Integrating into a foreign society

[rodgerd]

[*]There was virtually zero unemployment, apart from those who deliberately chose not to work, or were physically incapable of working.

I think you'll find this was almost entirely a change bought on by Britain saying, "thanks for all the young men you sacrificed to keep us free, our new friends the Germans will give us more money to be in the Common Market." And leaving it to us with a wave of the middle finger.

[*]Research was not driven solely by economic necessity, but had room for curiosity.

*ahahahahaha* That would be why New Zealand scientists of note from your age that never existed all ended up overseas, right? New Zealand held intellectuals of any stripe - scientists, artists, whatever - in contempt for the most part.

[*]Political correctness was more a matter of being fair and reasonable, than desperately trying to suck up to every weird and wonderful minority group, to the extent one was almost expected to be apologetic for being a light-skinned, heterosexual male.

Oh, bullshit. Tell me about the "fair and reasonable" parts of kids being punished for speaking Maori, or throwing people in jail for who they like to have sex with, then we'll talk about how opressed poor little you is.

[rodgerd]

Then how come when I speak English impecably,

That's the problem, see. Only you bloody foreigners speak English properly. You'll have to start speaking like a local...

[Fryin Finn]

Come and live in Welly mate, I don't hear anyone bagging Asian drivers down here. Polynesian (and other Nationality) taxi drivers, that's another story.

Yeah well I could bag a few Asian drivers - One idiot reversed back into me at an intersection (I was on a hill and couldn't backpedal) He had a filthy rear windscreen. And one fine young chap passed a cyclist and turned left in front of him. The cyclist was going to drag the driver out of his car and beat him to a pulp. I pulled him off and told him it was not worth it. Then nearly punched the driver out myself.
Then again I have plenty of stories about Honky Ma Fah crap drivers too

[Marmoot]

Yeah well I could bag a few Asian drivers - One idiot reversed back into me at an intersection (I was on a hill and couldn't backpedal) He had a filthy rear windscreen. And one fine young chap passed a cyclist and turned left in front of him. The cyclist was going to drag the driver out of his car and beat him to a pulp. I pulled him off and told him it was not worth it. Then nearly punched the driver out myself.
Then again I have plenty of stories about Honky Ma Fah crap drivers too

do you have many stories about kiwi drivers too? And how about pommie drivers? Or african drivers?
Or are they all only about "other" drivers?

[James Deuce]

do you have many stories about kiwi drivers too? And how about pommie drivers? Or african drivers?
Or are they all only about "other" drivers?

Kiwi drivers are violent anti social lunatics with very poor skills and situational awareness compared to UK drivers.

[El Dopa]

Thats all nice to say... what about muslim countries where there are no other religions??? it then IS the culture as it dictates the way people act

Name one (except Afghanistan, which is arguably a unique case).

There are freely and openly practising Christians in Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Egypt......

[Kickaha]

Name one (except Afghanistan, which is arguably a unique case).

There are freely and openly practising Christians in Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Egypt......

I would argue that they are not freely and openly practising Christianity in Egypt,they are discriminated against and have a lot of restrictions placed on them that aren't also applied to those practising the dominant religion

and bring your bucket

Long way to bring it just so you can thrash me

The not locking your house and car thing was BS IMO. My grandmother who was born in 1920, never remembered it that way, and she grew up in a rural part of Hamilton

It wasn't untill the early eighties and all the kids had left home that my parents started locking theirs and where I lived in Chch we didnt until the early nineties,it wasn't unusual to come home and find your friends making themselves at home and we did the same at their places

Kickaha, my earlier point too, can you get a decent doughnut now?

no idea I'm watching my weight

[scumdog]

The not locking your house and car thing was BS IMO. My grandmother who was born in 1920, never remembered it that way, and she grew up in a rural part of Hamilton.

You must live in a sorry-arsed part of the country if that's the case, - more so if it's true about way back in the 1920's.

Down South it's not unusual for cars to be left unlocked (in one of my cars case I have no option -no side windows) likewise houses.

Not long ago at one of my previous employment places the car park was littered with cars sitting there unlocked with the keys still in them.

Lots of times in my job I find parked vehicles with keys in, unlocked houses, vehicles left running while owner is at ATM or shop.

Glad I'm in the frozen, unpopulated, deserted roads South

[Milky]

I guess you could consider it a sign of the times or just statistics finally choosing us, but a couple of weeks back our front wall was tagged on, along with a next door neighbours wall and some power poles down our street... First time in 20+ years of my folks owning this home that it has happened. Ditto with a burglary last year.
I aint that old, but I have seen huge changes from when I was young. Things like a foreign kid in a shop screaming out "MY MOTHER IS A FUCKING ASSHOLE!!!" while (non english speaking?) mother shopped for plants. People not being courteous on the roads anymore. People driving their kids 50m to school because it is too dangerous for them to walk ...

Ah the good 'ol days


Heh... If this is how I am now, imagine me as a cranky old man.... I will be absolutely INTOLERABLE

[Ms Piggy]

Just my view of the health system... cousin had appointment, hospital cancel, goes to quack 3 days later looses leg instead of just toes = screwed to me anyway

Yup that does suck. But, not to minimise what has happened to your cousin in anyway, is that something the current 'powers that be' have done or hasn't the Health System in N.Z been an issue for a long time?

peoples attitudes to tatts make me laugh!... my mum (also in a wheelchair!)
got her first tatt (pretty dolphin on shoulder blade) when she was 64

difference between tattooed and non tattooed people.... tattooed people dont care if you're not tattooed

Yeah they're funny aye, I think what Mike L said is right though things have changed. It took my Mum a while to adjust to me having my 1st tattoo b/c "in her day" only the "funny girls" i.e. sluts & prostitutes, had tats.

Most people are pretty accepting now.

[Ms Piggy]

Now, if everybody is like that, that is the ideal manifesto of freedom & democracy.
But there can be no ideal in this world, can there?

Nope - no such thing as an "ideal world" I'm afraid to say but, I'm a hopeless romantic & idealist, just don't tell anyone!

I thinks that is b/c everyone has differing versions of what is ideal. For me it's about giving everyone the benefit of the doubt, glass half full type of philosophy etc, etc.

[James Deuce]

You must live in a sorry-arsed part of the country if that's the case, - more so if it's true about way back in the 1920's.

Down South it's not unusual for cars to be left unlocked (in one of my cars case I have no option -no side windows) likewise houses.

Not long ago at one of my previous employment places the car park was littered with cars sitting there unlocked with the keys still in them.

Lots of times in my job I find parked vehicles with keys in, unlocked houses, vehicles left running while owner is at ATM or shop.

Glad I'm in the frozen, unpopulated, deserted roads South

So I'm my own Grandmother now?

I grew up in Auckland and the doors were always locked at night and when we went out.

The whole nostalgia kick thing that it was better in the past and everyone was friendlier is just crap. Just like everything was perfect in the US in the '50s if you believed what you saw on telly. Things were different, not better.

[SPman]

Kiwi drivers are violent anti social lunatics with very poor skills and situational awareness compared to UK drivers.

I thought that was the norm in most places in the world! Except for me of course.

[James Deuce]

I thought that was the norm in most places in the world! Except for me of course.

The difference is pretty darned marked. Had a year of driving unfamiliar roads with slightly different rules, and I haven't seen a more polite bunch of drivers, or highly dense 80mph traffic flows where gaps opened up if you put your indicator on. First day driving back in NZ some dude got out of his car with a softball bat and had a go at the car in front of him, about three cars in front of us. Too much emotion involved in driving here.

[Marmoot]

I would argue that they are not freely and openly practising Christianity in Egypt,they are discriminated against and have a lot of restrictions placed on them that aren't also applied to those practising the dominant religion

This opens a whole can of worms.....
If we are going to impose restrictions on muslims (e.g.: wearing burqas is strange; they have to take of their burqas in court, supermarket, shops, etc; they cannot wear burqas in schools, etc) doesn't it mean we are discriminating them and becoming just the same as Iraq, Saudi Arabia, etc, then? in other words, "restrictions placed on them that aren't also applied to those practising the dominant religion" becomes true to us.
Do we really want to be that kind of society that we so look down at?

How ironic it is that it's so easy to be what you don't want to be when the situation is flipped..... eh?