On Sat, 27 Jan 2007 02:34:50 GMT, "G. Sylvester"
wrote:

Roger wrote:
On Thu, 25 Jan 2007 00:13:16 -0800, "G. Sylvester"
wrote:
First off, the mother called the Flight Attendants as stewardess. She
might as well had called them whores. Ok, maybe not that bad but it is
demeaning and the term steward/ess has been out of use for a couple of
decades. She should learn the right name.

It is.

I've been flying since they had fans on the front. They will always be
stews and stewardesses, just Oshkosh will always be "Oshkosh and not
Airventure

Roger - I have plenty of respect for the things you have to say but in
this case, the term is wrong. It is nonetheless common and somewhat
offensive.

A term is offensive only when the person takes it as offensive. That
they have changed the name of the job has not changed the job, nor
does it change the thinking of people who have been around for a long
time.

Kind of like calling an Asian person an Oriental. It's

Which is quite proper in most of the world

wrong and offensive. In NY where I grew up, everyone called Asians as
Orientals. it wasn't until I moved to California I learned that it was

Now that explains it. Moving into Kalifornia that is.

wrong. History won't make it right.

But moving out of California would.

This is confusing politically correctness with whether something is
right or wrong. You've picked a geographically localized PC term
where a local group had determined something is wrong even if most of
the world doesn't think that way.

Most Japanese and Indonesians I know do not find the term offensive
which I find strange in a way as the Japanese language and its use is
loaded with honorifics. It is also difficult to translate directly.
Translated literally, much of it can be very confusing to English
speaking people. As one Japanese friend said, "Just think Yoda" as
they must have used Japanese for his speech model. She works as a
translator.


Gerald
Roger Halstead (K8RI & ARRL life member)
(N833R, S# CD-2 Worlds oldest Debonair)
www.rogerhalstead.com