[Richard]

For me it means being attracted to women. I don’t necessarily find it to be something ‘great.’ It just is – and I enjoy the attraction very much. But yours is not the challenge of being heterosexual, yours is the challenge of finding someone to ‘spend the rest of your life with.’ You can’t look to celebrate your heterosexuality by having numerous choices for a life partner. First celebrate life and enjoy yourself as you are, and attracting that life mate will be less of a challenge and less of a reflection on how bad it is to be heterosexual.

User Detail :  

Name : Richard, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Black/African American, Age : 42, City : orlando, State : FL, Country : United States, Occupation : architect, 

[Richard]

It is difficult to say or nod salutations (hello, good morning, how you doin, etc.) while racing from one place to another. I was born, raised, and educated in the South. Saying hello or good morning is/was a way of life and it was considered quite rude if you did not greet a passer-by. with such a habit engrained in my way of being, I experienced a severe culture shock when I visited California at the age of 18 (I am now 42) where people would give me strange looks for saying hello or good morning or how you doin’. My new California friends commented on how slow I walked, too. Not only did we greet people but “back home” we were never in a hurry unless we were running late for the bus. Even then, if we saw a familiar face we at least raised a hand to gesture hello.

Taking our time to say hello or “How you doin?’ also allowed us the opportunity to chat, to gossip, to educate, to spread the news, to understand life, to share joys, to share fears, to show respect, and most of all to share the love that gave us a sense of community. Our lives today are so hurried that we are rapidly losing respect for each other, our sense of love is misguided and our families and communities are disjointed and often filled with impersonal contacts.

Many of the old ways are still a part of my life and the lives of many blacks raised in the South, as you so keenly noticed. However some habits have given way to modern civilities (i.e “It’s not nice to talk to strangers.”). So, although there may be some caution with saying hello to people these days there is no harm in taking your time to get where you are going.

User Detail :  

Name : Richard, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Black/African American, Age : 42, City : orlando, State : FL, Country : United States, Occupation : architect, 

[Richard]

i have learned to speak five languages, korean, some japanese, portugese, spanish, and of course english. in most countries, the locals feel it a compliment by americans who are learning to speak their language, with maybe the french being an exception. it shows an effort to understand, an effort to relate, and an effort to appreciate the language, the culture, and the traditions that make up the people whose language you may be learning. thus learning to speak or properly pronounce foreign words is a very strong element to that compliment. granted not all of us have the ‘tongue’ to sound out words or phrases like a native, but the show of effort is what’s appreciated. On a whole, americans are generally lazy about learning cultural differences or learning to speak a foreign language. in a lot of ways we show an indifference to foreign words and thus they refuse to ‘learn’ to pronounce it correctly. this indifference may be viewed as an insult to the language thereby an insult to the native speaker. So, yes, pronunciation is important.

User Detail :  

Name : Richard, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Black/African American, Age : 42, City : orlando, State : FL, Country : United States, Occupation : architect, 

[Richard]

the vernacular is ‘nigga’ not nigger. in any event, as you may well know, the term is/was used as a very offensive and dehumanizing label of Blacks by some insensitive and insecure people of the White race in america. in an effort to soften or eliminate the sting of verbal degradation Blacks have adopted the term and used it in our own way with a new meaning. a ‘nigger’, by white standards was considered someone who was lazy, shiftless, submissive, weak, and of course Black. instead ‘nigga’ is a symbol of power, militarism, defiance, a strenght of character, and a Blackness that is beautiful. it is a label we have modified and stylized as we have done with many things in our society (i.e. Blacks do it with style). so, when we say it amongst ourselves it is a term of endearment and even a compliment. thus, the use of the n-word by Whites can never be complimentary. Also, the use of the ‘nigger’ word from one Black to another would also be offensive. in other words, you have to belong to that class of people to be able to relate, associate, and articulate the deeper meaning of word usage. and if you do not belong to that class your use of the word has no connection of affinity and thus there is no ‘understood permission’ for your using it.

User Detail :  

Name : Richard, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Black/African American, Age : 42, City : orlando, State : FL, Country : United States, Occupation : architect, 

[Richard]

Rick, you sound a bit upset or perhaps annoyed with Jesse Jackson. is it because he is ‘in your face’? constantly reminding you of matters you wish not to reveal about yourself? ‘He get so much attention’ because of the issues that must be addressed in our country. Jesse Jackson is an old guard to our civil rights, even to your civil rights. He has taken on this responsibilty, not for himself – for selfish gain, but so that we all may gain to live with respect for each other and so that we can be mindful that our treatment towards one another is without vision towards our racial category. Colin Powell is a different breed of a civil rights activist. He is not in your face and taking on ‘militant’ causes. Although he is a military man his strategy, I believe, attacks the problems where it is unsuspecting to the enemy but still very affective. As for a paycheck, most financially successful people don’t get rich by earning a paycheck, they get rich by providing a service that is needed in the stream of commerce and democracry. Obviously, there is still a need to provide you with an understanding as to why Jesse is ‘in your face’ thus he will continue to be a financially successful man (not earning a paycheck) in this endeavor.

User Detail :  

Name : Richard, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Black/African American, Age : 42, City : orlando, State : FL, Country : United States, Occupation : architect, 

[Richard]

there is a movement afoot in the united states to fine people for using handicap restroom stall just as one may be fined for using a handicap parking space. i am not handicap or physically challenged in any way. but i do sympathize with the challenges disabled people encounter on a daily basis: improperly sloped sidewalks, poor door handles, long curcuetous access to facilities, etc. when it comes to handicap toilet stalls, it was originally designed and intended to be used primarily by that class. so no matter how long the line is to that stall the disabled person has priortiy access over all others.

User Detail :  

Name : Richard, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Black/African American, Age : 42, City : orlando, State : FL, Country : United States, Occupation : architect, 

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