Music Festival Pressure sales

[Shironu-Akaineko]

We got a yearly Music festival here, it's quite fun, but this year lacked actual musical instruments for sale.

A basket of ocarinas, a bunch of bongos and a kiosk of very cool yet very expensive tibetan bowls. Anyway...

I stopped at one of the kiosk to admire sum chinese baubles. You know, necklaces with Kanji strapped to th,em. I love that stuff. I got books to learn japanese. I can read a kanji or two. That's when it got interesting...

SS: Sucky saleswoman who has no idea what she's talking about. Note that she is nowhere NEAR asian.
Me: Shiro! I'm also nowhere near asian.

SS: "you like? we have several models!" There's 3 chinese necklaces in the basket, two of which are the exact same. Kanji for Long Life.

Me: "I can look, thanx..."

SS: She starts digging in the basket, grabs all 3. "See? Chinese Zodiac! What's your birth year?"

Me: "1982, I'm a Dog."

SS: "1982, so that would make you...."

Me: "A DOG! I'M A DOG!"

SS: "Here's one! Aww, 1985, that was close..."

Me: "Yeah, that's the Ox..."

SS: "There's no Taurus in the Chinese Zodiac! That means Goat!"

Me: wtf lady? It says so in plain english right there, OX! "Uh, ma'am, it's an Ox, it's written..."

SS: "THAT MEANS GOAT!!!"

Me:

SS: "Those two are different... I don't know what they mean..."

Me: "They're the same and they mean Long..."

SS: "I'LL GO ASK THE KIOSK OWNER I'LL BRB!!"

Me and Mom: *gets the hell out of there*.

COME ON LADY!! Don't try to CORRECT me when I'm right you stupid stupid bleep! I don't care that you can't read japanese, but I do care that you can't read ENGLISH that's RIGHT ON THE FRIGGIN' PACKAGE for god's sake!

[JustADude]

SS: "There's no Taurus in the Chinese Zodiac!

Right! There IS no Taurus in the Chinese Zodiac. There's the Ox, which is a totally different animal than a Bull.

As for the rest of it... ow... that level of stupid makes my head hurt.

[Shabo]

There's the Ox, which is a totally different animal than a Bull.

Not really. Oxen are castrated bulls. Sorry to burst your bubble there. They also usually leave horns on oxen so the yokes won't slip over their heads when they back up. Horns on bulls = danger to the extreme.

[JustADude]

Not really. Oxen are castrated bulls. Sorry to burst your bubble there.

AWWWWWWW...

And

OUCH!!!!

[wagegoth]

Oxen are normally chosen for size and trainability, then castrated for safety.

I'm a Dog, too!

[Gawdzillers]

Why are they using Kanji if it's Chinese?
Oh, and Monkey.

EDIT: Also, I thought a steer was a castrated bull?

[tollbaby]

Yes, a steer is a castrated bull. However...

Oxen (singular ox) are large and heavy set breeds of Bos taurus cattle trained as draft animals. Often they are adult, castrated males. Usually an ox is over four years old due to the need for training and to allow it to grow to full size. Oxen are used for plowing, transport, hauling cargo, grain-grinding by trampling or by powering machines, irrigation by powering pumps, and wagon drawing. Oxen were commonly used to skid logs in forests, and sometimes still are, in low-impact select-cut logging. Oxen are most often used in teams of two, paired, for light work such as carting. In the past, teams might have been larger, with some teams exceeding twenty animals when used for logging.

An ox is nothing more than a mature bovine with an "education." The education consists of the animal's learning to respond appropriately to the teamster's (ox driver's) signals.

~ Wikipedia

So oxen are "just cows" but they're specifically bred for size, strength and temperament, just like dogs Steer are raised for meat, and are killed before they're 2 years old in most places. Bulls are usually kept around longer, but because they're used for breeding, they often have nastier temperaments (often, not always). Oxen are docile and BIG. You don't often see steers get that big, because by the time they're 4-5 years old, the meat would be inedible (tough and stringy).

[Shabo]

So oxen are "just cows"

In the loosest sense of the word, yes. Although, the correct definition for a cow is a female bovine that has produced offspring. Before they birth, they are called heifers. Making Heifer (sp?) from Rocko's Modern Life an interestingly named character. Baby cattle are calves until they hit one year, at which point they hit "yearling" status. Original, I know. After yearling status, the majority are either eaten or bred, changing their status for the last time.

Ok, enough about cattle

Except that I'm an Ox

[Barefootgirl]

Oxen are docile and BIG. You don't often see steers get that big, because by the time they're 4-5 years old, the meat would be inedible (tough and stringy).

There is a restaurant in Madrid that serves the most incredible roast ox. Its very strong flavoured meat, much more so than beef, and that strong flavour is boosted even more by the marinade they leave it in before cooking. I am drooling slightly just thinking about it.

[tollbaby]

In the loosest sense of the word, yes. Ok, enough about cattle

Except that I'm an Ox

Thanks... you didn't need to dumb it down for the farm girl :P I was simply trying to use the simplest term possible.

[tollbaby]

There is a restaurant in Madrid that serves the most incredible roast ox. Its very strong flavoured meat, much more so than beef, and that strong flavour is boosted even more by the marinade they leave it in before cooking. I am drooling slightly just thinking about it.

Yes, because oxen are WORKED half to death Their muscle tissue is in excellent condition. Bulls just stand in a field all day (or in a pen, but that's cruel). There's not a whole heck of a lot of muscle tone on them, and it's pretty disgusting meat. (I mean compared to what you'd buy in a grocery store.... heck, if it's all you've got, you're damn glad to have it, but I wouldn't try to SELL it).

[Shabo]

Thanks... you didn't need to dumb it down for the farm girl :P I was simply trying to use the simplest term possible.

Farm girls FTW! (I'm one too!)

[Shironu-Akaineko]

And my point was an Ox is not a Goat.

[Imogene]

1981... I think that makes me year of the cock...
Much to my dismay.

[JustADude]

Oh, I forgot to mention when I posted before, but I'm a Boar. Combine that with my Gemini and you've got the recipe for an extremely strong, polarized personality, which is exactly right.



The Zodiac isn't really that useful for predicting future events but it's almost scary it is at matching up personalities, once you get deep enough, specific enough, and use source material that lists the NEGATIVE aspects of each sign as well.