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I'm French, Canadian AND Polish. I can't catch a break.



OK guys, pet peeve time (and so I'm not jst singling out FriarJohn). You are where you are born - period. It seems to be an affliction of Americans that no-one is actually American but always claims to be something else. The phrase "I'm part Irish, part German, part English, and a hint Apache" makes no sense at all. You may have ancestors who hail from different countries, but on that basis we are all ultimately African, so we can, logically, claim to be anything we want!

No, just because you're called Paddy O'Cohen and drink Guinness doesn't make you Irish unless you have an Irish birth certificate. What's so wrong with being proud of your country of birth? If you're American, be American, and don't use the fact that 200 years ago your second-cousins mother's sister's uncle stowed away on the Mayflower to claim that you're Scottish. You're not.

When someone claims "I'm X" in order to somehow be seen as being privy to the history and culture of X, that's a fraud. If I hear one more person say "Oh, I'm English" and then ramble on forever about a country that (a) they've never seen, and (b) never lived in, and then proceed to lecture ME about my home country, I swear I will use a large, irregularly shaped object and insert it, unlubed, into the orifice from which they are speaking - and that's not the mouth.

Phew, now I feel better Nothing like a little venting to help you through the day. Still, that's to be expected because I'm part Visigoth and Viking.

Siggy

If life wasn't so pointless and absurd, I would take it more seriously.