Why I live in Southern California

[kenny]

I remember when I was in the US military years ago.
I was sent to the Philippines for a year.
They wouldn't let us off base till we went through a week of cultural sensitivity training.

We learned all kinds of things about Philippinos, such as they consider it rude to say, "No."
It would drive Americans crazy.
You try to have a conversation with someone and when it was and appropriate time for them to say no, because that was the answer they couldn't/wouldn't say no.
They'd find ways to beat around the bush, so to speak.
We were told that they found Americans to be too direct.
Too blunt.

They also told us that American humor includes laughing when someone else is in an unfortunate situation.
Philippinos consider that beyond the pale.

Guess what.
I'm an American.
Sorry.

 

[that_someone_special]

I remember when I was in the US military years ago.
I was sent to the Philippines for a year.
They wouldn't let us off base till we went through a week of cultural sensitivity training.

We learned all kinds of things about Philippinos, such as they consider it rude to say, "No."
It would drive Americans crazy.
You try to have a conversation with someone and when it was and appropriate time for them to say no, because that was the answer they couldn't/wouldn't say no.
They'd find ways to beat around the bush, so to speak.
We were told that they found Americans to be too direct.
Too blunt.

They also told us that American humor includes laughing when someone else is in an unfortunate situation.
Philippinos consider that beyond the pale.

Guess what.
I'm an American.
Sorry.

Unfortunate, is slipping down the last 3 stairs on a staircase (and even then, people get hurt).
A multi-car accident where no one has control of their car is not unfortunate- it's scary and sometimes deadly.

 

[merrijoy]

I remember when I was in the US military years ago.
I was sent to the Philippines for a year.
They wouldn't let us off base till we went through a week of cultural sensitivity training.

We learned all kinds of things about Philippinos, such as they consider it rude to say, "No."
It would drive Americans crazy.
You try to have a conversation with someone and when it was and appropriate time for them to say no, because that was the answer they couldn't/wouldn't say no.
They'd find ways to beat around the bush, so to speak.
We were told that they found Americans to be too direct.
Too blunt.

They also told us that American humor includes laughing when someone else is in an unfortunate situation.
Philippinos consider that beyond the pale.

Guess what.
I'm an American.
Sorry.

Wow, I am an American too and I do not laugh at other's misfortunes. It sounds like you are perpetuating the negativity seen of Americans. How unfortunate.

 

[kenny]

I remember when I was in the US military years ago.
I was sent to the Philippines for a year.
They wouldn't let us off base till we went through a week of cultural sensitivity training.

We learned all kinds of things about Philippinos, such as they consider it rude to say, "No."
It would drive Americans crazy.
You try to have a conversation with someone and when it was and appropriate time for them to say no, because that was the answer they couldn't/wouldn't say no.
They'd find ways to beat around the bush, so to speak.
We were told that they found Americans to be too direct.
Too blunt.

They also told us that American humor includes laughing when someone else is in an unfortunate situation.
Philippinos consider that beyond the pale.

Guess what.
I'm an American.
Sorry.

Wow, I am an American too and I do not laugh at other's misfortunes. It sounds like you are perpetuating the negativity seen of Americans. How unfortunate.

Just think of me as inferior to you.
No problem.

 

[dragonfly411]

For those of you who didn't find this funny. Do you ever watch America's Funniest Home Videos? Do you ever laugh?


ETA: The Above is meant as a two part question, not as two separate questions.

 

[davi_el_mejor]

Wow! That's one slippery slope!

 

[lliang_chi]

Wow! That's one slippery slope!

OK Davi, I find this funny. As in pun-intended funny. Dunno if you mean it that way, but you're one funny person

 

[ForteKitty]

For those of you who didn't find this funny. Do you ever watch America's Funniest Home Videos? Do you ever laugh?


ETA: The Above is meant as a two part question, not as two separate questions.

a lot of it wasn't very funny.. just lame. kids screaming, running in circles, and throwing things are not funny... makes me want to smack them.

 

[athenaworth]

Wow! That's one slippery slope!

OK Davi, I find this funny. As in pun-intended funny. Dunno if you mean it that way, but you're one funny person

I admit I giggled on this comment too. A++ comment

 

[kenny]

For those of you who didn't find this funny. Do you ever watch America's Funniest Home Videos? Do you ever laugh?


ETA: The Above is meant as a two part question, not as two separate questions.

a lot of it wasn't very funny.. just lame. kids screaming, running in circles, and throwing things are not funny... makes me want to smack them.

Yeah it's not my cup of tea either.
Zillions of people must find it funny if it is a continuing national show, but hey, McDonald's is the most popular restaurant too.
To each his own.

 

[TravelingGal]

For those of you who didn't find this funny. Do you ever watch America's Funniest Home Videos? Do you ever laugh?


ETA: The Above is meant as a two part question, not as two separate questions.

a lot of it wasn't very funny.. just lame. kids screaming, running in circles, and throwing things are not funny... makes me want to smack them.

Ditto.

As for the video that Kenny posted, it doesn't bother me if people find it funny. I get why some do. I think if you are looking at it just as cars colliding ("bumper cars", I think someone mentioned), then maybe it's funny. When I look at this video, I see people, not cars. I think that's why it's not funny to me. That, and the fact that car accidents now REALLY make me cringe!

 

[iLander]

For those of you who didn't find this funny. Do you ever watch America's Funniest Home Videos? Do you ever laugh?


ETA: The Above is meant as a two part question, not as two separate questions.

This is EXACTLY what I was thinking! It must be torture . . .

 

[iLander]

It makes me sad to see people laughing at a lot of other people's expense. We get landslides and wild fires in s. cal, but i would never laugh at people who lose their properties, or say they deserve it because they "choose" to live there. Maybe they just couldn't get their car out in time.

That attitude says a lot. Happy F*in holidays.

I don't get this. I wouldn't find landslides funny either, but what does that have to do with anything?

What do the holidays have to do with this?

 

[that_someone_special]

There is a huge difference between someone getting hit with a baseball, or a kid giggling with snot bubbles, and multiple cars hitting each other because of a snow/ ice storm.

 

[VRBeauty]

Wow! That's one slippery slope!

Touche!

 

[iLander]

Humor, like beauty, is in the ear of the beholder.

If you don't find it funny then don't laugh, but perhaps you can respect that I and others do find it funny.
I'm not laughing at the person, but at the unfortunate and helpless situation.
Humor gets much much much lower than this and lots of people find it funny.
They are not beneath you, just different.
I see this as intolerance, and just as ugly as all those other kinds of intolerance.

Lighten up.
People vary.
Their sense of humor varies too.
You don't have to respect that.
You can go through life thinking everyone should be just like you.

The only people you get to control and train are your small children.

Seriously, +1.

Lighten up, people.

 

[that_someone_special]

Yeah, that must be the problem. I'm too uptight about injuries and death and car damage.

 

[ForteKitty]

It makes me sad to see people laughing at a lot of other people's expense. We get landslides and wild fires in s. cal, but i would never laugh at people who lose their properties, or say they deserve it because they "choose" to live there. Maybe they just couldn't get their car out in time.

That attitude says a lot. Happy F*in holidays.

I don't get this. I wouldn't find landslides funny either, but what does that have to do with anything?

What do the holidays have to do with this?

Allow me to explain-

Say a video was taken in the year 2010, in a land not so far away:

"Oh HEY there's a house sliding down the hill!"
"oh look! omg it's gonna hit that other house! and that car! and those two houses are hitting a third!!! and WOW that river is washing it all away!"


Even though it's the holiday season, and someone just lost their homes, as millions watched on youtube, laughter ensued...
forums erupted: "wow that is HILARIOUS, I was cackling the whole time evily!!" "Nobody DIED so i can laugh all i want!!"

A car may not cost as much as a house, but it still cost money. it's still scary. and dangerous.

 

[iLander]

I think everyone's just taking a short video (on a minor internet forum) too seriously . . . don't let it get to you. Nobody is condoning death, obviously. This whole forum is supposed to be just a little side note in an otherwise rich and busy life, not a major factor in anyone's mood for the day. It shouldn't cast a pall on anyone's holiday. It's simply not that big of a deal.

I try REALLY HARD to see the humor in ALL things, because it keeps me from taking myself (and this crazy, dumb-@$$, screwed-up, full of bastards world) too seriously.

Not saying anyone is taking themselves too seriously, just explaining my attitude.

 

[dragonfly411]

There is a huge difference between someone getting hit with a baseball, or a kid giggling with snot bubbles, and multiple cars hitting each other because of a snow/ ice storm.

Really? What happens when that baseball breaks a nose?

 

[TravelingGal]

There is a huge difference between someone getting hit with a baseball, or a kid giggling with snot bubbles, and multiple cars hitting each other because of a snow/ ice storm.

Really? What happens when that baseball breaks a nose?

That wouldn't be on America's home videos, is my guess?

 

[dragonfly411]

They show stuff like that all the time. People crashing into trees, people rolling bikes, people flipping off of trampolines after getting caught in the side springs, baseball bats to the groin..... all the time.....

 

[that_someone_special]

I don't know if that is really the point.

Not watching where you are going and running into a tree is different than someone getting rear ended because of an ice/ snow storm.

I wonder if the people that find this video so hilarious have ever been on the roads when there was 2 feet of snow, or an inch of ice on the road. The feeling of losing control of your 5000lb+ car is not fun. Having a 12,000lb truck then smash into you is even worse. Baby or kids in the car? Even worse. To me that doesn't compare to a baseball in the nose.

 

[zhuzhu]

I don' think the issue here is about respecting other's "right" to find things funny or not, nor is it taking "internet too seriously or not".

Generally. I find those who find humor in others' misery as their coping mechanism to deal with their own personal pain. Let that be family problem, disappointment in relationships, job, whatever. They are so hurt in one way or other that they treat the misfortune of others (let it be on internet or real life) with "light-heartedness" so that they experience LESS of their own pain. Why do you think Jerry Springer show was so popular? People LIKE to feel better about themselves by seeing/believing people worse off than them. This unconscious comparison gave them a moment of "feeling great" that it can actually become addictive. I don't think they are neccesarily malicious, but it is simply a coping strategy for them to heal their own hurt.

It is the holiday week. May everyone be free of pain and be merry!

 

[dragonfly411]

I don't know if that is really the point.

Not watching where you are going and running into a tree is different than someone getting rear ended because of an ice/ snow storm.

I wonder if the people that find this video so hilarious have ever been on the roads when there was 2 feet of snow, or an inch of ice on the road. The feeling of losing control of your 5000lb+ car is not fun. Having a 12,000lb truck then smash into you is even worse. Baby or kids in the car? Even worse. To me that doesn't compare to a baseball in the nose.

How about an inch of rain in a truck and we spun across six lanes of highway traffic? We weren't hurt. We laugh now. It was scary yes, but it was also something that created an interesting memory.... and some raggedy bushes.

 

[iluvcarats]

I guess it's my opinion, but that's not funny. We had an ice storm here last night. Definitely not funny. I lived in SoCal, and I didn't think that the mudslides and fires were funny either. I suppose it depends on your sense of humor. Kenny, I remember you complaining about living in SoCal because of the water restrictions. We certainly don't have to worry about that here. You're right, I guess it just depends on how you look at it.

 

[iLander]

I think the mudslides, etc., are completely non-sequater. There are no mudslides, fires, etc., in this video. No one said that mudslides were funny.

Why do they keep coming up?

I can be random too: I think clubbing baby seals is bad. I think people that see the humor in this video, probably think clubbing seals is funny.

What?!!

There is no logic there . . .

 

[iluvcarats]

The "logic" is that fires and mudslides plague SoCal, but no one is laughing. Why is sliding on black ice funny?

 

[iLander]

The "logic" is that fires and mudslides plague SoCal, but no one is laughing. Why is sliding on black ice funny?

I still don't get it; is the video in Southern California?

Hurricanes and typhoons plague Mexico, but no is laughing. Monsoons and typhoons plague india, but no one is laughing.

What do any of these statements have to do with black ice?

 

[iluvcarats]

because black ice, blizzards and ice storms happen in certain parts of the country, but not in LA. The title of the thread is "why I live in Southern CA" get it?