Immigrants are ruining the economy by buying more than me

[super skeptic]

Solid logic, as always, by Kidist:

cameraluc.blogspot.com/2013/01/daily-episodes-of-icompatability-of.html

[maybeizfundie]

heh.

Can someone break it to her that she herself is non-Western ethnically and an immigrant herself?

Obnoxious woman. :roll:

[guidedbybobafett]

I have also privately said that non-Western people live inferior lives, economically at least, than Westerners (whites)

OH MY GOD. I cannot believe this racist is still allowed a platform for her hate speech. Canada has pretty strict laws that forbid this kind of thing.

[Lychee]

Is this the Ethipoian(?) Canadian who hates all immigrants? Part of me feels really sorry for her- seriously years of therepy needed to unpack her issues. On the other hand she is such an horrible person I don't really care!

Eta- because she is a horrible person, nor a horrible parson!

[Dinorah]

Sometimes I can't help wondering if she's delusional to the extent she thinks she's white and Canadian born.

[uber frau]

She'sAmharic, which means in the Ethiopian context, she is considered white. I'm pretty sure there's more to it than that though. I wouldn't be surprised if she's certifiable, for a start.

[2xx1xy1JD]

This particular post was more hateful than crazy. She's looking at the world through her own racist lense.

I grew up in Toronto. The Eaton Centre was always an exciting place for a suburban girl like me to visit - but I wouldn't say that it was always pleasant in the past. I remember the somewhat seedy row of head shops around it in the 1980s.

Yes, the Bay has some shitty customer service and store organization. This is not news. It also has nothing to do with ethnicity - the same thing happens when the salespeople and customers are white.

Re immigrant economic performance: Immigrants don't instantly become rich. Often, if they are not refugees or family-sponsored, immigrants qualify because of their level of education or the fact that they are wealthy enough to start a business. That means that we attract people who may have been the best and brightest in their native country. In Canada, they have to start from scratch to build up Canadian qualifications and experience, and build up connections. That's not easy, the cost of living is often higher in Canada, and some see a drop in standard of living as a result. You also have immigrants who come to Canada for political reasons only, knowing that their standard of living would be lower. There are a number of Chinese and South African immigrants in this category.

Her comments about the difficulties of assimilating immigrants sound familiar - in fact, they are very similar to comments made in the early 1900s about families like mine, who spoke no English, had no money, with a strange religion and strange customs.

Her economic comments aren't based in fact, and are actually contradicted by her example. The Indian couple were consumers. She only needs to take a look at the real estate markets in the United States, and contrast them with the sky-high markets in Canada (esp. Toronto and Vancouver) to realize the difference that immigrants (and in particular, East Asian and South Asian) make. My house has increased in value since 2007. China and India both have over 1 billion people, and are fast-growing emerging economies. Logically, wouldn't a place with an educated workforce that can speak the languages and that has ties to those countries be in a position to prosper?

Exhibit A: the City of Markham, just northeast of Toronto. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Markham,_Ontario

It's half Chinese, 1/4 Indian and 1/4 white. It's also one of the most affluent communities in the country, has a strong business base of high-tech companies and its school has some of the best test scores.

[E Street Fan]

1. It's pretty damn rich for Kidist to talk about grammatical errors.

2. Her story sounds like bullshit. I worked retail for years; in-store credit card applications have been done on a computer for a long time, not on paper.

3. I think Kidist is so delusional that she sees what she wants to see in ordinary events, or she makes up stories to promote her opinions.

4. If this story actually happened, which I doubt, I'd like to know what exactly Kidist said to the store employee when she "asked the woman at the cashier if she could just quickly take care of my purchase..."

[Dinorah]

I know she considers herself as white, but the fact remains that she should be aware that she's going to be identified as black in Canada. From the more recent pictures that came of that right wing event she went to, there's just no way she could "pass".

And even if the service wasn't great, I think wanting to report the cashier is way exaggerated.

[browngrl]

Does kidist still work at Laura in the Eaton centre?

[Fundie Lite]

And that bag that she waited so long in line for just looks hideous.

[ladyamylynn]

And that bag that she waited so long in line for just looks hideous.

Ugh, no kidding!

[2xx1xy1JD]

1. It's pretty damn rich for Kidist to talk about grammatical errors.

2. Her story sounds like bullshit. I worked retail for years; in-store credit card applications have been done on a computer for a long time, not on paper.

3. I think Kidist is so delusional that she sees what she wants to see in ordinary events, or she makes up stories to promote her opinions.

4. If this story actually happened, which I doubt, I'd like to know what exactly Kidist said to the store employee when she "asked the woman at the cashier if she could just quickly take care of my purchase..."

I pretty much always disagree with her analysis of things, but I do believe this story because I know the store and I've had long waits to pay for stupid reasons (eg. sales person is refolding sweaters instead of noticing customers waiting to pay with nobody serving them). Their credit applications really do take a long time to process as well. Kidist will often get some basic facts correct (her descriptions of places were accurate enough to allow me to figure out exactly where she lives and works), but then put a bizarre spin on things. The delusional part of her post was using the story - which I believe is true - to reach an anti-immigrant conclusion, when similar things happen all the time in predominantly white Bay stores.

[super skeptic]

The thing is, the immigrant woman was buying a Coach and therefore probably a lot more expensive item than the $50 bag Kidist had in her hands. The attendant took her time with that customer and asked to fill out a credit application as she'd ask any customer, and especially if it seems like it's a customer who might actually spend more money there and wants to encourage customer loyalty.

But the spin from *sales pitch* to *immigrants are the worst!* is quite magical here, considering this immigrant was spending more and therefore giving more business to the store than Kidist (ANOTHER BLACK, YES, BLACK BY CANADIAN AND MOST WESTERN STANDARDS, despite what she thinks) who was buying an item on clearance.

[Lychee]

Ugh, no kidding!

Glad You said that! It's one of the fugliest things I've ever seen!

Found out some interesting things about the Amhara people on Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amhara_people

I understand the mindset of coming from an elite culture/racial group in your own country but I think it's sad that she is so hostile to both the immigrant experience and by extension her background and culture. I don't understand how she can seemingly hate herself so much.

Eta link

[Sunnichick31]

heh.

Can someone break it to her that she herself is non-Western ethnically and an immigrant herself?

Obnoxious woman. :roll:

One of these days I'm going to make a fake email address and do it. I keep meaning to, but never get around to it.

[Miggy]

the white, British culture that has been Canada's identity for centuries

Does she realise that Canada isn't all British? I know English-speaking Canadians are the largest group but there is a pretty sizable French-speaking, right? What about the First Nation and Inuit people who have been there for a lot longer than the few centuries the British have been there?

Even the use of the word "British" annoys me. It gets used here in Australia too and I think our culture has evolved into something very different to what exists in the UK. Canada is different again. So is NZ. So is the USA. I would describe myself as white Australian or English speaking Australian but never a British Australian. (I am also quite proud to say I live on Wiradjuri land, even though I am not Wiradjuri myself but that is not really the point of this snark.)

[GolightlyGrrl]

Ugh, no kidding!

I was thinking the same thing. However, Kidist's shitty taste in handbags is one of her better qualities.

[samurai_sarah]

Does she realise that Canada isn't all British? I know English-speaking Canadians are the largest group but there is a pretty sizable French-speaking, right? What about the First Nation and Inuit people who have been there for a lot longer than the few centuries the British have been there?

Even the use of the word "British" annoys me. It gets used here in Australia too and I think our culture has evolved into something very different to what exists in the UK. Canada is different again. So is NZ. So is the USA. I would describe myself as white Australian or English speaking Australian but never a British Australian. (I am also quite proud to say I live on Wiradjuri land, even though I am not Wiradjuri myself but that is not really the point of this snark.)

Can't speak for Canada, but I live in the UK and have been to Australia, and you guys are... Let me see if I can think of a word to describe you. Hmm, you're Australian? Seriously, every Australian I have ever met, seemed to be very Australian, and not British. Same goes for the Kiwis, although they were New Zealanders, and not Australians. It would boggle Kidist's mind, how that works. But she doesn't seem to have a concept of cultures changing, evolving and adapting. It's what societies do, and I would bet her good money that within about ten years of the British arriving in Canada, their society already looked rather different than the one "back home". Even today, with frequent visits, the internet etc, it's very difficult for a migrant population to "keep up" with the society they left. And not only that, they face different challenges, different environments and different resources, so they have to change. And quite often, the "cultural values" initially stagnate, before they develop in different directions than they do in the country of origin.

Sorry for the treatise, Kidist usually pisses me off to such a level that I get verbose. I work closely with a minority group of migrants, comprising three generations now, and thanks to modern media, the internet and visits in their country of origin, there is a lot, an awful lot of awareness that their culture is now unique to a certain place and country. The second and third generation have largely lost the first generation's language, but have carried on some cultural practices, and some everyday ones, which are old-fashioned or the stuff of history books in "the old country" now. Other things, which are integral to their culture, are unknown back in the old country, because they're adaptations to local circumstances. Think, for example, being unable to purchase certain groceries abroad, "making do", and then your children think that that is the way things should taste like. To someone actually living in the old country, it's absurd and inauthentic, but to your children, it's authentic to their circumstances, and the culture they're part of creating.

That's pretty much the way I see Kidist's use of "British". It doesn't apply, because by the second generation at the latest, in places like Australia and NZ, culture was transforming and had to. Fer chrissakes, if you're an Irish convict, used to making fire with peat, what are you going to do, if you find yourself in the Snowy Mountains? That's one of the ways cultural change begins. (Sorry for using stereotypes about convicts, and I have no idea about the peat-situation in the Snowy Mountains. It's been a while, but it looked very non-peaty to me, but rather forest-y.)

Also, sorry for the wall of text. As I said, Kidist annoys me into verbosity and mansplaining. :oops:

edited for missing words.

[cindyluvs24]

She hates immigrants and anything "foreign" but in an earlier post, she goes on a love fest for an Irish pub and its decor.

[Miggy]

Thankyou samurai-sarah. I think you said everything I wanted to scream at Kidist. I don't usually read her blog because I do end up yelling at my computer.

I have just read your comments to my family. My kids think it is hilarious that they might be ... Australian! Hubby, who is a Kiwi, says to say thankyou for recognising that Kiwis and 'Strayans are different. :D

[samurai_sarah]

Thankyou samurai-sarah. I think you said everything I wanted to scream at Kidist. I don't usually read her blog because I do end up yelling at my computer.

I have just read your comments to my family. My kids think it is hilarious that they might be ... Australian! Hubby, who is a Kiwi, says to say thankyou for recognising that Kiwis and 'Strayans are different. :D

Thanks. You and your family just made my day. :D

[Mary C Doates]

Kidist...I have no (coherent) words. I'm surprised that reading her posts hasn't resulted in my computer bursting into flames from her seething hatred. She makes Zsu seem rational.

[super skeptic]

She makes Zsu seem rational.

Now now let's not get carried away here... :lol:

[wtylcf]

yeesh, Kidist - after making my eyes bleed at that ugly bag you wanted to buy, you made me suffer through skimming your ten paragraph long story about how someone signed up for a Bay credit card in front of you? And you were too stupid to think of walking to another cash register during your 25 minute wait?!

I've never shopped at the Bay in Toronto, but in the Bay stores in Vancouver and Montreal, there's probably at least 2 to 3 tills on the main floor alone, if my memory serves me correctly. There is no reason to wait that long at one till. Nor to be a jerk to a salesperson who is merely trying to serve one customer at a time, as is their job description. They are forced to try to get you to sign up for Bay cards at every opportunity so it's not their fault the customer took them up on the offer.