I continue to improve, I think. I must start being more active. And I must certainly start knitting. So far, nothing there.
Current affairs: You are right, of course, (comments Wednesday) that Lady Susan was wrong to persist with her where-are-you-from?s in that recent episode at the Palace, when she sensed they were unwelcome. . However, a columnist in the Telegraph today says that the offended party was in African dress. That means, if true, that she was not only expecting to be asked, Where are you from? but also expecting the questioner to persevere when she replied, North London. It would almost have been rude of Lady Susan not to persevere. The victim is certainly having a whale of a time touring the radio and television studios.
And next week we get Harry and Meghan on Netflix.
Wordle: back on track. I did it in three today, joined by Mark and.both Rachels. Everybody else was four except for poor Alexander: five. No news from my brother-in-law, but we know he’s safely back in DC.
I have a strong northern accent and live in Essex. I'm often asked where I am from. However, this episode was an interesting one on a number of levels. It was an event with international participants and the lady, aged 61, was in African dress. Touching her hair was obviously an unacceptable thing to do and set the tone for the rest of it. The two parties clearly did not speak each other's language although both were speaking English. So when Lady Susan referred to "Your people", probably meaning "your extended family", this gave serious offence. It was all very unfortunate when the focus should have been on the topic of the gathering where they all might have found common ground.
ReplyDeleteCompletely agree!
DeleteWordle in an amazing two today.
ReplyDeleteI haven't followed the latest current affair. I think it is burn out on my part.
The New Statesman has a short, instructive piece on what the question, "Where are you from?" (however innocently posed) can mean and feel like to a person of color in Britain. https://www.newstatesman.com/quickfire/2022/12/ngozi-fulani-where-are-you-from-lady-hussey-royal-family (Eileen in Chapel Hill)
ReplyDeleteThe questioning is very similar to that often asked of women “what do you do” and if you cannot come up with a named profession you can be easily dismissed as worthless. I recall being snubbed when irritated when at a charity event by attempts to “place me” so I said “ I’m just a housewife!” Led to interesting feedback at the end of the conference.
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