Today was insanely busy in the motorbike rental world :)
It went like this...
8:00am - I rented the two small bikes to a couple of guys for a half day.
8:30am - I got my stuff together to head over the lake on boat to do some banking.
8:45am - Im about to get on the boat when I get a call from the guys on the bikes ...
One of the bikes wont go into gear ...It was low on clutch and a quick question confirms
that yes, it was while trying to go up a very steep hill ...OK thats what it is...
Solution is to swap out the bike for the bigger one I still have.
9:00am - Im on my bigger bike and headed around the lake to find them...
It takes me about 45min to locate them...They were on a short side road I had never
been down.
10:00am - Im teaching one of them to ride the bigger bike...he seems OK, so I start walking
back to San Pedro to get a pickup to bring the dead bike back.
10:10am - I get a call saying there is someone else wanting to rent my little scooter.
10:15am - I flag down a tooktook and pay to get a ride back to town (20 minutes instead of
an hour or more if I walk)
10:40am - I rent out the little scooter and give them the chat on where they can go etc.
11:00am - I walk up the hill into town and find a guy with a pickup to come get the dead bike.
11:45am - Me and the driver lift the dead bike into his truck and head back to town.
12:30am - I unload the bike and wheel it to the workshop - Though Indy is not in town at the
moment so Ill have to do the repair without help.
1:00pm - Ive taken off the side of the motor and the exhaust and the foot pegs etc.
Ive unbolted all sorts of stuff inside the engine to get the clutch pack off.
(Im pretty organized but Im just hoping I remember how it all goes back together)
1:30pm - The two guys who rented come back and I get paid (for one bike only though since
the other had problems)
1:45pm - I walk over to the local parts dealer and am relieved to find they do have the clutch plates I need.
I buy them and walk back.
2:00pm - I get another call saying there are guys who want to rent the two bikes.
I go over and rent the two bikes out for an hour - give them a chat and take passports.
2:30pm - I get back to the sick bike and start reassembling it.
3:00pm - Another call and the guy on the scooter is back early - avoiding the rain.
I go get paid some more and give him back his passport.
3:15pm - I get back to assembling the sick bike.
3:30pm - Another call and the two bikes are back again, so I go get paid some more and
return more passports :)
3:45pm - Before I can even get back to fixing the sick bike, two more people want to rent the
two working bikes. OK, I give them the chat, take passports and send them on
their way.
4:15pm - I get back to the sick bike and finish the assembly. Then I go for a test ride, and
amazingly, it all seems to work just fine :)))
4:45pm - I do a run over to the gas station with my fuel can to get a fill so I can refill the bikes.
5:00pm - I arrive back as the two bikes come back and get paid some more and return more
passports.
5:15pm - Both the last two groups of people who rented the bikes want to rent all three now
working bikes (not the scooter) for tomorrow morning!
I do a little negotiating and convince one group to go the day after by offering a bit of
a discount - I just want them all to be happy :)
5:45pm - I have a rest and an ice cream and try to figure out what happened!!!
Despite the huge number of people renting, I have made a loss today...but not by much!
The clutch replacement was going to happen soon anyway, but the parts costs were Q450 and the tooktook and pickup were another Q75. The fuel for the day cost Q60 and the commission
to the hotel where I keep the bikes was another Q40. So costs were Q625.
Income was 150+120+120+120 = Q510
But!, The committed rentals for the next two days will bring in about Q940 which pays for the full week of my food and lodgings... So thats great :))))
And besides the finances, I had a really fun day running around and solving new problems... And all the customers were very happy and most of them are coming back for another rental..
Very busy but lotsa fun :)))
A week in a Day!
Thursday, May 7, 2009
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Motorbike Renting Ins and Outs...
So, Ive been renting motorbikes here in SanPedro for the last three months and I thought Id share what Ive learned thus far.
This is what "stuff" I have:
1x 200cc Pegaso (Suzuki) Trail Bike (purchased very nearly new)
2x 125cc Honda CGL125-TP Utility Bikes (purchased new from dealer)
1x 100cc Yamaha BWS Scooter (purchased VERY used!- 2002 model)
3x Helmets - open face, Large size, good quality.
1x Cell Phone
2x Roadside advertising boards
1x Sun Umbrella
2x Plastic chairs
1x 2.5gal fuel container
Several Advertising/Liability/Information documents.
And thats about it.
I have no business license, I have no insurance (yes I have thought about the consequences of this for both me and the clients).
I hold a client passport as security before I let them take the bike - and have not had any problems with this.
I require the client to sign a liability waiver before I rent them a bike.
I give all clients a good verbal description of where they can go and what they should expect of traffic and conditions.
I give all clients a little map of the towns and distances.
I am always available on-call to solve whatever problems they have while out on the bikes (no charge).
..This includes coming and getting them if they get lost, or swapping out a bike with problems... So far this has only meant telling them how to start a bike that wont start over the phone - Put the red switch on the right hand side in the down position and try it again :)
Driving Conditions:
There are only about three roads that people can drive along here. They total only about 50Km in length and are all very tranquil as far as other traffic is concerned. They are however steep and in poor condition. There have been absolutely no serious incidents: Accidents at speed, or involving other people/vehicles etc. I have had about 3-4 people fall off the bikes at very slow speeds in the dirt - which I of course warned them about:) - scraped knee/elbow was the worst of it for the people and very minor scrapes for the bikes - no I didnt charge them for damage :).
I have (just guessing) over 95% of clients return having had a wonderful time (just beaming!) and thats what I aim for.
The Client Base:
San Pedro is probably the second largest tourist town on Lake Attitlan.
Lake Attitlan is one of probably about 4-5 main tourist destinations in Guatemala.
Im just guessing, but I'd say 75% of the tourists are in their twenties and 65% are in the very cheap category.
Tourists stay in the town from anywhere between a day or two and a month.
Most renters seem to be here for a week or two.
Costs of Living for tourists are:
Accommodation: cheap = 30Q per night, expensive = 100Q per night
Food: cheap = 20Q per meal, expensive = 70Q per meal
Drinks: coffee = 6Q, Soft Drink = 4-7Q, Beer = 10-17Q
So, If you live cheap, you can get by on about 100Q per day (8Q=$1US).
Bike Rentals:
For the 125cc bikes, I charge 50Q per hour or 150Q per half day (5 hours).
I charge a bit more for the big bike and a bit less for the scooter.
Fuel and helmets are included at no extra charge and the bikes can carry two people well enough.
...But, on the whole, this still makes motorbike renting quite expensive.
I pay 10% of my rental income to whoever brings in the client, or to the hotel where the bikes are parked for space rental.
Fuel and maintenance costs are about 15% of my income (so far).
About 80% of rentals are for a half day, and thats the the most fun option and best value.
The other 20% rent for one or two hours only, and they are in some sort of a hurry for one reason or another.
About 75% of the rentals are with two people on the bike.
Most rentals seem to travel about 40Km (max 80, min 25)
About 20% of renters use the free helmets.
Experimenting:
1) I have tried larger and smaller bikes:
The larger 200cc bike is definitely popular with the young men...but its also those same young men who work the bikes the hardest and are the most likely to have accidents (once so far). I only rent this bike out to people who I know can ride well...I broke that rule once and the second time the guy rented from me, he fell off and scraped things up!
This bike is too tall for smaller people to easily ride, but it has good power for climbing the steep hills with two people.
Mostly, I use this bike for myself...guiding and running around town etc.
The smaller 125cc bikes are great for most renters. They are small and light and not intimidating. They are not tall and even smaller women can stand over them with both feet on the ground. They carry two people OK and are lots of fun but dont have much spare power and its hard to "get your self into trouble" with them. The only down side is that they are a bit low on power when carrying two people up the steep hills and this means their clutches get a real hard time!
The little scooter is new to the fleet but is already popular. It can carry two people on the flatter roads but not on the steep stuff. It is VERY easy to drive since it is automatic and has no clutch. The down side of this is that the brakes get a real hard time coming down the long hills since the engine cant be used to do the braking - seems unavoidable that either the clutch or the brakes take a hit! The scooter does however open up the option of renting to people who are completely inexperienced or intimidated by bikes...increasing the available market :)
The scooter I got is very old and worn, so I am yet to see what the repair/maintenance issues with it will be...
2) I have tried advertising.
Ive stuck up notices in restaurants and travel agents and Spanish schools and little shops all over town.
Ive put little fliers on restaurant tables. I offer 10% commission to anyone who brings in a client... But in truth, none of it seems to make a difference! Only about 1 in 20 clients comes from these sources... so Ive more or less stopped putting effort in here.
I have not set up a business web site for the rental business but my sense is that people do not surf the web for things to do while here.
They do look in their "lonely Planet" or "Footprint" guide books, but I aint there ....Yet :)
3) I have tried attending the bikes.
For a month there, I sat with the bikes from 10am till 2pm every day so that I could answer questions immediately when someone asked. Again, this made no difference and I have stopped doing it.
4) I have tried different rental locations.
I have had the bikes parked in three different locations and have found this does matter. I am not yet located where I want to be, so I can still improve this, but it will take time since I need to convince one of a couple of people to let me rent some space on their land and build/renovate a little shelter. This is Guatemala and getting people to "do something" is a slow process.
What Works:
What actually makes people stop and rent?
Well, it seems that the recipe is as follows:
1) The bikes them selves are the biggest factor. About 19 out of 20 rentals come from the place where the bikes are standing during the day. The more bikes and the cleaner and better presented they are the better!
2) Location... Having the bikes in a location where people walk past them all the time (the more people and the more often, the better) is best.
3) Somebody in close proximity (but not necessarily attending the bikes directly) to take first contact and to call me immediately matters. Most tourists dont have cell phones and when they look at the bike and want to know more details, someone needs to be there. So, I have the bikes outside or next to a local business. When people have questions, the business owner answers a few things in Spanish and then calls me. Im never more than five minutes away and I come and do the detailed chat in English ...and thats important since most tourists are far better at English than Spanish... If I had my own space and someone else to help me rent the bikes then they would need to speak English.
4) The street-side Notice boards seem to also matter. Smaller signs on the bikes do not seem to clearly indicate that the tourists should "ask about the bikes here". It seems you need a sign telling them to do so! So, I have one of these with the bikes that gives the basic prices and says "Ask Inside" so it is not business specific.
I have another that I put at a high pedestrian tourist traffic point saying "Bike rentals 100m this way".
And thats about what we know so far!
Saturday, May 2, 2009
Deluge
As I think I mentioned, the rainy season has started down here in Guatemala. And it seems that this year the season is opening "con Gusto" which is to say that it has rather dumped down for a few days here (but only in the afternoons - the mornings are lovely and sunny).
It may sound a little strange, but the tooktooks have been reminding me of salmon!
The streets here do not have the usual "crown" profile to shed rain water to the sides and into the gutters as they do where Im from. Here, The road its self is the storm drain system and the road has an inverted "crown" shape with the low point in the middle.
And as Im sure I have mentioned, the roads around here are often very steep.
So, when it rains hard, the main street here in San Pedro becomes a veritable torrent and its quite fun to sit in a coffee shop (they have good coffee here in Gute'...who would have guessed!) on the corner at the bottom of the hill and watch the show as chickens, cats, babies, and small dogs get washed down the hill and into the lake... Very amusing! :)
But, when it rains hard, the tooktooks do a roaring trade carrying people and their remaining pets and babies etc to their homes. Most of the tooktooks are painted bright red (like a spawning salmon) and when they have their customer aboard at the bottom of the hill, they approach the main road up the hill cautiously and linger momentarily at the margins before plunging into the strong current...
Then they plunge on in and the water sprays up in huge plumes (50-100cm) well over the tiny little wheels and it looks like the little fellows will surely lose their grip on the road and be washed away; But no, They hang on and face directly up stream and the driver revs hard and they struggle frenetically up the hill...
Just like Salmon!
It reminds me of home :)))
It may sound a little strange, but the tooktooks have been reminding me of salmon!
The streets here do not have the usual "crown" profile to shed rain water to the sides and into the gutters as they do where Im from. Here, The road its self is the storm drain system and the road has an inverted "crown" shape with the low point in the middle.
And as Im sure I have mentioned, the roads around here are often very steep.
So, when it rains hard, the main street here in San Pedro becomes a veritable torrent and its quite fun to sit in a coffee shop (they have good coffee here in Gute'...who would have guessed!) on the corner at the bottom of the hill and watch the show as chickens, cats, babies, and small dogs get washed down the hill and into the lake... Very amusing! :)
But, when it rains hard, the tooktooks do a roaring trade carrying people and their remaining pets and babies etc to their homes. Most of the tooktooks are painted bright red (like a spawning salmon) and when they have their customer aboard at the bottom of the hill, they approach the main road up the hill cautiously and linger momentarily at the margins before plunging into the strong current...
Then they plunge on in and the water sprays up in huge plumes (50-100cm) well over the tiny little wheels and it looks like the little fellows will surely lose their grip on the road and be washed away; But no, They hang on and face directly up stream and the driver revs hard and they struggle frenetically up the hill...
Just like Salmon!
It reminds me of home :)))
Friday, May 1, 2009
Guiding mini-Adventure Tours
I did my first local tour guiding session the other day.
Months ago when I first got a bike here, I went for a ride all over the place to see how far people could get when I decided to rent bikes.
The answer was, "not very far"; There just are not that many roads here, and they are almost all dead ends.
However, I did find a couple of quite seriously steep 4WD roads. I even managed to ride my motorbike up one of them (though Im far from an off-road technical rider). At the top of the really steep dirt road, there was a nice little local village and the road became a straightforward gravel road...and that lead back to the nice paved roads and back to San Pedro.
So I had found a nice little loop route, but it was way too hard for novice riders and for my little rental bikes to even consider riding up.... But maybe they could get "down" it instead!
So then a month or so went by and I was getting to know how to rent bikes etc, and one way and another I didnt do anything about the tours.
But, last week there was a little group of keen tourists who had such a good day out on my rental bikes that they came back and wanted to rent again, but they also wanted some more ideas on where they could ride...So, I hit them with my now polished sales pitch!
And the poor fools agreed to give it a go ;)
And it went very well.
Most of the route is easy enough, but the really steep descent does require some specialist skills that I had to teach them on the spot.
The road is so steep and loose that you need to have both feet paddling on the ground (unless you are a skilled off-road rider)...but the road is also so steep and loose that you cant just use the front brake...the front wheel will just skid out from under you.
But you cant use the rear brake if both feet are paddling on the ground...and so we have a problem!
The solution (learned from riding a super heavy touring bike through treacherously steep and muddy jungle tracks! :))) ) is to switch the engine off and leave it in gear. You then use the right hand on the front brake as usual but you also use the left hand on the clutch as a rear brake (though this hand has to work in the reverse sense to the right hand - squeezing in gives less braking not more).
Its a bit complex, but fortunately, you can go as slow as you want and work it out...which is what we did. None of the clients had any more than absolute basic motorbike skills (that I taught them when they first rented a couple of days before) and they all did fine...It took us about half an hour to get through the tricky section and then it was back to regular riding.
A good time was had by all :)))
So, now I am advertising for mini-Adventure Tours and we'll see how it goes :)
Months ago when I first got a bike here, I went for a ride all over the place to see how far people could get when I decided to rent bikes.
The answer was, "not very far"; There just are not that many roads here, and they are almost all dead ends.
However, I did find a couple of quite seriously steep 4WD roads. I even managed to ride my motorbike up one of them (though Im far from an off-road technical rider). At the top of the really steep dirt road, there was a nice little local village and the road became a straightforward gravel road...and that lead back to the nice paved roads and back to San Pedro.
So I had found a nice little loop route, but it was way too hard for novice riders and for my little rental bikes to even consider riding up.... But maybe they could get "down" it instead!
So then a month or so went by and I was getting to know how to rent bikes etc, and one way and another I didnt do anything about the tours.
But, last week there was a little group of keen tourists who had such a good day out on my rental bikes that they came back and wanted to rent again, but they also wanted some more ideas on where they could ride...So, I hit them with my now polished sales pitch!
And the poor fools agreed to give it a go ;)
And it went very well.
Most of the route is easy enough, but the really steep descent does require some specialist skills that I had to teach them on the spot.
The road is so steep and loose that you need to have both feet paddling on the ground (unless you are a skilled off-road rider)...but the road is also so steep and loose that you cant just use the front brake...the front wheel will just skid out from under you.
But you cant use the rear brake if both feet are paddling on the ground...and so we have a problem!
The solution (learned from riding a super heavy touring bike through treacherously steep and muddy jungle tracks! :))) ) is to switch the engine off and leave it in gear. You then use the right hand on the front brake as usual but you also use the left hand on the clutch as a rear brake (though this hand has to work in the reverse sense to the right hand - squeezing in gives less braking not more).
Its a bit complex, but fortunately, you can go as slow as you want and work it out...which is what we did. None of the clients had any more than absolute basic motorbike skills (that I taught them when they first rented a couple of days before) and they all did fine...It took us about half an hour to get through the tricky section and then it was back to regular riding.
A good time was had by all :)))
So, now I am advertising for mini-Adventure Tours and we'll see how it goes :)
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Off the Couch and into the Lake
Today is my birthday :)))
Yep, today I am 16071 days old...which is 44 years, and to celebrate, I decided to swim across the lake!
Well, actually Ive been planning to attempt it for a little while but what with being sick there for a week and then the winds were making the lake rough there for a while, and then I had to find someone who would escort me on a kayak... It took a while to get organized.
But it turned out that all the pieces fell into place today.
I swam from San Pedro over to San Marcos and was escorted on kayak by my friend Mike. You really do need the Kayak with you since there are lots of launches going too and fro amongst the little towns on the lake shore. Without an escort, there is a reasonable probability of being run down by an outboard boat...Which would really ruin your birthday!
The kayak does however pretty much eliminate the "mind game" aspect of the swim though. If you get into trouble, you just have to wait a few seconds till help arrives. You dont have to "keep the fear in a box" so to speak, that you would have to do if you did it alone.
Now, I still think I did really well to swim that far with virtually no training. It was very much "off the couch" and I'd only spent about a half an hour at the longest of paddling about near the shore before today.
It took me about 90 minutes to swim 2.5Km (according to google earth).
My swiming "style" was far from pretty but it was effective enough.
Before, I started (when I conceived the plan) I figured there was quite a good chance that I would not make it but that I should give it a go anyway... Since there was also some chance that I could do it! I didnt even know how far it was till I looked it up after the swim.
Some people seem to think that to do these things you need to only think about the success aspect and that if you allow the possibility of failure into your mind then thats what you will get.
Well, for my part at least, I can safely say that in almost all situations that is absolutely not the case for me. In fact, I NEED to acknowledge the possibility of failure mentally before I can get on with focussing on the possibility of success.
I have never swam that far in a single session without rest before (probably the most was about 1.5Km way back when I was a teenager in Australia).... I can now safely say that I can probably swim 3-4km in calm fresh water at will. Id guess that means I could likely double that if the chips were down and I had no options...
But who really cares...I think I did really well for today, and thats enough :))))
Yep, today I am 16071 days old...which is 44 years, and to celebrate, I decided to swim across the lake!
Well, actually Ive been planning to attempt it for a little while but what with being sick there for a week and then the winds were making the lake rough there for a while, and then I had to find someone who would escort me on a kayak... It took a while to get organized.
But it turned out that all the pieces fell into place today.
I swam from San Pedro over to San Marcos and was escorted on kayak by my friend Mike. You really do need the Kayak with you since there are lots of launches going too and fro amongst the little towns on the lake shore. Without an escort, there is a reasonable probability of being run down by an outboard boat...Which would really ruin your birthday!
The kayak does however pretty much eliminate the "mind game" aspect of the swim though. If you get into trouble, you just have to wait a few seconds till help arrives. You dont have to "keep the fear in a box" so to speak, that you would have to do if you did it alone.
Now, I still think I did really well to swim that far with virtually no training. It was very much "off the couch" and I'd only spent about a half an hour at the longest of paddling about near the shore before today.
It took me about 90 minutes to swim 2.5Km (according to google earth).
My swiming "style" was far from pretty but it was effective enough.
Before, I started (when I conceived the plan) I figured there was quite a good chance that I would not make it but that I should give it a go anyway... Since there was also some chance that I could do it! I didnt even know how far it was till I looked it up after the swim.
Some people seem to think that to do these things you need to only think about the success aspect and that if you allow the possibility of failure into your mind then thats what you will get.
Well, for my part at least, I can safely say that in almost all situations that is absolutely not the case for me. In fact, I NEED to acknowledge the possibility of failure mentally before I can get on with focussing on the possibility of success.
I have never swam that far in a single session without rest before (probably the most was about 1.5Km way back when I was a teenager in Australia).... I can now safely say that I can probably swim 3-4km in calm fresh water at will. Id guess that means I could likely double that if the chips were down and I had no options...
But who really cares...I think I did really well for today, and thats enough :))))
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Touched a Nerve!
Well, that set off the dogs!
Which is to say that, as expected, there has been some local "feedback" over my "Obnoxious" post ... doble entendre intended of course :)
Now, if my readership hasnt noticed in the past, I usually modify and clean-up my posts for upto about a week after I first post them. There are some small but significant changes that I would make to that post, and I have done so, but I have in this instance used a different text colour so that the changes to the original post are still clear. I will also try to contain all comentary on that post to this post rather than getting it all spreadout and interwoven or for that matter on-going!
So, lets get on with it...
What are the "touchy" dogs barking about?...Well racisme of course!
Is the content of my post racist?
Well, to start with, I think the word "Racist" has a whole lot of baggage that goes along with it and in this case, I think a definition of that idea would be "Descriminating based on ethnic race in a socially unacceptable way". - I just "cobbled up" (or is that "hand crafted by local artisan"?) this definition myself but I think it is pretty good for its current purpose.
My answer to that question, with that definition is NO, I do not think it is "Racist".
But, now if we use a simpler, "less baggage laden" interpretation of "racist" like: (and I insert the "ethnic" here because it is clearly not a "genetic" issue) : "Descriminating based on ethnic race"
Clearly the answer here is Yes, absolutely it is!
But, it is to the same degree "ageist" and "travelerist" but of course those descriminations dont get the same response.
I tried (and faild of course) to be clear that I was not descriminating against the more general group of a particular ethnic origin by stating very early on that I have some good friends who are older and from that ethnic group and who do not demonstrate the "Obnoxious" behaviors...
Actually lets be VERY clear about this right now, This is the most significant and very important change that I will make to the post:
IT IS NOT THE SUBGROUP OF PEOPLE THAT ARE OBNOXIOUS TO ME, BUT RATHER THEIR BEHAVIORS THAT ARE OBNOXIOUS!
I freely admit that failing to be clear in writing about this was a serious oversight on my part, but one that I believe I would have changed of my own accord without any feedback needed. - For your part you can disbelive that if you want.
But that dose not eliminate the charge of Descrimination!
And, Yes I wholeheartedly admit that I descriminate...We all do!...
If we did not descriminate, we would all be very quickly dead at one of the next few red traffic lights we drove through....obvious point made.
But I descriminate against certain people!...Yep, again, we all do... Its called "freedom of association" and sadly is of course one of the first places that people hide behind defending their Racisme... So it does me and my argument no good at all! :)
So, why do I think (for the present at least) that my descriminating againts a particular subgroup of people is OK?
Well, to try to keep this post somewhat bounded...
Because of these two things:
1) The Ethnic Race is only a portion of the definition of the subgroup (one third of the definition)
2) Because the definition of the subgroup is based on personaly gathered "statistics" rather than hear-say social stereotyping.
The first point is clear enough. - You will either accept it as a partial argument or reject it, but I wont explain it further.
The second point could do with some more explaining though:
I am not identifying the subgroup based on what other people think or have said or what I have heard. Rather, I am referencing my own personal experience, based on multiple samples over a period of time and a range of locations (Yes, I truely have had these experiences over the past 20 years of my travels on every continent of the world!!!). Now the "statistics" involved here are far from "rigorous" (personal-anecdotal would be more accurate) but the fact is that I have had overwhelmingly negative personal experiences from some people and my analysis of those experience leads me to identify the subgroup in question.
But is that an acceptable process?
Well, I believe it is yes (though you each may not and thats your choice).
I would argue, that if you reject this "statistical basis of identifying and acting on probable future results" then I think you must also reject the acceptability of, for example "a health insurance company choosing to charge higher premiums to people who choose to smoke".
I think thats a reasonably fair analogy and I think its a reasonably socially acceptable way of descriminating - though again you may not :)
So, based on that, I am standing by what I said in the earlier post.
And what are the "disasterous" consequences of my "discrimination"?
Two things....
1) I will in general, choose to avoid the subgroup of people if possible.
I will NOT be abusive or disrespectfull, and I WILL continue to provide feedback to individuals who I am having an unpleasant experience with and am unable to avoid (regardless of ethnic background etc).
Note here for example, that if life turns such that my next girlfriend happens to be from that identified subgroup, I will in no way feel hypocritical :)))
2) The little rant of my blog posting.
And this is a big one!...
Should I publish my personal opinions about this sort of subject in a public blog on the internet!
Well, as I stated at the end of the post, Yes I think it is acceptable because thats what blogs are for and it is very clearly stated that it is personal opinions. I think that is reasonable because it is NOT a widely read blog (The statistics are right there on the blog site)... It is not advertized anywhere and the known readership are my friends and possibly a very few others whom my friends have "invited". Yes, the wider public can see what I write, but they have to go looking for it and I dont know what the motivation for that would be.
My opinion of a verbal equivelent of my blog is a group of (mostly close) acquaintences sitting and listening to one of the group expressing their opinion about unpleasant personal experiences in a minorly public place...like say in a largely empty town park somewhere. Yes there are a very few passers-by and they can stop and listen if they want (and could be offended by what they hear).
Some of the little group of friends may be deeply offended by what the speaker has said...they may choose to leave the group and not listen any more.
Some may choose to express their own opinions to the speaker - I take this risk.
But does what I wrote constitute a "Hate crime"?
I very much doubt it, but to be honest, I dont really know ... But this post is getting way out of hand so Im just gonna let that one slide for the time being and trust that offended readers dont feel that I represent too significant a threat to their interests :))
And a closing thought...
It would of course be wonderful if we could each disregard all of our personal past experiences and take every new interpersonal experience as if it were the very first one, with absolutely no preconceptions or expectations. It would also be wonderful if we could each accept and forgive and never comment about our disapointing interpersonal experiences...Sadly, but not at all suprisingly I am not such a person... and I have never met such a person.
So, for those of you whom this applies to:
While I am not at all sorry for being the person that has disappointed you, I am sorry that you are dissapointed by me. :)))
I will continue to share my thoughts openly and honestly on my blog site!
And now that Ive had my say, I am open to any further feedback from my friends... If you feel the need to tell me what you think then please send me your thoughts. I promise I will read and consider every one of them though as always, I will not publish any of them on my blog (though I may respond personaly) - You are of course welcome to start your own blog and invite me and others to read it. - If you want, I will even include a link to it in this post so that the other readers can have the benefit of your opinions too - really I will.
Ohh will you just look at me pandering to the "god" of political correctness here!! - Honestly, you'd think I'd have more spine than that!
And one last comment... While I believe that my post was not racist, I freely admit that it absolutely was "stereotyping and generalising"... But I also think that it wasnt "rigidly" so since I have very occasionally met individuals from within that identified subgroup who wer not "obnoxious"... and I truely hope and am open to the idea that I will meet more people like that in the future. :)
At this stage, I think thats "quite enough", so
Good night, and Good luck!, and maybe you will read me again in the future... or maybe not! :)
Which is to say that, as expected, there has been some local "feedback" over my "Obnoxious" post ... doble entendre intended of course :)
Now, if my readership hasnt noticed in the past, I usually modify and clean-up my posts for upto about a week after I first post them. There are some small but significant changes that I would make to that post, and I have done so, but I have in this instance used a different text colour so that the changes to the original post are still clear. I will also try to contain all comentary on that post to this post rather than getting it all spreadout and interwoven or for that matter on-going!
So, lets get on with it...
What are the "touchy" dogs barking about?...Well racisme of course!
Is the content of my post racist?
Well, to start with, I think the word "Racist" has a whole lot of baggage that goes along with it and in this case, I think a definition of that idea would be "Descriminating based on ethnic race in a socially unacceptable way". - I just "cobbled up" (or is that "hand crafted by local artisan"?) this definition myself but I think it is pretty good for its current purpose.
My answer to that question, with that definition is NO, I do not think it is "Racist".
But, now if we use a simpler, "less baggage laden" interpretation of "racist" like: (and I insert the "ethnic" here because it is clearly not a "genetic" issue) : "Descriminating based on ethnic race"
Clearly the answer here is Yes, absolutely it is!
But, it is to the same degree "ageist" and "travelerist" but of course those descriminations dont get the same response.
I tried (and faild of course) to be clear that I was not descriminating against the more general group of a particular ethnic origin by stating very early on that I have some good friends who are older and from that ethnic group and who do not demonstrate the "Obnoxious" behaviors...
Actually lets be VERY clear about this right now, This is the most significant and very important change that I will make to the post:
IT IS NOT THE SUBGROUP OF PEOPLE THAT ARE OBNOXIOUS TO ME, BUT RATHER THEIR BEHAVIORS THAT ARE OBNOXIOUS!
I freely admit that failing to be clear in writing about this was a serious oversight on my part, but one that I believe I would have changed of my own accord without any feedback needed. - For your part you can disbelive that if you want.
But that dose not eliminate the charge of Descrimination!
And, Yes I wholeheartedly admit that I descriminate...We all do!...
If we did not descriminate, we would all be very quickly dead at one of the next few red traffic lights we drove through....obvious point made.
But I descriminate against certain people!...Yep, again, we all do... Its called "freedom of association" and sadly is of course one of the first places that people hide behind defending their Racisme... So it does me and my argument no good at all! :)
So, why do I think (for the present at least) that my descriminating againts a particular subgroup of people is OK?
Well, to try to keep this post somewhat bounded...
Because of these two things:
1) The Ethnic Race is only a portion of the definition of the subgroup (one third of the definition)
2) Because the definition of the subgroup is based on personaly gathered "statistics" rather than hear-say social stereotyping.
The first point is clear enough. - You will either accept it as a partial argument or reject it, but I wont explain it further.
The second point could do with some more explaining though:
I am not identifying the subgroup based on what other people think or have said or what I have heard. Rather, I am referencing my own personal experience, based on multiple samples over a period of time and a range of locations (Yes, I truely have had these experiences over the past 20 years of my travels on every continent of the world!!!). Now the "statistics" involved here are far from "rigorous" (personal-anecdotal would be more accurate) but the fact is that I have had overwhelmingly negative personal experiences from some people and my analysis of those experience leads me to identify the subgroup in question.
But is that an acceptable process?
Well, I believe it is yes (though you each may not and thats your choice).
I would argue, that if you reject this "statistical basis of identifying and acting on probable future results" then I think you must also reject the acceptability of, for example "a health insurance company choosing to charge higher premiums to people who choose to smoke".
I think thats a reasonably fair analogy and I think its a reasonably socially acceptable way of descriminating - though again you may not :)
So, based on that, I am standing by what I said in the earlier post.
And what are the "disasterous" consequences of my "discrimination"?
Two things....
1) I will in general, choose to avoid the subgroup of people if possible.
I will NOT be abusive or disrespectfull, and I WILL continue to provide feedback to individuals who I am having an unpleasant experience with and am unable to avoid (regardless of ethnic background etc).
Note here for example, that if life turns such that my next girlfriend happens to be from that identified subgroup, I will in no way feel hypocritical :)))
2) The little rant of my blog posting.
And this is a big one!...
Should I publish my personal opinions about this sort of subject in a public blog on the internet!
Well, as I stated at the end of the post, Yes I think it is acceptable because thats what blogs are for and it is very clearly stated that it is personal opinions. I think that is reasonable because it is NOT a widely read blog (The statistics are right there on the blog site)... It is not advertized anywhere and the known readership are my friends and possibly a very few others whom my friends have "invited". Yes, the wider public can see what I write, but they have to go looking for it and I dont know what the motivation for that would be.
My opinion of a verbal equivelent of my blog is a group of (mostly close) acquaintences sitting and listening to one of the group expressing their opinion about unpleasant personal experiences in a minorly public place...like say in a largely empty town park somewhere. Yes there are a very few passers-by and they can stop and listen if they want (and could be offended by what they hear).
Some of the little group of friends may be deeply offended by what the speaker has said...they may choose to leave the group and not listen any more.
Some may choose to express their own opinions to the speaker - I take this risk.
But does what I wrote constitute a "Hate crime"?
I very much doubt it, but to be honest, I dont really know ... But this post is getting way out of hand so Im just gonna let that one slide for the time being and trust that offended readers dont feel that I represent too significant a threat to their interests :))
And a closing thought...
It would of course be wonderful if we could each disregard all of our personal past experiences and take every new interpersonal experience as if it were the very first one, with absolutely no preconceptions or expectations. It would also be wonderful if we could each accept and forgive and never comment about our disapointing interpersonal experiences...Sadly, but not at all suprisingly I am not such a person... and I have never met such a person.
So, for those of you whom this applies to:
While I am not at all sorry for being the person that has disappointed you, I am sorry that you are dissapointed by me. :)))
I will continue to share my thoughts openly and honestly on my blog site!
And now that Ive had my say, I am open to any further feedback from my friends... If you feel the need to tell me what you think then please send me your thoughts. I promise I will read and consider every one of them though as always, I will not publish any of them on my blog (though I may respond personaly) - You are of course welcome to start your own blog and invite me and others to read it. - If you want, I will even include a link to it in this post so that the other readers can have the benefit of your opinions too - really I will.
Ohh will you just look at me pandering to the "god" of political correctness here!! - Honestly, you'd think I'd have more spine than that!
And one last comment... While I believe that my post was not racist, I freely admit that it absolutely was "stereotyping and generalising"... But I also think that it wasnt "rigidly" so since I have very occasionally met individuals from within that identified subgroup who wer not "obnoxious"... and I truely hope and am open to the idea that I will meet more people like that in the future. :)
At this stage, I think thats "quite enough", so
Good night, and Good luck!, and maybe you will read me again in the future... or maybe not! :)
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Languages and Voices
A couple of posts back I said I didnt like the sound of the Hebrew language, which poses the question of which language do I like the sound of??
Well, for a start, lets be clear that the only language that I understand well is English, and I only have a very basic and limited use of Spanish. All other languages are just a bunch of sounds to my ear.
Languages that I know I in general dont like the sound of are: Greek, Hebrew, Cantonese and Dutch and to some extent, German.
Languages that I do like the sound of are Italian, and Swedish; French and Mandarin are OK too.
And as for the rest of them, well, I have not heard enough to know what I think.
And just for interests sake, English spoken with a French accent sounds far nicer to me than French spoken with a French accent!
I must of course state the obvious that the voice speaking the language always makes a huge difference to how it sounds. Im pretty sure that most languages can be made to sound very nice with the right speaker. Likewise I am absolutely sure that any language can be made to sound absolutely horrible when "misused":
As a general rule, the more "nasal" sounding the voice, the less I like it (male or female) - Bummer since I think I have a quite nasal sounding voice myself!
Also, in female voices I tend to prefer less high pitched though not masculin.
As another general rule, a "nagging" style of talking (increasing intensity and pitch toward the end of the word/phrase) has a REALLY negative effect on me....Its not just that I dont like it... To me it becomes a veritable "Near Death Experience!" (and No, my mum didnt nagg me very much at all as I recall). So, let it be noted right here (and there is no one in my life to target this at presently, so Im just saying it for the heck of it) that when I hear that nagging sound, it not only makes me begrudge doing what ever it is that the words are telling/asking me to do, it makes me want to be as far away for the person making the terrible sound as I can possibly get... immediately! - If anybody ever wants to get rid of me then just turn on the nagg! - Though it´d be far easier to just ask me to go :))
There are also some particular baritone male voices with very piercing but deep resonances that are very painful for me to listen to.
So thats my thoughts on voices and languages.
Well, for a start, lets be clear that the only language that I understand well is English, and I only have a very basic and limited use of Spanish. All other languages are just a bunch of sounds to my ear.
Languages that I know I in general dont like the sound of are: Greek, Hebrew, Cantonese and Dutch and to some extent, German.
Languages that I do like the sound of are Italian, and Swedish; French and Mandarin are OK too.
And as for the rest of them, well, I have not heard enough to know what I think.
And just for interests sake, English spoken with a French accent sounds far nicer to me than French spoken with a French accent!
I must of course state the obvious that the voice speaking the language always makes a huge difference to how it sounds. Im pretty sure that most languages can be made to sound very nice with the right speaker. Likewise I am absolutely sure that any language can be made to sound absolutely horrible when "misused":
As a general rule, the more "nasal" sounding the voice, the less I like it (male or female) - Bummer since I think I have a quite nasal sounding voice myself!
Also, in female voices I tend to prefer less high pitched though not masculin.
As another general rule, a "nagging" style of talking (increasing intensity and pitch toward the end of the word/phrase) has a REALLY negative effect on me....Its not just that I dont like it... To me it becomes a veritable "Near Death Experience!" (and No, my mum didnt nagg me very much at all as I recall). So, let it be noted right here (and there is no one in my life to target this at presently, so Im just saying it for the heck of it) that when I hear that nagging sound, it not only makes me begrudge doing what ever it is that the words are telling/asking me to do, it makes me want to be as far away for the person making the terrible sound as I can possibly get... immediately! - If anybody ever wants to get rid of me then just turn on the nagg! - Though it´d be far easier to just ask me to go :))
There are also some particular baritone male voices with very piercing but deep resonances that are very painful for me to listen to.
So thats my thoughts on voices and languages.
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