Happy Birthday, cjboffoli!

[Cait]

I am the first to maintain the everyone should be respectful (particularly regarding race), but how desperate-to-be-offended do you have to be to find this off-color.

BTW – what’s racial about being West African? That’s a NATIONALITY for all those who did not do their vocabulary in history/sociology class. And who knows – maybe they had a huge “I HEART WEST AFRICA” or West African Flag bumper sticker on their car. You don’t know RT – so as much as I dislike the ACTUALLY racially insensitive, I really don’t like the assumptive and overly sensitive. Spend your time raining on the parade of real racial inequality.

And another thing that makes me mad – party poopers. Do yo thang, CJ. I got your back.

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[JayDee]

Happy Birthday CJB

~

I appreciate all you’ve done for us (photos and bacon); I still have a 1/3 pound of bacon.

~

The bacon-lovers and hummingbirds of West Seattle appreciate your contributions to our community.

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[cjboffoli]

Gee. I had no idea this would ruffle feathers. And thanks for the kind words of support everyone. It means a lot to this birthday boy.

I’m all for fighting racism with a hair trigger, but since when does the mere mention of West Africa automatically make me a racist?

After they got their car out of harm’s way I actually spoke to one of the guys who told me (completely unsolicited) that he was from the Cote d’Ivoire. But for the record, I probably would have mentioned it too if they had been from South Australia or even South Carolina for that matter.

Also, I am not a paid employee of the West Seattle Blog. Absolutely everything I have covered for them as been done as a volunteer, both as a service to the community and because I believe in them and what they are doing. Anything I contribute to this blog is my own responsibility and should not reflect poorly on them in any way. The WSB owners have been nothing but kind and supportive from day one.

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[Zenguy]

What say you RT?

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[mrhineh]

I am more offended at how WSB “protects their own” when called out. I’ve noticed on WSB how nasty people get at the general public, threaten them with violence, property destruction and such, and that seems to be OK. But call somebody out for an innapropriate comment (and I am comfortable calling it that and not racism),and you get the penalty box slammer censor. And then a public hand slapping by the editor to boot. The fact the defenseless public can get called out on this site, but posters get ultimate protection from the publisher seems unbalanced and unfair to those people who sometimes get mercilessly ridiculed without recourse.

I do think it is not a comment that I would feel comfortable making in mixed company. Sorry to rain on your birthday parade here, but the Editors kind of forced it, rather than on the public thread.

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[Cait]

Posters get called out here all the time. Make sure if you see something you take it upon yourself to report it. Here on the blog, the regulars get to know each other’s personalities as posters and so we sometimes learn to be more sensitive to some and rally around others. It’s up to YOU not TR to police what offends you. We all get reported, we all get a slap on the wrist when it’s deserved.

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[Zenguy]

MrHineh, please provide some examples. It is easy to throw down allegationa, but please back them up with examples.

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[mrhineh]

I am all for starting a new thread with regards to the topic of “posters being protected from other posters, but the public at large is open game”, to preserve the intended integrity of this thread. In the mean time, here is an example:

Thread:https://westseattleblog.com/blog/?p=12738

West Seattle snow and ice: Is this your car?

Some comments:

“I say we should have a bonfire with it and roast marshmellows”.

“Jenna, Suzy and I talked about pushing it down the hill today…but of course now that they sanded it, it won’t go! Maybe all of us neighbors can get out there – break into it – release the emergency brake and let it roll”

“OK – so the 2nd car got stranded trying to get around the 1st car. This guy needs a serious beating IF and when he comes to get his car!”

“I would just break the glass and move the darn car. Who cares about a broken window when they have left it for several days”

This thread caught my attention today and there are some posts that go a little too far sometimes elsewhere. So, anything to really get into a snit over? Not especially because we can assume its made in the heat of the moment amid frustration. But try to call out another poster, and bingo! I even tried to repost *exactly* Christophers orignial post, and his reminder of his videos together on this afternoons thead and shazzam! deleted within 5 minutes. Why the censorship about a sensitive comment, unless it wasn’t so sensitve? Why protect posters, but not the public being trampled on? (right or wrong).

The bicycle discussions and pedestrian discussions come to mind too from the past.

So there you go. I’m not going to go into major rant about it, but I stand firm that the deleted posts were not that objectionable.

mrhineh

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[JanS]

“I do think it is not a comment that I would feel comfortable making in mixed company.”

Mrhineh…what “mixed company” would that be? Men and women? Yourself and the actual guys from the Ivory Coast in West Africa who Christopher Boffoli actually spoke with? If they’re OK with it, why aren’t you? And if you’re so bothered by this, maybe you should start your own thread, and have a real conversation about it, instead of making snide comments about the editors of this blog, who are fine people, and have provided a wonderful service to this community.

I’ve had posts removed. I’ve had e-mails from the editor explaining why I’ve had a post removed, calling me on it. And I’m back again and again.

Insensitive? to whom? you? it certainly isn’t to the three guys in the car. Did you get stuck somewhere today, and decided to take it out here? Bad hair day? I simply don’t get your vehement objection. You’re perfectly entitled to have objections, but be a grown up and choose your battles, at least where you have them. What I wonder is…why didn’t you say something right after he posted it…why did you HAVE to wait until a perfectly nice thread wishing this nice guy Happy Birthday? Oh..it didn’t bother you earlier today? Is that it? Please explain that, kind sir…

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[mrhineh]

Oh I did within 5 minutes. You can see WSB’s hand slap. No worries. Besides, I wasn’t the first to bring it up here. I brought it up in the public forums, but was deleted. As I just stated, I would move this from this thread. Did you choose not to read that part, sir?

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[JanS]

lolol…I’m not a sir….but…thanks…I suppose. I haven’t seen the original thread, so apologies if you think that you were mistreated. Maybe it was removed because of some slur that you might have made? Since I didn’t see it, I can’t agree or disagree with you. Perhaps you could send what you said in a PM, and I’ll let you know bhow I feel….but…I’m just me (definitely a female) and does my opinion count more than any other? I doubt it.

and RT? welcome to the forums. I see you just joined us today…really endearing yourself to the community already , aren’t you? OK…I’m speaking with tongue in cheek there. I do hope that you’ll join in more conversations, perhaps with a kindler, gentler demeanor? Again…welcome…

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[celeste17]

CJ Now that this birthday is almost over I just wanted to wish you a happy birthday and my wish for you is that 2009 be the best year ever and that all your wishes come true. I look forward to seeing what will become of your art work and wish for another round of bacon after the first of the year! :)

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[wingme]

happy birthday cjb!! i’m a big fan. using one of your pix as a screen saver (oops…is that ok?) also, by describing said gents as “west african”, we’re all assuming that’s code for “black”, am i right?

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[wingme]

just to clarify, (due to my being geographically challenged), i mistakenly thought we were discussing south africa, wherein reside many anglos… it just didn’t compute why this was a big deal. duh, my bad.

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[cjboffoli]

celeste: Thanks so much. But I’m still on the first round of bacon ;-)

wingme: I wasn’t using codes. I was just relaying what the man told me.

I’m curious which pic you’re using as a screen saver. Is there enough resolution so that it looks OK?

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[JoB]

i think the point missed here is that the nationality of the drivers was not the point of the story.. but the lack of knowledge about how to navigate snow and icy conditions.

wingme.. you make a great point.. at no point did cjb mention the color of the individuals.. and they could have as easily been white as black…

so is it racism if it exists only in the eye of the reader?

would everyone have been more comfortable if the three stooges were women?

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[wingme]

a sunset pix…part of a collage, not full screen

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[cjboffoli]

JoB: Good points.

Something else that might be lost in translation is that the Three Stooges and their work are beloved in many circles. So perhaps the offense was on them and their comedic genius as the men I was referring to were acting recklessly and putting themselves and others in danger.

The detail in question in my comment was added both anecdotally and by way of illustrating the “fish out of water” nature of a bizarre, random situation. Relating the color of their skin to their predicament was the farthest thing from my mind but clearly at the front of the minds of some others here.

http://www.vimeo.com/2566154

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[wingme]

JoB: now that makes me lol, really. i’ve definitely taken part in some three stoogettes moments in my life. especially in regards to car troubles. et tu?

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[Erik]

Lol, I saw all the posts for your birthday and thought all the bacon lovers were totally gushing over you.

Hope you had a good one Chris!

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[charlabob]

Good grief — just when I thought we were getting TOOOO civilized, and wrote it off to holiday good cheer, I run across this in a birthday thread. Happy B’day (again) Christopher and to the curious majority who used this thread for obscure objections, one can only hope the menorah bunny brings you a life :-)

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[WesCAddle]

I thought this thread was about the Big Trak…(optional trailer not pictured)

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[cjboffoli]

WesCAddle: YES! That’s it! The Big Trak. Well done. That baby was state-of-the-art in 1980. I think it was from Mattel.

You’d use the keypad on the back to program in a series of maneuvers. Sort of a poor man’s radio control. You could make it go down the hall, turn the corner, and then fire its laser light at your little sister. Good times.

Alas, it’s long gone now. And all that’s left to do is long for my lost toys and my lost childhood.

Rosebud!!!!!!

:-)

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[Kayleigh2]

Um, I don’t think everybody gets reported or chastened equally and I felt bad for the people in the car.

But having said that, I am glad there were no celphone cams or Internet around the first time I ever (disorientedly; perhaps dyslexically) pumped gas into my first car. It would have been a Youtube sensation for the ages.

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[JoB]

LOL…

or the time i almost made a corner and rolled off the edge diagonally down a hill to rest nose first at the bottom.. injuring no-one but my pride… or.. or…

my guess is that those gentlemen were entertaining in a keystone cops sort of way.. and would have been equally entertaining had they been big white guys with cigars… or little old ladies.. or teenagers.. or..

i strongly suggest that anyone who can get themselves to an empty parking lot and safely do their own keystone cops or three stooges imitation…

it’s how you learn to drive in this stuff…

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