Vent Thread

I think I have about 400 days and 12000 gold on my account. I haven't launched it this month. No plan on going back anytime soon. For me it was lack of seeing a relationship between effort and result over an extended period of time. There were too many unknown variables present influencing my results, but effort didn't seem to be one of them. It sort of lost it's purpose for me. I still love the concept mind you and the models. 

if you see me in a multiplayer game that we both play, feel free to spam me.
Most of the time though my console is being used for music/tv at the moment.

EDIT: I voiced my concerns about being a bit quiet while thanking the host for the invite with the group, but was told by the host that I was doing great, I just wish I wasn't as quiet.

Perhaps I have some deep rooted paranoia issues I need to look into. If you caught this, please excuse me.

I'd like to talk about the concept of minority phobias or whatever the term is. I'm not sure if it's a rant or not but it will be a bit long winded - I'm a bit frustrated by the negative connotations, we're all a bit minority phobic, it's part of the Human condition. We like what we like, trust what we know,embrace what we like and reject what we don't and tend to have varying prejudices.

It's a touchy subject. According to the definition of Racism, it involves a racial superiority complex. I don't have that but i'm intollerent toward a lot of foreign culture being overtly shoved in my face.

I don't really know what homophobia is or cisgenderphobia or even what LGBTIA+ is all about or why people feel the need to promote it.
Specifically in regard to Homophobia , I don't like camp accents and feel more uncomfortable with displays of affection between partners of the same sex or expressions of sexual liberation in the many forms that some feel the need to express it. That's not the entire Gay community though. Sexual identities, why would I care? Some people have partners, some don't. I've socialised with all sorts of people with no doubt all sorts of sexual identities and fetishes but someone elses sexual identity is somewhat irrelevent to me. I'm not a fan of Oxford/Cambridge/finishing school Toff accents either or displays of intimacy between hetro couples although I find those displays slightly less confronting but still confronting but I'm not considered a hetrophobe, just a homophobe. I don't support gay marriage but ok with changing the term of Marriage to something else for all sexual identities including hetrosexuals. I'm not scared or hateful or inclined to bully or avoid homosexuals. I've had various relationships with those who have identified as homosexual, plenty of relationships with people who I've given no thought to their sexual identities also.
Here's a bit of a story.
Prior to being married back in the mid 90s, I did have a bloke I worked with ask me if I was single and if I was Gay, he was interested and he thought I may have been. He felt rather embarrassed after, I felt sorry for him because my response was no doubt disappointing, especially after plucking up the courage to ask me in the first place, well that's how I would have felt in his shoes if I was knocked back by a girl. Oddly he'd even checked in with a female colleague first and both thought I may have been Gay. No idea what signals I was sending to suggest I was gay but I may have thought about it but it doesn't really matter.

I used to socialise a bit with work colleagues after hours since I lived in the CBD pretty close to where we worked and was out on the town with this guy who admittedly liked to wear a bit of makeup after hours, which was a bit weird to me but whatever anyway, we were sitting at a table in a pub, minding our own business and a confrontation occurred with some assholes who were paying out on him, snide remarks and all that, even involving me. Normally I run away from confrontation or I'd be reluctantly behind someone but more than prepared to sort out if they needed it. This time though, I'd had a bit to drink so ended up approaching these guys and letting them know very strongly that they might wish to reconsider their antagonistic approach. I don't believe that their stance that I was partered with this fella had anything to do with why I was a bit riled. I felt like my mate was being harassed by a couple of loudmouth bullies and it was starting to piss me off.

Thankfully for me, they weren't prepared to take it to the next level although they started making loud comments when we left which I ignored. The reason for this story is that my stance has nothing to do with how I feel/felt in regard to sexually identities. Sticking up for the bloke I was with should not be confused with me being pro Gay but I don't consider sexual identity to be up there on the list of reasons I might be inclined to socialise with people or up there with the reasons as to where my sense of justice is. This bloke eventually found someone and he was a raving lovestruck loony for a few weeks but I think I departed the organisation soon after. I'm still a homophobe because of I don't support Gay marriage.

Anyway I wrestle with the idea that I'm a Homophobe and a Racist or rather that i'm a nasty piece of work because I am those things. While we're at it, I werestle with the concept that I may well have had or have peadophelic tendancies too since I've found myself noticing High school Seniors before.

To the Racist part.

Where I live and work it's fairly multicultural but I wish it was more like Borg culture ie, assimilating aspects of foreign culture but rejecting the parts which conflict with my values. The issue with multiculturalism is that some cultures start to dominate and become more prevalent at the expense of others. Australian culture traditionally is fairly passive and laid back, except when sport is involved or our national pride is challeneged, but I don't know who we are any more because other cultures are eroding mine from within my home country.

I definitely have cultural prejudices in relation to what culture I enjoy and what culture I don't enjoy especially when it comes to impacting my traditional culture and my sense of identity/Who I am or my perception of Australias people's identity.
There's a bit of that going on in Public spaces now in Perth. I don't hate foreign culture so much but I tire of having it forced upon me.

The big one and most frustrating is public etiquette and I notice this on the Commute, to and from work.

Every day I seem to have my peaceful relaxed headspace shattered by a few people who seem to like talking very loudly on their mobile phone in foreign tongues, sometimes on speakerphone or have some stinky foreign food that they just chow down on slurping loudly, Then there's sick people sniffling and snorting and coughing or someone deciding they don't need to use headphones when they listen to their foreign language facebook videos or news broadcast or whatever it is. Then there's those who have thrash metal music or pop music blaring but admittedly, they tend to be just rebellious kids who think that's cool.

My shit filters have developed over the years to filter out background "Australian cultural norm background noises" They don't work for this foreign stuff and I don't know how to deal with this foreign cultural noise that is so abrasive. An unfortunate side affect is that the offenders all seem to have particular physical traits about them and I'm bothered that I'm starting to form stereotypes.

I have ADHD and have traditionally used commute time to relax and read a book or just chill. With these distractions, I can't do that anymore and it's impacting how I arrive at the other end. It's much worse late in the day when tired, my tolerance drops and I become increasingly feeling like i'm trapped. Whatever happened to "when in Rome, do as Romans do" is that a foreign concept in most parts of the world?
I feel like my way of life is being eroded by minorities and foreign culture is being forced down my throat impacting my traditional and home culture and environment. It's really bothering me.

There has always been disruptive kids and certain rebellious loudmouths but this is different and it's becoming increasingly more prevalent. While we're on the subject of racism and stereotypes. Why is it that I've seen groups of dark skinned people blaring rap music but don't notice different ethnic groups doing that? I don't like loud music but loud angry rap music when i'm trying to relax - hate that and not a fan of those inconsiderate folks that do either. I try and sit or stand or move carriages when such groups are around. Passive racism they call it. Sadly for me since they seem to be dark skinned, it's just another way I'm labelled as racist. I so miss the goog old days.....

Ok enough of a rant/vent from me.....

I'm a bit cynical about the labels - there's such broad spectrums within the labels but there's a very negative connotation associated with all of them.  If I look at music Genre's. I don't like Rap music and I'm generally not a fan of the sounds out of India or the middle east or China, nor do I like hip hop at least for the most part. These styles of music happen to be cultural derived and there are strong associations ethnicity and race. The same can be said about other cultural norms, behaviours and systems of etiquette or accepted behaviours. 
I question if I'm racist because there are aspects of a foreign culture that I find objectionable and in some cases offensive.

With the train ride, It's not that I feel someone is intruding on my space, they are actually doing so.  I find fault because it is not socially polite behaviour within the culture that I am born and bred into and identify with or that their behaviour is intruding on. That's not to say there's rude people who are not foreign but generally people adopt a standard of behaviour or maybe that's just me who adopts the when in rome do as romans do creed.

 I don't take issue specifically with many foreign languages and there's plenty being spoken at ambient volumes in the same spaces but it takes more concentration for me to filter foreign sounds or smells and when the volumes are louder than ambient, it prevents me from doing what I want to do and they always seem to be loud when people are on a phone call or the smell of whatever the fruit or whatever it is that they eat is unfilterable it becomes pervasive and offensive.  Those that eat KFC and Fish and Chips or Seafood - same deal, it's considered rude but at least it's smells that i'm used to so can filter.
With the foreign stuff it's very pronounced, there's no escaping it, so much for relaxing, reading or experiencing a peaceful commute. The cultural norm of a relaxing commute is being destroyed by these foreign elements. This is my home, feeling the way I do is a reasonable response. 

Loud mobile phone calls in fairly intimate spaces like elevators or train carriages are not well received in many parts of the world. We have announcements and signs on trains here about etiquette, food and drink, entitled seating for the less able, students, stand for adults.  Some people don't seem to care or don't seem to notice. Most do. 

Right and wrong is all relative. Their actions are invasive and pervasive to my space.  To me they are invading my sensory space and are coming to my country and negatively impacting my experience here by behaving in a way that the local population considers rude and impolite and borders on offensive for me.  I consider that wrong but that's my culture that's part of a majority shared value of my birth countries culture. It's different but certainly right in my country.  Clearly other cultures don't agree and that's the problem with multiculturalism. Some cultural aspects of different cultures are mutually exclusive and when thrown into the same space, it creates conflict.  

I want people to feel welcome here and share in their culture but not at the expense of me being able to enjoy my home culture. I'm increasingly becoming culturally racist. ie not ethnically racist. 

Snore, what you're talking about with assimilation is why I brought up the Greeks and Romans--if that wasn't apparent. When Alexander the Great took over the world, it caused other cultures to have to assimilate. We still see the effect they left on shaping culture.

Equality is a myth, you cannot grant rights to one without removing rights of another.

Understandable. I was coming at it more from the view of the people who would've been conquered. I imagine they might have felt some of the ways Test talked about.