A black woman just called me "sweetie". It is a good day.

But my mama reports that she hates being called "sweetheart" sort of names by clerks and such. She reports that, as an old woman, there are more and more people calling her things like that. She's quite miserable at times, and really good at casting things in a negative light. Sometimes I must pay her no heed or the negativity sinks in.

I agree with this.

I see truth in this, and yet I think that "retard" has not only crossed over into being hurtful, it was probably hurtful all along, and I think that trumps any literary color the word imparts. I think there are other colorful words that offend nobody.

A quick Thesaurus search:

idiot, blockhead, clod, dunce, fool, imbecile, moron, nincompoop, nitwit, dimwit, bonehead, dolt, dullard, ignoramus, numskull, simpleton, twit, birdbrain, buffoon, donkey, dope, dork, drip, dunderhead, goof, goof ball, half-wit, knucklehead, lame-brain, lightweight, ninny, oaf, pinhead, scatterbrain

well, maybe clodfobble would be insulted by one of those.

We enjoy using the epithet, "Knucklehead" freely.

I think you are all a bunch of retarded n***** c****.

Well there you have it. I spoke that into tapatalk. It censored the bad ones. Use retard as much as you want to.

I thought retarded just meant you got new tires..?

I now say reTARD like fat jesus.

I consider myself both a geek and a nerd; these used to be degrading insults, but no longer, as we grew up and realized that we are okay. Other really bad words, like "queer" and "nigger" have been co-opted by a purposeful campaign to "take back" the words and remove their power. Other bad words lose their impact through attrition, falling by the wayside of common usage or understood meaning.

The ones that stay in the spotlight, never go away, and never get defused, stay "bad" --but is this the word's fault, or the way it is handled, having its power and "badness" actually championed and perpetuated by the very people who wish the word would simply vanish in a puff of collective amnesia?

I guess self-proclaimed geeks, nerds, queers, and niggers are speaking for themselves, whereas the citizens against calling things retarded are erring on the side of caution in the defense of a protected class.

And I understand that, but it doesn't mean they aren't doing the exact wrong thing.

I have been on the fence about cloning "what makes you a tad apprehensive..." with
"what makes you, a tard, apprehensive..." But I think it is in poor taste.

Every day a story at the Shop. No, every hour really.

I'm feeling a little out of my element today because I'm still learning, and there is an infinite amount to learn. I'm making little mistakes a lot because there are all these little different ways of doing everything. It's dizzying.

Today I really got into identifying gold. The test for real gold is interesting: you scratch the item on a slate, and put a drop of nitric acid over the visible scratch mark. If it disappears, it's not gold. The acid eats away anything else. This method has been known for centuries, and is the origin of the phrase "stand the acid test".

I also learned which drawer in the safe you shouldn't open, because it contains nothing, but triggers a silent alarm. Glad they taught me that on my fifth day.

No way, my username is intended to imply a certain amount of self-deprecation.

My personal preference is "shit-wit." But for the record, I do say the word "retarded" all the time, myself, and I really should stop because I'm sure I have accidentally said it among friends who are offended by it.

Sorry i can haz hijack ur thread, broseph. My bad.
:::non-gay ass slap:::

Good hustle, good hustle.

Put on you rally caps--we're still in this!

Well, if that term makes you feel good, I'll call you that from now on, sweetie. ;):D

As a response to your mom, I find being called "sweetie," "sweetheart," or of such a tad insulting. Not sure why, but that's how I feel. It's like that person, an older person, kinda looks down on you, like you're some kind of child. I don't really get upset though. I don't really have a grasp of what or how I feel exactly. When I can get it in words, I will come back with them. :D

In fact I may struggle to know how much to post. As in, I could post a lot more because there is weirdness and craziness ALL THE TIME.

My day today started on the way from the parking lot to the shop, when a bat-shit crazy old white woman was yelling BEANERS!! and other angry horrible things to the young Mexican women walking in front of me. They paid her no heed. This is my new normal.

My worry now is that I may be too sensitive to handle this. Today a desperate woman spent a good half hour fuming in the shop because I told her on the phone that we might take her home entertainment unit -- and her home entertainment unit turned out to be a piece of crap and we would only buy it, not pawn for it. She didn't even have the bus fare to get herself home without selling it.

But of course that could have been just her nature, could have been lies, making drama at every turn. We just don't know.