Comments
February 19, 2003
Issue 4
| Veritas Sections |
Veritas Links |
Napier Resources |
Other Resources |
| Comments | ||
Dear Editor, Christopher, I read your reply to Marc Herzog's article, and a strange feeling passed through my entire body. The feeling was of fear, horror and misunderstanding. So my question, what is going on? I am French, and came in your country for two years in order to study network and distributed systems. Why did I came here and not go to Germany, America or wherever? Because one of the Napier's teachers came into my school in France and asked me to join Napier, a very good and interesting university they said. So I asked a lot of people about your country, to find out what French people thought of Scotland. Every person I met talked about Scotland being full of really kind and interesting people. "It is a beautiful country…you will enjoy over there...” So I came to Scotland with hope and happiness. When I first arrived in Edinburgh I very much liked the architecture, the nice buildings, the people were nice and there was a lot of garden and green field everywhere. I never saw people looking for trouble. Then, I saw an advert, entitled: "No place for Racism", then another: "One Scotland, Many cultures." So I wondered: why they need to make advertisements like that, if they are open-minded and kind? Thereafter, I settled down and started trying to understand, as you said, the etiquettes, cultures and laws of your country, the prices for housing were really high, so I though I would need to work to earn my living. My English is not the best, but when you write that the guy in the disco did not speak very much English, you must admit that in Scotland, you do not speak English, you speak Scottish and for foreign people, it is really a hassle to understand you (especially when you are drunk...). So, anyway, I started to look for a job, and went from place to place in order to find one. All the places where I saw a sign written: ‘Staff wanted apply within’; always gave the same answer: "Sorry, but we already have someone who is starting this afternoon..." with a great smile. “So why did you leave the sign on?” I replied to them. “I forget to take it off”, they said. Even a few days later, the sign was still there. So I had to work as waiter in catering agency, where the employees are mostly French and Spanish. I started then to understand the Scottish culture, as you said "the etiquettes and culture": party after party, wedding after wedding, drink as much as you can - not for the taste but for the effect. I saw bride’s father drunk, lying on the table sleeping, the groom lying not so far from him... Incredible, also drunk waiters and barmen, I was not used to that, nor seeing the quantity of alcohol that the women can drink. The same women who are partying, almost naked, kissing each other on the lips, grabbing each other by the breasts, laughing and having fun of it. Maybe the man who did that to your girlfriend did not see that she had a boyfriend and thought it worked in that way in your culture to get a lady. The time when I understood most of your Scottish culture was two days ago, was when I was coming back from work with my flatmate and we got attacked by Scots without any apparent reason (just for fun I think), no warning, only a big fist on the nose, followed by kick in the head, and a lot of bad words toward us that were not said in "English", after they ran away. I felt very bad for your country, because of the lack of reasons for the attack. We did nothing, only walk home after 12 hours of work, exhausted, and too tired to handle a fight, I hoped they had done it on another day, a day which I wouldn't have worked so much and so long, a day were I could defend myself... So is that the Scottish culture? Drinking, drinking, drinking again, men as women, and then having fun fighting with foreign people. I used to say: "If you get angry when you drink, do not drink, or go sleeping straight after". I spoke with a lot of people at work after the fight and they all have a similar story. I do feel really bad about what happened to me because it is really the first time (and last I hope) that such a thing has happened to me. I have been in Paris, Lyon, Milan, Rome, New York, Chicago, and more cities where I have not got into trouble, but in Edinburgh, I did. I will not go back home, not under the fist or feet of hooligans, nor reading racist articles in newspapers, because I do not want to make them feel they won. Three days ago, when I read your letter, Christopher, I felt bad, two days ago, I felt even worst when I got attacked, but I am going to stay here and show these people that foreign people are not all bad, and that they can behave better than some Scots. I am really sorry for my English, which is poor, but I hope you get the message, I do not think that you are racist, but were angry that your girlfriend had some trouble and I can understand that, if you want to show me the way you live, the Scottish etiquettes and culture, feel free to contact me, I will be more than happy to meet you, and to share a bit of your culture with a bit of mine. Yours, Dear Editor, In reply to the inane ramblings of Mr Christopher Deacon in the last issue of Veritas (November 21). His spurious tale of an indecent assault on his “girlfriend” by an “Asian looking gentleman” in a Glasgow nightclub seems to be nothing more than thinly disguised racist ramblings, which are both offensive and embarrassing. The yarn lacks credibility, and the childish threats of reciprocal violence undermine any valid point he may have wished to make. His description of: “PC Plod and his fellow doughnut munching halfwits,” is completely unjustified and is clearly based on nothing more than seventeen years of watching ‘The Simpsons’ on television. This letter wasted more than half a page in Veritas; space that should be used as a forum for serious and sensible debate – not as a soapbox for ignorance, bigotry and childish bravado. Yours,
|
|
|
||||||