Front Desk Diaries; Bogan-ella

[dalesys]

... they sang "This Land." Arlo was the only person there who didn't know the song.

So his dad taught it to him, including verses omitted from the version for school pigeons. Such as, "... sign said, 'No Trespassing', but the other side said nothing. This side was made for you and me!"

[morgana]

Not only proud, but likely to pick on someone who admits to reading.

Wow, flashbacks from grade school, there.

I was reading at freshman-college level in 6th grade; some of my classmates thought that was . . . unnatural . . . or something.

High school wasn't fun, but I really hated Catholic school.

[Cia]

My DH uses the hotel shampoo, soap and conditioner - I don't. I have this fear of being allergic to the soaps (had a problem with soap allergies as a kid) and I'm picky about my shampoo/conditioner.

It's not hard to be polite when asking for extra toiletries and/or towels. I have really long hair so I'd always ask for extra towels until I bought a couple of turbie twist hair towels to bring with when traveling.

[gerund]

I was reading at freshman-college level in 6th grade; some of my classmates thought that was . . . unnatural . . . or something.

The bogans I went to school with (before we called them bogans) never knew about my books. They were my escape from the bullying, and I learnt early on to never show the bullies anything private they could use against me.

I was reading adult books when I was 14 years old, and by that age I had been bullied for about 8 years. Except for that one year when I was 12 and my best friend (my only friend) kept the bullies off me. And I kept the bullies off him. Until I realised I was becoming a bully and stopped it.

[LadyofArc]

Not only proud, but likely to pick on someone who admits to reading.

Or who is just smart in general.

[Blue Ginger]

Australian reader chiming in here. Yep, they are like Kanye West proud of not being readers and being stupid. I don't remember a time when I wasn't bullied for reading.

I was reading Dickens in grade 4 and was a super fast reader. I would average a novel a week while also reading the newspaper from cover to sports pages each day. (Not a fan of sports, so only read the V8 supercar results.)

I was kind of accepted by a few of the bogans in high school because I could out-swear them and had better insults.

[mjr]

Does this mean that if Jeff Foxworthy ever did a tour in Australia, he'd change his "You might be a redneck" routine to "You might be a bogan"?

Personally, I don't read a lot of novels. I read books, for sure, but not really novels. The last novel I read was Orwell's 1984. I don't know if "The Prince" is considered a "novel" or not, but I have read it recently, too.

My current reading is called "Algorithms to Live By: The Computer Science of Human Decisions".

I wish I were a faster reader, but I'm not, so it takes me longer than I'd like to get through books. Couple that with a somewhat short attention span (I think from undiagnosed ADD) and, well, my reading stints are generally short. Usually between 10 and 15 minutes. Unless I really get into something.

Sometimes with all the "techie" stuff I need to keep up with, and family time, I don't feel like I have a lot of time for "leisure" reading.

[Minflick]

I know a veterinarian with ADD who got through vet school by studying in 15-20 minute bursts. It's doable! Hard, but doable....

[notalwaysright]

I was never bullied for reading, the idea is so strange! I remember once in middle school some joker grabbed my book out of my hand just to see what I would do. Like, would I get mad and chase him around or beg for me book back or something? But no I just sat there and watched him until he got bored and gave the book back.

But yeah bogans, or white trash as we know them here are a special type of SC. At the fabric store I didn't get them super often. There is a certain grocery store here that seems to breed them, though. Loud, shopping in giant groups with many children in the way, showing beer bellies and muffin tops proudly. I always feel mean and judgy when I'm there. :/ But it's not just about appearance, this crowd is the type to leave a trail of junk behind them. Discarded items and wrappers from things they've eaten while shopping, kids pulling down whole displays, and generally trash the store. This store also has the cheapest junk food in town, interestingly. The cheapest snacks (and meat, which I won't touch), and the absolute crappiest produce section I've ever seen. But it has the cheapest bulk food section so I get all my spices there.

[LadyofArc]

I was kind of accepted by a few of the bogans in high school because I could out-swear them and had better insults.

I would've gotten in trouble for swearing (and actually did on two separate occasions) but weirdly enough, I found acceptance among some of our "bogan" students by playing a classical piece in front of the entire school of all things.

(This was the piece in case people were wondering. Definitely not something that my year would've heard a lot of [eg from Looney Tunes or otherwise])

And for those who are wondering, the punishments were more of the "I had to pick up papers" routine (common punishment in the schoolyard down here) rather than the "let's call in a psychologist, there's clearly something wrong with you," routine.

[Blue Ginger]

I would've gotten in trouble for swearing (and actually did on two separate occasions)

I was possibly a little smarter in that I rarely swore near teachers. I think I did maybe half a dozen times in early primary school. But by grade 5 I couldn't give a flying fuck. My grade 5 teacher basically ignored me, but the hatred was mutual. I also had a friend that could talk me out of trouble and did frequently.

I went to a catholic high school and never got in trouble for swearing. Granted I only swore once within hearing of the only nun that was at the school. But I also swore in a speech I gave to a bishop and a different one to a member of state parliament. All were in context though and no trouble for me.

I had a swear word comparison list with one of my favourite teachers. My list was nearly double. And stayed that way when they asked a few more teachers to add to their list.

[EricKei]

Mjr - The Prince is generally considered to be a heavily-political satire, so take that as you will ^_^ Sadly, some folks (who shall not be named because many of them are politicians) seem to think it's a user manual >_<

[mjr]

Mjr - The Prince is generally considered to be a heavily-political satire, so take that as you will ^_^ Sadly, some folks (who shall not be named because many of them are politicians) seem to think it's a user manual >_<

I actually read it for a few reasons.

First, I'd never read it before, but had an idea of what Machiavellianism was.

Second, I read it to get a better knowledge of Machiavellianism.

Third, I did it to recognize (and possibly use) the attitudes in it.

[Kit-Ginevra]

'I read a book once... Green it was...and they put him in the library'

I read anything and everything.When you travel by bus for work and can spend 2-3 hours a day on wheels or waiting at bus stops,you need to keep the mind occupied.Or it starts making ideas of its own,which can be worrying.

Even at school,I was an eager beaver.Only got me into trouble once-when I fancied a girl called Justine,and having found a book with her name as its title,brought it in for her.That would be Justine by the Marquis de Sade,which apparently is not suitable reading at 14....

Meanwhile,don't forget to listen to the bogan national song...

[Mental_Mouse]

Dat be sum gud qualety teevee rat there.
*Shudders*
Am I the only one waiting for an outraged guest to take after the host instead of a fellow guest? I might actually watch that video.

As for the no-books type... most of the ones I have dealt with don't feel pride about not being a reader. That's a special kind of stupidity/willful ignorance.

The thing about Jerry Springer is, it may be theatrical, but IIRC (it's been a while) the show as a whole consistently supports liberal values -- tolerance, self-acceptance, loyalty, (and fidelity), apology and forgiveness. Trans guy who's coming out as an Adult Baby? Yay, Person who cheated on them? Boo, Cheater apologizes and gets forgiveness? Yay, . The freakshow aspect pulls in ratings, but the thing is, the "freaks" consistently get accepted for themselves (and sometimes commended for their loyalty), or condemned for hurting someone else, just like the "normal folks".