FLu anyone ?

[steve_earwig]

Half of me agrees with you, a touch racist, but the other half knows that back in GB people are starting to feel like foreigners in their own country. 5,000,000 unemployed, economy up sh*t creek, local governments cutting back more and more and yet the UK is being told it's not giving enough hand outs to these "foreign imports". Where I am there are very few foreigners (probably because it's a poor country that is very frugal with the hand outs) but if we started to outnumber the locals I can well imagine them starting to get a bit narked about it. Racism's one thing, human nature quite something different.

[DiscoPol]

Am I not human too?

the world is a small place, some people feel it necessary to stay put in one place most of their lives, some don't, does this mean that those unwilling to expand, improve, broaden their opportunities and lifestyles will always have a problem with those that do?

I had hoped that this sort of thing wasn't going to become an issue on this site too.

I recently had to stop visiting certain sites due to the anger and frustration that was building up inside me with the almost daily postings by small minded bigots bemoaning the fact that "them foreigners" were taking everything whilst there were no opportunities left for the indigenous population, no bloody surprise, if the posters used the same literacy skills they displayed in their posts then I wouldn't give the dumb bastards a job either.

We are world citizens now, at the very least most of us are Europeans, what exactly is wrong with migration whether it be for economic, safety or other reasons?

[steve_earwig]

It's these "other reasons" I worry about.

My dad had a couple of Polish lads come and rebuild his garage for him (he's getting a touch too old for that sort of thing now) and they worked damn hard and did a fantastic job. They were indeed "migrant workers" and planned to spend a few years in England to make enough money to go back to Poland and live on the proceeds. I see no problem with this. What I do worry about though is perhaps not everyone who goes there has this sort of plan, or as you say is fleeing some sort of persecution, and perhaps goes simply because the UK has this "treasure island" reputation - that it's easy to get hand outs for doing nothing.

At the same time...

Worse still though are "indigenous" Brits who sit on their bums all day living off the state, yet jump up and down because they've seen a brown face through the window. Perhaps they could be "persecution migrants".

I like to think that I am not a racist ( I can't afford to be here!) but, like it or not, it is human nature to fear and distrust anyone who is not from your tribe - be that from the next village, Liverpool, Scotland or Zimbabwe. I know this is in my brain and that I have to think round it, but I'd rather do that than just turn my brain off when it comes to anyone that doesn't talk or look like me.

Gah! This is awful, I really don't want to go here either. The problem for me now is I know I'm not eloquent enough to get my point across clearly and concisely and that your reply will bury me because you're educated. But bugger it, what am I meant to do? Just say "Ok, I'm a racist" and lock the thread?

[highlander]

Racism almost certainly started in this country purely because of the very small number of migrants that first appeared. Nobody other than explorers had ever seen anyone that wasn't white. This was made worse that it was back in the 16th century, and the first foreign migrants were slaves that had been captured by explorers, so they weren't even treated like human beings. What really saddens me about racism is that attitudes have scarcely changed in the last 400 years - yes, the laws of the land have changed, but the simple things like distrust amongst the bigoted have never really gone away.

Then there's those who make racist comments (or worse) towards 2nd, 3rd, 4th, or even 5th generation immigrants - kids born in the UK whose parents are foreign nationals. These kids are brought up mostly with UK culture, yet they're treated as "different" because of the colour of their skin. I say "mostly" - the exception to that rule are those kids born here to foreign parents who live in an isolated community. Isolated because they are not accepted - therefore they choose to bring up their kids with little exposure to British culture.

Horrible little fuckers like Nick Griffin and his BNP, the National Front, the English Defence League, and all these other racist organisations, are what really cause this sourness between foreign nationals and British citizens.

As Steve said, legitimate immigrants who get jobs and live by the laws of the land are fine; it's the native British people who sponge off benefits that really piss me off. The reason you go into McDonalds or KFC and there's a Polish person behind the counter is because that Polish person actually applied for a job at McDonalds and are happier to get a low-paid job in the service industry rather than sit at home accepting hand-outs from the state. I get pissed off with people saying they can't get a job when what they really mean is they won't take a job (any job) other than the one they are qualified for, even as a stop-gap measure.

If I lost my job, I would work as a shelf-stacker in a supermarket rather than going on the Dole. I would likely be working alongside a bunch of legally-employed foreign nationals who were happy to do the same thing, and I'd be proud to be in that position. I would also be applying for other Network-related jobs, because I know I could do better for my family than work in a supermarket, but I would continue working there until I got something better.

Even worse still are those that get a job and still try to claim benefits to which they are not entitled. Benefit sponges are immoral, but benefits cheats are illegal as well.

Wow, that turned into a mini rant.

Going back to the original topic - flu sucks, but I almost never get sick. It sweeps round the office like the plague, with everyone around me dropping like flies, and I maybe get a sniffle at the most.

When I do get sick, you can tell it's a nasty bugger of a bug that I've got. Not because I feel awful, but because friends and family recognise that it must be bad if I've got it - and I never see them til I'm back on my feet again! There's bloody sympathy and compassion for you.

[steve_earwig]

Sometimes I really think this board could do with a "like" button...

I think your level of fitness has a lot to do with how badly any form of lurgy affects you - I'd be completely screwed if I got anything right now.

[plod]

I'd like to think i'm not racist, but I think a lot of it has to do with your upbringing
When I was young, if we had 2 or 3 foreign appearing people ( sorry not eloquent enough to think of a better term ) at school, that was it
We don't have a large Asian/African/Non English community in our town, so I haven't interacted with these people a lot whilst at school
When I worked in Leicester and Nottingham, that was different, but I interacted with many of them, and even had great fun when learning swear words in different languages

But as a general rule, i've not been brought up interacting in a wide social spectrum, so maybe i'm just a little sceptical of other cultures, as I don't have enough understanding of them.
I'd like to think i'm tolerant as well, but ultimately maybe i'm not socially adept enough

I guess it now comes down to being something out of the norm for me, especially within my own community

Then again, it maybe me all over now, as when I worked as a manager in a supermarket in Leicester and Nottingham, I saw all sorts of people and got on with all of them wherever possible, but now i'm a courier and sit ON MY OWN in my cab for most of the day, maybe my social skills have dropped regrdless, and maybe that's why I still feel comfortable "talking" on an internet forum, rather than dealing with people face to face, because i'm losing the skills due to my isolation whilst working??

Jeez, I didn't think i'd be writing that when I started this post

[lozz]

Ihate the word Racism,

its all Lob sided,


Did icall anyone ?

[lozz]

Man Flu?
dont know what that is,

ifeel sick dizzy and dehydrated all the time,
caught this nasty flu from going to the Doctors, was ok till iwas sat in the waiting room sorounded by loads of settlers from other countrys snotting and sneazing all over the place,

yeah a true white British person would never give you the flu, would they?

Had to think about that one for a while,

Yeh course they wouid not intentionaly tho, atleast some people have the decency to atleast sneaze away from people or coverthere mouth with tisue,

Edit: removed .

theres no such thing as freedom of speech anymore, say something and you become a Racist, !

[highlander]

Oh dear.

You can't say "Asians spit on the pavement" and "Poles don't spit on the pavement". It's entirely down to the individual. My wife is from Indonesia. She hates it when she sees people spitting on the pavement.

I'm going to bow out of this topic now because I don't like it very much. Fair enough when it was about flu, but it seems to have morphed into something else.

[DiscoPol]

theres no such thing as freedom of speech anymore, say something and you become a Racist

There is very much freedom of speech, especially on internet based boards like this, whilst you wish to use your freedom of speech to tell us your feelings on people you believe to be "settlers from other countrys" [sic] . I wish to use my freedom of speech to express my feelings on the matter, only you feel you have been branded a "racist", maybe I am being thought of as a traitor by some people, I don't think I am being treacherous in any way therefore the label doesn't scare me.

Lozz,
don't get the hump, I am just sick of people blaming the immigrants (whatever colour, whatever race, whatever religion) for everything, if your partner/wife/girlfriend left the back door open all night and a big f%ck off piece of cheese on the floor and you walked into the kitchen to find it full of hungry mice in the morning, would you blame every mouse for being there or would you have stern words with the women concerned?

Its human nature to want better things for yourself and your family, some people are willing to relocate to other countries to get this, does this make them bad people?

[lozz]

iagree with some of that disco,

but this countrys gone to dogs ,
Mention something and it gets took the wrong way,

iknow what you mean about some forums being racist,

but have iused the word B c*nts or saying stuff like they shouid feck off back to there own country for eg ?
this is the sort of stuff ive seen get mentioned on other forums, its disgusting and out of order,

thats the sort of stuff iconsider to be racism,

shouid personal views on the way they act in public be considerd out of order?

[jasper5]

I had my flu jab last week

Strangely, my son is off work with proper flu (laid up in bed, can't do anything, aching, high temperature, bad chest etc) as opposed to a cold where you just sneeze a lot with a runny nose and feel crap.

For what it's worth he lives and works in Sweden and has done for 11 years.

I also don't like it whenever anyone sneezes or coughs without covering their mouth or sneezing into a hanky/tissue.

[steve_earwig]

That reminds me, we didn't have ours last year 'cos we found out (sis-in-law works for a big pharmacist here) that they were combining it with the pig flu vaccination (you know, the one the Shermans rushed past FDA approval despite all the side effects so somebody could make big bucks) so I'm wondering if they're still doing that. Any ideas?

I try to get a snot rag ready or at least a hand in front of my face but sometimes I don't get a chance. I can definitely say though, that it'll hurt me much more than it hurts you. I thought I was going to throw up the other day, I was in a real panic because I knew how much it'd hurt

[FarmerPug]

people coughing in your face, its like being punched in the face by someones spit its disgusting.

[jasper5]

That reminds me, we didn't have ours last year 'cos we found out (sis-in-law works for a big pharmacist here) that they were combining it with the pig flu vaccination (you know, the one the Shermans rushed past FDA approval despite all the side effects so somebody could make big bucks) so I'm wondering if they're still doing that. Any ideas?

I try to get a snot rag ready or at least a hand in front of my face but sometimes I don't get a chance. I can definitely say though, that it'll hurt me much more than it hurts you. I thought I was going to throw up the other day, I was in a real panic because I knew how much it'd hurt

My flu jab contained the pig flu vaccine, so my doc said.