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’Kassenbon’ means racism in German | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Cultural Experiences in Foreign Languages | ( Topic Closed) |  |
 Iversen Super Polyglot Moderator Denmark berejst.dk Joined 6485 days ago 9078 posts - 16473 votes  Speaks: Danish*, French, English, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch, Swedish, Esperanto, Romanian, Catalan Studies: Afrikaans, Greek, Norwegian, Russian, Serbian, Icelandic, Latin, Irish, Lowland Scots, Indonesian, Polish, Croatian Personal Language Map | Message 2 of 26 13 April 2015 at 12:20pm | IP Logged | ||
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In some supermarkets you'll be asked whether you want your receipt or not because not all costumers want it. And if you aren't prepared for that it may cause a few seconds of confusion. But the behaviour of the old man was of course appalling from any point of view, and the cashier should definitely not have joined him.
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| basica Senior Member Australia Joined 3318 days ago 157 posts - 269 votes Studies: Serbian | Message 3 of 26 13 April 2015 at 1:32pm | IP Logged | ||
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When my parents first came to Australia they had a similar incident where the cashier asked them a question
that they didn't expect and both the cashier and the people behind my parents started laughing at their attempt to communicate. Not very nice at all, I'm sorry you went through it. 3 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Cthulhu Tetraglot Senior Member Canada Joined 7005 days ago 139 posts - 235 votes Speaks: French*, English, Mandarin, Russian | Message 4 of 26 13 April 2015 at 1:43pm | IP Logged | ||
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I'm not sure I see the racism here. An old man getting restless and grinning? A cashier asking if you want your
receipt? Even if they were mocking you, it sounds like they were mocking your inability to understand German, which isn't racism. More likely, the old man made a stupid joke, and the cashier laughed because that's what people in minimum wage service jobs do when customers make stupid jokes, but of course we'll never know because I wasn't there and you couldn't understand what was being said. And for that you're going to lodge a formal complaint and possibly cost some poor shmoe his job? Yeah, ok. 8 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| caam_imt Triglot Senior Member Mexico Joined 4644 days ago 232 posts - 357 votes Speaks: Spanish*, EnglishC2, Finnish Studies: German, Swedish | Message 5 of 26 13 April 2015 at 2:05pm | IP Logged | ||
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Oh man, people call everything racism these days. I understand you feel angry for not
understanding and because they laughed at you, but where is the racism? it could have happened to someone else you know. Did you ask what they were laughing at? did they mock you for having a different skin color? if you don't know this then you can't say it was racism. They were rude, sure, but not racists. And since you can't be sure my advice is to suck it up and go on with your life. Not everybody will like you, and sometimes while being in another country you think that bad crap happens to you because of how you look. It's in your head pal. I'm sure that if the exact same thing happened in Greece, you wouldn't be making such a fuss about it, since bad stuff happens to us all the time. But abroad you feel vulnerable and take things too seriously. Think about it. Edited by caam_imt on 13 April 2015 at 2:10pm 5 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Serpent Octoglot Senior Member Russian Federation serpent-849.livejour Joined 6379 days ago 9753 posts - 15779 votes 4 sounds Speaks: Russian*, English, FinnishC1, Latin, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese Studies: Danish, Romanian, Polish, Belarusian, Ukrainian, Croatian, Slovenian, Catalan, Czech, Galician, Dutch, Swedish | Message 6 of 26 13 April 2015 at 2:05pm | IP Logged | ||
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In Finland I'm *always* asked (unless I spare them the trouble and say no before they even ask). I believe it's about ecology.
I'm sorry about your experience. I wish there was more emphasis on how varied discrimination can be. I'm reluctant to call it racism when it's about Slavic, Mediterranean or Jewish people since it's more about nationality than race. In the first two cases it's bound to be seen as less serious than "actual" racism. I find that sticking to terms like nationalism and xenophobia is good for making people see that "it's a thing". edit: I definitely disagree that it's only in the OP's head, although I agree that other kinds of discrimination shouldn't be called racism. But let's not blame the OP for that with all the exposure we get to this wording. It's difficult enough to have to prove the discrimination you face; let's not make it worse. Instead how about starting with those who aren't speaking of their own experiences. If someone is pro-LGBT you can tell them that it's like saying homophobia when you mean transphobia. Edited by Serpent on 13 April 2015 at 3:41pm 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Serpent Octoglot Senior Member Russian Federation serpent-849.livejour Joined 6379 days ago 9753 posts - 15779 votes 4 sounds Speaks: Russian*, English, FinnishC1, Latin, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese Studies: Danish, Romanian, Polish, Belarusian, Ukrainian, Croatian, Slovenian, Catalan, Czech, Galician, Dutch, Swedish | Message 7 of 26 13 April 2015 at 2:31pm | IP Logged | ||
Plenty of stupid jokes are racist or xenophobic. Also, racism is more than just "making fun of the skin colour". It's making any lazy assumptions based on someone's race, especially when you're in a position of power or consider yourself to be. And cashiers only feel like that when there's a "potential criminal" out there. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| basica Senior Member Australia Joined 3318 days ago 157 posts - 269 votes Studies: Serbian | Message 8 of 26 13 April 2015 at 2:33pm | IP Logged | ||
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I think focusing on whether or not this is racism is really straining out a gnat while swallowing a camel - the
bigger issue to me seems what the OP went through and how it made them fee, but this is the internet after all. Edited by basica on 13 April 2015 at 2:34pm 2 persons have voted this message useful |
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