CHRISTMAS is UPON US

We see things as we are not as they are. Political correctness, among other things, has made us more "skittish" about the things we say and do. Like labor unions that started with good intentions and morphed into what they are today (insert your opinion here) political correctness was a legitimate attempt to protect others from insults and abuse. Unfortunately, this too has evolved to the point where the insult is wholly in the eye of the beholder. If the person who thinks he or she was insulted is an abject illiterate moron with a limited vocabulary, or has a different cultural connotation to words than you do, and you say certain words, you may be found responsible for the insult that the other person experiences. I have taken more than my fair share of cultural diversity classes and attended political correctness lectures. Without exception, the teaching is directed to mainstream Americans upon whom it is incumbent to know the customs and jargon of the culturally diverse. An example of this might be... a Japanese tourist comes to America for a visit. You toast them with a glass of wine. While clinking your glasses together, the rim of your glass is higher than his. This is an indication in his culture that you consider yourself more important than he. Another tourist from the middle east is siting with you in a restaurant. You cross your legs and the bottom of your shoe points toward the stranger. Where he comes from, this is a sign of disrespect. You are supposed to know this. It is your country, and you are responsible for knowing his cultural quirks. When a former president visited Japan and was asked how his trip was going, he made the OK sign (thumb and index make a circle) and everyone swooned. Apparently this is the Japanese equivalent of the middle finger. Who knew? Anyhow, our president in their country was responsible for knowing this. When they come here we are responsible for not offending them. So, wherever we are, we are responsible. We are Americans after all.

Then there's the exceptional lengths we go to in order to make foreigners feel at home here. You can now get a Spanish language version of every government form. You can get your driver's license in Spanish. Can you imagine going to Mexico and going to the driver's license bureau and asking for the forms and exam in English? "We doan gotta cho you no steenkin' application in Eengleesh" will probably be their response. Yet here, we have foot baths for taxi drivers in New York, doctors are required to provide translators at their own expense when seeing non-english speaking patients, and of course, PC courses for police, fire, and other service personnel. OK, imagine you are in France. You are in their PC course. The first lesson is...when addressing an American tourist who just asked you a question in the best French he could muster.. you reply: "Sacre bleu, you speak Fronsh like a Spaneesh cow."