not me...
one barmaid who used to work where i do once said this immortal gem

"i'm not racist, i just don't like black people"

hmmmm
(Claude Speed was a Roman called Claudius Speedicus, Wed 7 Apr 2010, 14:43, 5 replies)

On a serious note, of course...
...yes I'm prejudiced.

So are you. So is everyone. Nobody meets a new person - or indeed cat - and doesn't instantly make some assumptions based on their appearance, unless they have quite a severe mental condition which makes them unable to make associations with past experiences.

The difference between being a complete tosser and not is being aware how flawed these initial perceptions are - which will vary - and being ready to actively suppress them at first and subsequently modify them.

What's slightly odd is that so many people on here hold prejudices against someone who sounds posh and went to Eton* rather than specific policy disagreements, but think it's unacceptable to hold prejudices about other groups. It's really no less stupid.



*I wish to state for the record, however, that I will not be voting for said man. But that's not "because he's posh".
( prince-igor si tacuisses, philosophus mansisses, Wed 7 Apr 2010, 14:39, 20 replies)

I am a daily victim of prejudice.
Because I have glasses and a bad haircut, people I work with assume I can fix their computer problem, despite the fact I don't work in IT.

Unfortunately, they are often right. Dammit.
( prince-igor si tacuisses, philosophus mansisses, Wed 7 Apr 2010, 14:31, 3 replies)

To back up what I posted earlier
about people who get offended when it's none of their damn business, I'll roast these peas.
~~~

My teenage son fractured his ankle in 2007, had a cast on his leg and was given crutches for 4 weeks.

Walking around Asda soon after, I said "Hurry up cripple".

Some unsightly harridan complained at me saying she found it offensive. I told her that:-

a. What I call my son is no business of hers
b. That my son was far more agile on his crutches than she was
c. To stop interfering or I'll report her for harrassment.

She wandered off looking rather deflated whilst my son had a bloody good laugh.
( sandettie light vessel automatic New Twitter - @bollocksreally, Wed 7 Apr 2010, 14:31, 5 replies)

Racism?
I know it's racist to discriminate against people simply because of the colour of their skin.

But I still look down my nose at all those orange people I see everywhere.
(Vice Admiral Sir Charles Cockbrush KCB MBE DSO, who is finding it increasingly difficult to log into b3ta.com wants to duck your aunt and kick your puppy, Wed 7 Apr 2010, 14:27, 7 replies)

The Middle Classes
The basis of Middle Class culture is proving that your better than the other Middle Class people. That is why they are all such wankers. It's all about one-upmanship about shit that doesn't matter.

The Middle Classes invented Etiquette. They're the ones that make snide comments about people who use the wrong fork. FOR FUCKSAKE.

You know that crap on wine about 'hints of leather, sandalwood and a soucon of bitumen' etc. They make that shit up. All wine tastes like fermented grapes. It's self-delusion.

They're the ones who make up stupid rules like not ending a sentence in a preposition. Completely and utterly arbitrary rule, that no-one even knew existed until they invented it.

They invented the fucking Apostrophe and then formed societies for its preservation. They put an 's' in island. They fucked up the English language with their mangled latin words. These are the same people who have the gall to complain about 'americanisation', as if they hadn't corrupted the language infinitely more.

They have to watch 'important' films, read 'good' books, go to the theatre, They don't really enjoy these films or books or theatre, it's just so that they can go on about how good/important/obscure it was and how they are better than you because they have more culture.

They have to live in the right house, in the 'right' suburb, with the right furniture, and send their kids to private schools (HAHAHAHA what a scam that is).

I hate them and their culture. They are a bunch of self-deluded twunts.
( Sextant goes to him is emotionally erect, on this day, Wed 7 Apr 2010, 14:16, 48 replies)

Pardon?
I've been living in the UK for the majority of my life, and everyone I properly meet and know assume I was born here - though I hold a Chinese passport.
However, mostly experienced from working in a Wetherspoon's pub here in Cardiff, it is shocking how many people have not only been genuinely surprised, but also feel compelled, to "compliment" me after I serve them a drink by saying, "oh, you speak good English".

I must've looked like a tourist stood behind that bar, or something.
(The-Banana, Wed 7 Apr 2010, 14:16, 9 replies)

when did QOTW become a slightly longer version of twitter?!
#honda #accord #racism #LOL
I DON'T LIKE SOMETHING!
(likeajackhammer, Wed 7 Apr 2010, 14:12, Reply)

ignorance
people who use the word ignorance incorrectly...
(l.verity [Insert witty signature], Wed 7 Apr 2010, 14:10, Reply)

Microsoft...
I hate people who work for microsoft, mainly 'cos i disagree with every windows related decision they have ever made, for instance, in internet explorer the address bar is permanently stuck above the menu bar, which messes with my head, also in windows 7 they switched the position of the "yes" and "no" buttons, which drives me to murder...omg I'm ranting now...
(l.verity [Insert witty signature], Wed 7 Apr 2010, 13:59, 31 replies)

Poor chap.
I was in the bank a while back, dropping off our company moneys and debating whether I could get to Mexico with the few hundred quid from the till when I was asked by a chap if I needed any help and did I want to pay in using the machine etc, etc. I thanked him politely as I needed to speak to the nice lady at the desk.

He then went away and returned when the queue grew a bit and asked somebody else, only to be cut off halfway through 'would you like any assistance mada...'

'NO I DO NOT! Thank you VERY much young man but I am quite fine by mysel.. blah blah'

He'd only asked some blind lady if she wanted to make her day a bit easier and he got a right bollocking that lasted about two minutes and left the rest of us non-blindies sniggering silently to ourselves as this poor sod went beet red and shrunk away out the back.

As she was still moaning to him about it.

I don't think he'll ever ask again.
(Scrumpy does not negotiate with terrorists,, Wed 7 Apr 2010, 13:56, 2 replies)

I didn't think that I was
That was until last week, when I realised I probably had some irrational fear of brown people.

I was stood in my back garden by myself, huddling from the breeze and quietly smoking a cigarette when all of a sudden I see from the corner of my eye the face of this tall, terracotta skinned fellow (who must have jumped the garden gate or something) peer around the corner of my house at me.

From only about 15 yards away.

I physically jumped and started for the house.

Then the gust of wind died and the retractable washing line reel folded back around the corner of the house again.

And I felt really stupid.

Fortunately I was smoking so I still looked cool... (ahem)
( Dervel OTBC, Wed 7 Apr 2010, 13:53, 1 reply)

Even worse than "I'm not racist but..."
"I'm not a racialist but..."

Racialism is a completely different thing, but I sincerely doubt these people know the difference.
( sandettie light vessel automatic New Twitter - @bollocksreally, Wed 7 Apr 2010, 13:26, 4 replies)

I've never considered myself to be prejudiced before but I'm changing my mind......
Before I start, I don't read the Daily Mail or it's paramilitary wing (the Daily Express) and I am old enough and ugly enough to form my own opinions of things. I'm pro-Europe and in favour of free movement and would ideally love a world with no borders where we are all citizen of the world rather than citizens of "nations".

But I now find myself beginning to dislike Europeans:

My fiance is in Australia. She's Australian. We're getting married in May. We have known each other for a couple of years and we are devoted to each other even though we've had to be separated a few times. She is a teacher and is desperate to come to the UK, marry me, work for a living and be a productive member of society.

Australia is part of the British Commonwealth (indeed all australians were British until the act of Federation in 1909). They have the queen's head on their stamps and on their coins. The queen is the head of state and can dissolve their parliament at will (as she did in the '70s). Basically, including a liking for afternoon tea, Australia is now more British than Britain.

In order to move to the UK, we've had to provide the UKBA 6 months of my payslips, 6 months bank statements, copies of our telephone bills (both landline and mobile), photographs of us together, details of where we have travelled together, a full breakdown of where she has travelled outside Australia for the past ten years, a copy of my rental agreement, a letter from my landlord confirming that the tenancy can be extended, my passport details, confirmation that our wedding is booked, details of who is carrying out the service, my decree absolute from my previous marriage, my sponsorship letter, a letter from my parents and a letter from her parents pluss lots of other spurious bits and bobs! And all this is with no guarantee that the visa will be agreed.

When she does move here, she will have no rights to work or to any form of state benefit without then appplying (and paying another huge fee) for leave to remain which could take months.

Now maybe I'm misinformed but am I right in thinking that someone from elsewhere in the Eurozone can simply walk into the UK with full rights to work without any sort of checks being carried out???

Doesn't really seem fair to me
(penrose your dog's got tits, Wed 7 Apr 2010, 13:23, 8 replies)

Gets my goat
People who bang on about freedom of speech, freedom of expression, their socialist credentials - and in the next breath condemn someone else for expressing an opinion they disagree with.

And before anyone comes out with the old `with freedom of speech comes responsibilities' I would ask them `Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?' Who decides what is beyond the pale and what isn't?

I don't trust MYSELF to do that, so when someone self appointed turns up and starts shouting the odds I am liable to take the piss. I'm right of centre, have mates with views ranging from near-facist to near-communist and guess what? They're mates. And funny enough they will happily take the piss out of someone mercilessly and then defend them the next if someone else tries to shut them up.

If you don't like what someone is saying, take the piss. Show how their beliefs are ludicrious. Or ignore them. Try to understand how they come to the view they do - understand even though you don't agree.

Start shouting `racist', `facist', `sexist', etc. and you've automatically lost the argument in my books.
(Audax Victor, Wed 7 Apr 2010, 13:20, 17 replies)

Mac users
Fuck off - i can do everything i want to with my PC.

Plus we can right click.
(mr-lizard Hell's teeth man!, Wed 7 Apr 2010, 13:09, 6 replies)

Prejudice in the NHS
I broke my arm playing rugby a month ago, and ended up in the A&E department of a West Yorkshire hospital. When I explained how it occurred, the first question was often "League or Union?" (the answer being Union).

On the Saturday night, the retort from the triage nurse, nurse practitioner and plaster room nurse (all female) was always along the lines of a scornful "Union's a poof's game, we all watch league".

On the Monday morning, the reply from the orthopaedic surgeon and registrar was a beaming "Excellent, good man".
(Vice Admiral Sir Charles Cockbrush KCB MBE DSO, who is finding it increasingly difficult to log into b3ta.com wants to duck your aunt and kick your puppy, Wed 7 Apr 2010, 13:04, 1 reply)

Lunch
I have an innate trust of people who return to my office carrying a sausage egg and bacon sarnie from the greasy cafe.

In contrast, people who come back with an avacado, spinach and goats cheese work of modern art on fuck-archa bread make me feel unusually uncomfortable.
(Gulliver, Wed 7 Apr 2010, 12:58, 2 replies)

The danger of accepting everyone equally
I'm awakened at about 1am one morning by a phonecall from my mate Eric (name changed to protect the meek). This is nothing unusual. Normally it'd be to tell me he'd just bumped into a D-list celebrity in the pub, or had climbed a church spire with a bottle of Buckfast in his hand.

But this phonecall started off quite different.

"Subchimp, help! It's 1am, I'm walking home from the club, and some bender is following me home and he's going to spear me in the arse"

Christ, I thought, he's obviously gone overboard with the tequila this time. I asked: " Okay, 1, How do you know he's gay? 2, How do you know he's following you? And 3, if he is gay, what makes you think he's going to shag you?"

Eric: "Cause he told me so."

Me: "Ah . . "

I could hear his quick footsteps down the phone as he trotted at lightspeed, but even then I was sure I could hear a camp voice shouting his name in the background."

Eric gave me a quick recap of the events. He'd come out of a nightclub with a group. While waiting on his kebab he'd noticed his so-called mates had started shouting homophobic abuse at some guy they vaguely knew.

Eric was appalled at his mates' behaviour and went over to the guy to apologise, telling him: "Sorry about that mate. They're just a bunch of pricks. We're not all homophobes though, so don't let them get to you. Have a good night."

At that Eric walked away.

The young gay gent took this as a come-on and started following Eric around. Eric put the guy straight, for want of a better phrase, and told him he wasn't gay. But the guy wasn't listening.

Gay guy: "How about I go home with you?"

Eric: "I told you, I'm straight, now please stop harassing me."

GG: "I don't think that's true. I'm coming back to yours."

Eric told the guy to leave him alone and walked away, only to have the guy keep following him.

This brings us back to the moment Eric had called me.

By now it's clear that he's not just paranoid. there is a gay gentleman following him with every tintention of shagging him against his will.

At this point I can hear another voice down the phone. "Who you talking to?". There's a brief struggle before the gay guy gets a hold of the phone and now starts speaking to me, telling me of his intentions.

Again I told him: "You do know that my friend isn't gay right?"

Gay Guy: "Yeah, but he'll learn."

Me: "Ok then. Well have fun. Say, could you put Eric back on for a minute please?"

GG: "OK"

Eric: "See? Told you?"

Me: "Eric, he's a fucking lunatic he won't take no for an answer. He's seriously got a screw loose There's only one thing for it. Run like fuck!"

Suddenly the phone is filled with the rapid footsteps of a terrified Eric fleeing up one of the steepest hills in town, with the would-be suitor's camp wails in the background: "Eeeeerrrrrrriiiiicccccc!".

Gradually the voice in the background faded and Eric made it home.

He'd dodged a bullet that night, but I later asked him why he'd phoned me. Turns out he'd rang the last person on his phone just to get advice simply because he didn't know how to react.

Had he been female, and followed home by a guy who wouldn't take no for an answer then the options would have been clearer. If a girl hits a guy who won't leave her alone, she's standing up for her rights.

But Eric ran out of options when the gay pursuer wouldn't take no for an answer. Words hadn't worked and had he hit him, Eric could have been up in court for an allegeged homophobic attack.

Makes you think.

With equal rights must come equal responsibility.
(Barry Subchimp, Wed 7 Apr 2010, 12:54, 6 replies)

I cannot bide people
who don't know when something isn't actually racist/homophobic/other discrimination.

Saying something even slightly negative about someone (a third party) who just happens to be black/gay/disabled/other and they will cry "You can't say that!", or even worse just sneak off and report you. Often, these people are white, straight, able-bodied, middle-class and most likely civil servants.

I strongly suspect that these people convince themselves that if they find something offensive, then in their eyes they must be a good person.
( sandettie light vessel automatic New Twitter - @bollocksreally, Wed 7 Apr 2010, 12:38, 18 replies)

Men with beards
Men with beards, what are they hiding?
Could I handle the truth if they chose me to confide in?
Or would my dead body be found down a railway siding
Where I'd been murdered by a man with a beard
Where I'd been murdered by a man with a beard

You can't work out what they're thinking in their face
Because they've got hair growing all over the place
You can't tell what they're up to, maybe it's best not to know
Perhaps they're full of hair up here
But they've got none down below?
Do they put porno mags in the bushes in the woods?
Do they interfere with kids
And make them say 'Thank you' afterwards?
Do they hang around in parks and wait till after dark
Jump out of the bushes and then fuck you for a lark?

Men with beards, what are they concealing?
That facial fuzz gives me an uneasy feeling
But they'll hide my dismembered corpse up in the ceiling
Where I've been butchered by a man with a beard
Where I've been butchered by a man with a beard

Shipman, Bin Laden, Stilgoe, Haystacks
They were all hiding something and that's an actual fact
'Whispering' Bob Harris - why was his voice so soft?
Had he murdered a prositute up in his loft?
Now, Peter Sutcliffe, the Yorkshire Ripper
He avoided the use of a razor or clipper
They've all got a secret, don't think that they ain't
It could be something as simple as a skin complaint

Men with beards, what are they obscuring?
They all seem so confident and so assuring
But to some waste ground you they'll be alluring
Where you'll be bludgeoned by a man with a beard
Where you'll be bludgeoned by a man with a beard

(Watch out for men with beards!)
(g-rex, Wed 7 Apr 2010, 12:30, 7 replies)

Welsh Nationalist idiot.
I'm English but have spent a lot of time visiting and living in Wales. Back in my Swansea student days I was chatting to a friend of a friend about various things. We got onto relationships. Looking good I thought until she said "I would only go out with a Welshman." She then went on about holiday homes and English people stealing Welsh jobs however she destroyed her own argument by saying "When my grandfather moved to Wales..." I was able to point out that my grandfather had left the Rhondda and moved to England because he couldn't get a job locally.
(jvz, Wed 7 Apr 2010, 12:30, 1 reply)

A remastered pea, but relevent, I hope:
I grew up in Midsomer Norton, Somerset. Sitting outside one of the pubs and nursing a pint or two with a friend one summer's afternoon, some girls that knew my mate came over to chat to him. I said something conversational; I can't remember what, but I'm pretty sure it contained a polysyllable or something, for, with a look that would have me still burning to this day, one of the girls looked me up and down and said in the most spiteful, accusatory manner I have ever heard, "Urr yew intelligent or summat?!"
( Je suis un vagabond is an unfunny, up your own arse middle class knob, Wed 7 Apr 2010, 12:29, 5 replies)

People who think they're better than others based on what paper they read are cunts.
"oooh look at my Guardian. It's massive you know, and George Monbiot will save us all". Cock dribble. And the bottom half of a broadsheet is fucking adverts anyway!

Most folk are happy to catch up on some lite news, bit of sport and whatever it is Jordan is currently fucking and a red top suits that just fine. Leave them to it. You're not better because your paper is bigger.

Not a prejudice as such but everyone else is just listing things they don't like.
(The Boy Monders I have ginger bits in my beard., Wed 7 Apr 2010, 12:14, 1 reply)

Reverse psychology.
Don't click "I like this".
(Petite chien is going to do science to it, Wed 7 Apr 2010, 12:10, 1 reply)

Computers
I also don't care much for smug Apple users or even smugger Linux users. A computer's a tool, if it does what you want it to do, then good. But don't go on about it.
( sandettie light vessel automatic New Twitter - @bollocksreally, Wed 7 Apr 2010, 12:09, Reply)

Sport
On a very general non-topic specific board I used to post on years ago, I posed the question "Where are all the black swimmers?". Nobody actually said racist, but it was blatantly implied that it was a racist question to ask.

The intelligent reply was that it's an aconomic reason. Swimming lessons are expensive and black people tend to be lower earners (which I pointed out in itself was a rather glaring racial stereotype).

I also said that in the West Indies, they have a pronounced beach culture where everyone is expected to be proficient swimmers which kinda blew the economic argument out of the water (I care not about the pun).
( sandettie light vessel automatic New Twitter - @bollocksreally, Wed 7 Apr 2010, 12:06, 12 replies)

what is it with chavs and students?
during one summer in between 1st and 2nd year of uni i went back to my home town as most students do. upon enduring a journey on the peasant wagon that is nottingham city buses i bumped into a chav couple i knew from when i was at school.

they told me what they did now days (not that i asked). 4 kids, scrounging on dole etc (you know the drill). the conversation then turned what i was doing:

chav: nah yeah, so what is it you doin?
me: i'm a student, studying down at portsmouth uni
chav: uni!?!
me: yeah
chav? UNI!?!
me: err, yeah
chav: are you gay?

and the worst thing, this wasn't an insult! they preached that "i don't mind gays as long as they don't try to bum me", they genuinely believed the logic of student=homosexual!
(sweatytramp, Wed 7 Apr 2010, 12:05, 5 replies)