical situation
was).  It was just radio short hand, that's all,  but it was used so often in
a derrogatory sense by bigoted firemen in routine conversation that it was
finally dropped.

I wasn't a fireman either, neither was I a firefighter.  I was a split tail.
That's what they call female firefighters here.  It didn't bother me, as
those of you who know me might imagine.  I guess it bothered some of the
others though, and I can understand that.

I didn't care what they want to be called, as long as they didn't bail out of
a fire and leave this split tail humping a hand line by herself.

Hi ho, hi ho, it's off to EEO...