BEHOLD and time to break some knees
So I ordered TITANOBOA (No, I'm never going to stop calling it that in all caps. Ever.) tonight, along with a pretty case for it. And then I check my bank account and see that Apple has broken the bill into four parts, including two random lone dollars. Two of the parts add up to the total cost of the order that Apple quoted me, and then, there are the two random lone dollars. So. Even though it's only two extra dollars, I still have to call and politely and firmly explain to them that either they take it off my account, or I hunt them down and remove their knee caps with my machete. That shit's not cricket, yo. $2.00 is $2.00, and you can't just fucking add random amounts to the bill because you want to. I mean, I don't know if they think, 'Oh, she won't notice this until months later, and then she probably won't care and will think that she made a mistake in her adding.' Fuck that shit, Apple. I am calling you when I wake up tomorrow. I already called, but apparently, you don't open til 8AM.
*breathes out*
Fuckers. It's not cricket to do that. Not cricket at all. And you will refund my $2.00.
*sighs* I'm wide awake now. I think I might go and sit on my bed and read one of my ethnicity books. I apparently get random spurts of brilliance at weird times - trying to fall asleep while counting in French, listening to Lupe Fiasco while dodging potholes, doing Sudoku over and over again at work while trying not to fall asleep.
Anyway, I got a random spurt of brilliance regarding ethnicity/identity and anthropological and sociological theories regarding it. Basically, that the theory of assimilationism (which states that immigrant groups will become completely assimilated/integrated into the host population until they are indistinguishable from each other), arose, particularly in America, out of the negative attitudes towards immigrants in the late nineteeth/early twentieth centuries. Because certain groups, particularly Eastern Europeans, the Irish, and Southern Europeans were reviled and hated, total assimilation was goal to be pursued, mostly so people would stop hating you and you could get better paying work. This is because prior to the mid-late nineteenth century, the dominant immigrant groups in America were mostly Western and Northern Europeans. Therefore, most Americans at the time were cool with more immigrants from those areas, because they were like them.
Where was I? Oh right, why assimilationism, as both a theory and a practice, failed.
Basically, immigrants assimlate up to a certain point, and then they stop, either because there is no necessary reason to completely integrate (such as, the community they live in, their financial status, public attitude), or because doing so would compromise their identity to the point where they would have to shed certain key aspects of themselves to fit it and they are unwilling to do so. The first reason is the nicer reason to stop trying to assimilate to a host culture. The second reason is probably more common. And a major part of the second reason is religion.
In America, prior to the nineteenth century, the dominant faith was Protestant Christianity. That is to say if you took a poll of every person in America prior to, and in the early nineteenth century, the majority of the would identify themselves as members of one of the sects of Protestantism. There would be, of course, regional variation, especially in areas where there were historically more settlers of Spanish and French descent, as well as taking into account Sephardic Jews (who were of Spanish/Portuguese descent by way of Holland by way of South America - it gets confusing - somehow, Africa fits in as well, but I cannot recall how because Erie's Jewish community is primarily German and Eastern European so I haven't had to really research the Sephardic Jews, though they have seriously awesome gravestones, particularly in the cemetery on Curacao, which is on the list of one of my places to visit someday because I am a dork that thinks no vacation is complete without a trip to at least one cemetery).
I think I lost my point again... what was it?
Oh, yeah.
Basically, complete assimilation, assuming this included membership into the dominant religious faith at the time, was impossible. Most groups/people were unwilling to give up such a critically important part of their identity, just to make things a little easier (not to mention, the hostile attitudes of the host population may have very well actually driven away the small numbers of people who did seek a complete and total assimilation - the 'we don't want your kind here in our churches' mentality).
So assimilationism, in both theory and practice, was doomed to failure from the start. And that is completely good and okay because really, things would be boring if we were all exactly the same. It all boils down to that - there is the expecetation that assimilationism will succeed because that is what should logically happen, but because of the parties involved - people! the human element! - it almost certainly cannot and will not..
This feels like an appropriate time to talk about why we have the weekend that we do, where stores are open on both Saturday and Sunday, but I think I'm going to go and curl up under my nice flannel sheets and down comfortor and be warm.
Also - one of the girls at work told me the most amusing drunken shenanigans story the other day. First, I must say that I am a huge fan of drunken shenanigans stories - simply because of the ridiculousness of them and the stupid things people do while blasted, myself included. Even if they're not especially funny, I will probably end up laughing because they always involve things that sober people would not do.
For example, one of my TAs, August (who, omg, if there was ever a man made for snuggles and hugging, it's August.), was playing drunken football in the grassy areas between the campus apartments one summer. He was working on campus with the archaeology department, as most arch majors did, and therefore, spent the summer pretty much drunk. Anyway. August set his beer down. August dove after the football, and stepped on his beer bottle. In most cases, I would assume that the bottle would roll out from under your feet, and you would fall on your ass. However. August is not a delicate flower. In fact, if you were to classify him based entirely on his physical appearance, the words 'barbarian' and 'berserker' come to mind. He is a Solid Guy - not fat, Solid. So, of course, the beer bottle broke and August cut his foot wide open. So, he limps back to his apartment, up the stairs, in through the whole apartment. He cleans off his foot, wraps it in duct tape, and goes back to playing football. The next day either him or his roommate see this huge, horrible trail of blood, everywhere. Gabe, the roommate, actually thought that someone had been killed. See? Not funny at all. But for some reason, I find it horribly amusing.
Anyway, one of the girls at work told me about these guys she went to high school with. The guys involved were all underage, and because we live in a really rural area, underage drinking is a pretty common occurrence. So. These guys decide while drunk that they are going to go and dig up the founder of this little hovel called Bear Lake. Dig up his grave. So, they go to the cemetery, at night, and start to dig up the grave. Halfway through, they get bored, and leave. Later that week, they get caught because they kept talking about it and after hearing it, someone narc'ed. I find this incredibly hysterical. I mean, who gets drunk and decides to go grave robbing (other than the Winchesters)? Who does that? Really!
Okay. For realz. Bed.
*breathes out*
Fuckers. It's not cricket to do that. Not cricket at all. And you will refund my $2.00.
*sighs* I'm wide awake now. I think I might go and sit on my bed and read one of my ethnicity books. I apparently get random spurts of brilliance at weird times - trying to fall asleep while counting in French, listening to Lupe Fiasco while dodging potholes, doing Sudoku over and over again at work while trying not to fall asleep.
Anyway, I got a random spurt of brilliance regarding ethnicity/identity and anthropological and sociological theories regarding it. Basically, that the theory of assimilationism (which states that immigrant groups will become completely assimilated/integrated into the host population until they are indistinguishable from each other), arose, particularly in America, out of the negative attitudes towards immigrants in the late nineteeth/early twentieth centuries. Because certain groups, particularly Eastern Europeans, the Irish, and Southern Europeans were reviled and hated, total assimilation was goal to be pursued, mostly so people would stop hating you and you could get better paying work. This is because prior to the mid-late nineteenth century, the dominant immigrant groups in America were mostly Western and Northern Europeans. Therefore, most Americans at the time were cool with more immigrants from those areas, because they were like them.
Where was I? Oh right, why assimilationism, as both a theory and a practice, failed.
Basically, immigrants assimlate up to a certain point, and then they stop, either because there is no necessary reason to completely integrate (such as, the community they live in, their financial status, public attitude), or because doing so would compromise their identity to the point where they would have to shed certain key aspects of themselves to fit it and they are unwilling to do so. The first reason is the nicer reason to stop trying to assimilate to a host culture. The second reason is probably more common. And a major part of the second reason is religion.
In America, prior to the nineteenth century, the dominant faith was Protestant Christianity. That is to say if you took a poll of every person in America prior to, and in the early nineteenth century, the majority of the would identify themselves as members of one of the sects of Protestantism. There would be, of course, regional variation, especially in areas where there were historically more settlers of Spanish and French descent, as well as taking into account Sephardic Jews (who were of Spanish/Portuguese descent by way of Holland by way of South America - it gets confusing - somehow, Africa fits in as well, but I cannot recall how because Erie's Jewish community is primarily German and Eastern European so I haven't had to really research the Sephardic Jews, though they have seriously awesome gravestones, particularly in the cemetery on Curacao, which is on the list of one of my places to visit someday because I am a dork that thinks no vacation is complete without a trip to at least one cemetery).
I think I lost my point again... what was it?
Oh, yeah.
Basically, complete assimilation, assuming this included membership into the dominant religious faith at the time, was impossible. Most groups/people were unwilling to give up such a critically important part of their identity, just to make things a little easier (not to mention, the hostile attitudes of the host population may have very well actually driven away the small numbers of people who did seek a complete and total assimilation - the 'we don't want your kind here in our churches' mentality).
So assimilationism, in both theory and practice, was doomed to failure from the start. And that is completely good and okay because really, things would be boring if we were all exactly the same. It all boils down to that - there is the expecetation that assimilationism will succeed because that is what should logically happen, but because of the parties involved - people! the human element! - it almost certainly cannot and will not..
This feels like an appropriate time to talk about why we have the weekend that we do, where stores are open on both Saturday and Sunday, but I think I'm going to go and curl up under my nice flannel sheets and down comfortor and be warm.
Also - one of the girls at work told me the most amusing drunken shenanigans story the other day. First, I must say that I am a huge fan of drunken shenanigans stories - simply because of the ridiculousness of them and the stupid things people do while blasted, myself included. Even if they're not especially funny, I will probably end up laughing because they always involve things that sober people would not do.
For example, one of my TAs, August (who, omg, if there was ever a man made for snuggles and hugging, it's August.), was playing drunken football in the grassy areas between the campus apartments one summer. He was working on campus with the archaeology department, as most arch majors did, and therefore, spent the summer pretty much drunk. Anyway. August set his beer down. August dove after the football, and stepped on his beer bottle. In most cases, I would assume that the bottle would roll out from under your feet, and you would fall on your ass. However. August is not a delicate flower. In fact, if you were to classify him based entirely on his physical appearance, the words 'barbarian' and 'berserker' come to mind. He is a Solid Guy - not fat, Solid. So, of course, the beer bottle broke and August cut his foot wide open. So, he limps back to his apartment, up the stairs, in through the whole apartment. He cleans off his foot, wraps it in duct tape, and goes back to playing football. The next day either him or his roommate see this huge, horrible trail of blood, everywhere. Gabe, the roommate, actually thought that someone had been killed. See? Not funny at all. But for some reason, I find it horribly amusing.
Anyway, one of the girls at work told me about these guys she went to high school with. The guys involved were all underage, and because we live in a really rural area, underage drinking is a pretty common occurrence. So. These guys decide while drunk that they are going to go and dig up the founder of this little hovel called Bear Lake. Dig up his grave. So, they go to the cemetery, at night, and start to dig up the grave. Halfway through, they get bored, and leave. Later that week, they get caught because they kept talking about it and after hearing it, someone narc'ed. I find this incredibly hysterical. I mean, who gets drunk and decides to go grave robbing (other than the Winchesters)? Who does that? Really!
Okay. For realz. Bed.