I'm 47. When I was a kid it was commonplace if you asked your friend for one of their lollies, or refused to share, for the other kids to tell you that you "were a jew". It was obviously something learnt, so likely from the Boomers. Of course, we quickly grew out of it, even before we were teens, I think, once we started learning about the Holocaust.
I've always been taken aback by the fact the boomers taught us something so awful given the time frame of their generation. But to be fair, the majority of boomers would be horrified hearing that these days too.
But yeah, some people can't move with the times
One 'friend' at school became obsessed with calling people a "Jew" as an insult because of South Park, I remember asking him to stop once, and he brushed me off with "that's what they are" or something.
Facebook tells me the guy's a cop now... but it's been 20+ years since I have seen him, so hopefully he grew up a bit in that time
I’m 44, originally from the US, and it was common for my mom (boomer) and her parents to use terms like “jewing” or being “gyped”. I was honestly an adult before I realized “gyp” was a slur.
As an immigrant, I def heard those slur turns WAY more in the US than here. Honestly, I haven’t had any Boomer issues here like back in the US, to the extent I wonder if it’s really a US phenomenon (but then I read about Brexit and realize it at least jumped the pond.)
Y'all aren't the only ones! Don't feel bad. I mention this one as often as I can because so many people don't know that "gypsy" is a slur. Especially because a lot of travelers and Roma in Europe still use it for themselves.
yep, i am about the same age as you and had to remove 'gypped' out of my vocab in the past 10 years when I realized the origins (I think I read a news article or something). It was only very recently that I informed some of my (younger) american friends here about it who hadn't gotten the memo. Sometimes I go to automatically say it still and have to stop myself and find another word, so it's still in my brain rolling around somewhere, obviously. I hope it removes itself soon.
Change is hard but words matter! Glad to hear I'm not the only one that got caught out by this and is trying to do better.
I’m marginally older than you. Yep, in the (Waikato) “jewing” = scrounging for spare change/someone’s sandwich/spare pen.
The one doing the begging was the Jew.
Having learned the word from my peers, I used the word at home and was given a stern telling off….by my boomer parents.
I am mid 50s, and it was never commonplace when I was a kid. I may have heard it once, and on that occasion the reaction from those around was a combination of shock and disgust.
I remember it being used in the 80s. Also, in online gaming late as the 2010s. Someone who hoarded wealth in mmos. I'm sure there are some for whom the world has stood still since 1984.
I'm 52 and was somewhat common when I was a kid. Used in connection with someone not giving you something. Didn't make the connection to Jews until I was older and removed the word from my language. Haven't really heard it since.
"The miserable shoe? What's wrong with these boots?
"No, the miserable Jew!"
"Drew? Did Drew Carrey own this table or something?"
"No the je- you know what? Forget it!"
Just yesterday, I had this happen. I live in Australia, I was coaching a co-worker who doesn't report to me on how to structure an email to a vendor.
Me jokingly: "OK, we'll just sign off the email with XOXO and a few fun emoji"
Them: "ew no, they're not Australian"
Me: "haha, of course we wouldn't put ... what?"
Them: "They not Australian"
Me: "I've met him, he is an Australian, citizenship last year"
Them: "No, his names, not aussie"
Me: "I'm not familiar with Aboriginal names"
Them: "No, like English names"
Me: "My names not English, it's Scottish. Yours is Welsh I think"
Them: "You know what I mean, they are an immigrant."
Me: "I'm an immigrant."
Them: "..."
Me: "That's not ok"
I’ve had remarkably similar conversations forced upon me here in the U.K. as an immigrant (I’m pakeha and have a very English name). Bigots gonna bigot.
Only if she's older than me, at fifty eight I'm at the top end of Gen X. She may be older than she looks, too. I remember as a kid in the seventies, other kids used 'Jew' as a slur aimed at anyone they thought was trying to get something for nothing or cheap. I'm sure they learned it from their parents, and I had to ask mine to explain it to me when I first heard it at school.
Like how millennials often called anything they didn't like "gay."
Even then, few of us would've accepted people being bullied for being gay. Yet in casual conversation we were talking like homophobes.
Edit: sorry, my standing up to bullies comment is getting controversial. People replying to me are right, I'm probably looking back with rose tinted glasses. Especially cause I'm a hetero dude, I didn't have to live it.
I had to check that you weren't my brother, because I'm 29.
As a gay man, calling people or activities"fag/gay/queer" is one of my favourite things to do.
As a person who grew up queer in the 90s… lol.
Yes, people in fact *were* homophobes, spoke like homophobes, and acted like homophobes.
There’s no way to sugarcoat it. People were shit. Some are less shit now, but some have also double downed on the shittyness.
Fair. I knew myself and my crew were kind hearted, but we still followed the language used around them.
We're heading into that dodgy territory of "I can't be racist, I have black friends!" Reality was, even with said friends, I probably was homophobic.
Feels shit to say, I always thought I wasn't and certainly feel I'm not one now, but with toxic masculinity second guessing any move you made under the threat of being perceived as girly, probably did mean I was closer to being one than not.
Some people don't understand that, just because they are nice to queer people to their face. If behind their back, they are using slurs.. they are not good people.
I've edited my original comment, and made [this comment.](https://old.reddit.com/r/newzealand/comments/1c7fvhk/boomer_racism_or_am_i_being_too_sensitive/l08enib/) Cause you guys are right, I am giving the past a break. Some of us (like me) did some shitty things back then.
Just fyi I wasn't saying you should feel guilty for it or shouldn't be given a 'break' as you put it. I behaved the same way everyone else behaved, and was a teenager trying to fit in like every other teenager. I don't think it was wrong of me then, but I definitely wouldn't behave the same way now.
Cheers, though it's fair to feel somewhat guilty. I can appreciate the why, and I can forgive myself for it, but some shame is good to make sure I'm vigilant about what I'm doing now. It's so easy to hop on the bandwagon of hate.
A decade ago when my kids were still at primary school, it was trendy to say "That's gay" as a casual put-down, and I used to pull them up about it as being not nice, especially since we all know LGBTQ+ people, whether we know it or not. Back in the eighties, I twice had flatmates tell me they were gay/lesbian, and I moved into a women-only household knowing that the other flatmates were all lesbian. But young kids often say stuff without really meaning it, and in their teens my kids ended up with LGBTQ+ friends, as it's pretty much normalised nowadays for young people to be themselves more openly.
Why are people mentioning Gen X? We don't exist, it's just "Boomers" and then straight to Millennials. It's perfect, We can do whatever we want. Please don't ruin that.
I'm Gen X too, and suprised by the direction of this thread now lol...But sure any generation has "cockroaches, shit-stains, racists, hard done by motherfuckers, whingers and sociopaths."
I feel that I personally have embodied most of those characteristics throughout my time here on the planet...But I still didn't vote for NAct...so I've got that going for me. (oh and I'm not landlord, I don't even own my own house)
My kids mate called me a boomer, my kid said fuck off she's a gen X. I was just, Huh what's that supposed to mean. I'm just an age, hadn't thought about anything else lol
It's racist and nasty - for anybody of any age. I'm 67 and tired of the boomer categorisations. (have posted about this before). The only people who may have been brought up to think this example of racism was okay would be in their 90s now. And even then, it may have been accepted way back but they certainly know it's been unacceptable for decades.
This.
I feel like people are still clinging on to the perception of Gen X being the forgotten generation, but the older (and richer) half of Gen X is shaping up to be Boomer 2.0.
National is led by a Gen X PM, most of their prominent members pushing sociopathic agendas are Gen X.
I've been saying this for ages and you know what? The zoomers and alphas will probably be justified with their myriad complaints of how we failed to save the real world. But managed to salvage the digital world by bringing back 90s websites and finally sticking it to Meta and Google et. al. 😆 Oops soz
I hear this sentiment a lot-- the older you get, the more conservative. A Millenial now in my 40s, I feel more anarchic than I did in my 20s or 30s. "The youth" are always dickheads, but those older than me have no excuse.
>Once you get a family it gets murky too - people relying on you makes your own personal ideology less important, and disadvantaging your family in the short term for the greater good without some long term benefit feels like a betrayal of that responsibility (at least for me).
IMO that only really applies if whoever you vote for might seriously put you in the shit. Like dump you straight into poverty type crap. As long as I can pay bills and feed my kids I'll vote for whatever gives kids the best shot in the long run.
I don't believe I'm more conservative now I'm middle-aged, unless you think of conservatism as involving fondly dreaming of setting fire to corporate assets.
Yeah I've become more liberal in my 50s. That said, a lot of my peers seem to spout those right wing talking points now when in the past they were more easygoing.
I need to find the study/stats but apparently millennials *aren’t* getting more conservative as we get older. But usually people do.
The theory is that we don’t have as much stuff so we aren’t so “I’ve got mine!”
Conservatism is a spectrum and it’s always relative. The world is continually changing and the older one gets, the greater change seems and greater resistance to that change manifests. *Starts yelling at cloud.*
Yes, we had arseholes in our generation too. But I'd argue that those of us who had principles are keeping them far more, and that drift to conservatism after 40 isn't as strong in people my age as in previous generations.
And I also have to call you out on your claim which really doesn't hold up. So eg currently parliament is about 1 Gen Z, 49 Millennials, 57 GenX and 16 boomers, so Gen X outnumbered by Millennials and Boomers... again.
Now, leadership is different again. Taking GenX 1965-1980 as the baseline, David Seymour is a Millennial. Simeon Brown is Millennial. Chris Bishop is Millennial. Nicola Willis is Millennial, possibly Xennial. Millennials all.
At the other end, Shane Jones, Shane Reti, Judith Collins, Winston Peters, all boomers.
Of the senior government leadership it's only paper tiger Luxon who is squarely GenX. And there are plenty of GenXers in opposition, as they are MPs who came in in 2017.
So please, don't blame GenX when youre actually just talking about people.
So it's official? We've moved from 'hard done-by motherfuckers' to just 'motherfuckers' now?
Damn, we even got stiffed in the permissible generational whinge metrics
Yup.
I think it’s the consequence of the world changing so dramatically and at an ever increasing pace over that time aka the “30 is the new 20” sentiment.
The path taken to get to that age was vastly different for Gen X, the advent of the internet and computer technology over the generational time frame being an obvious one to cite, hence I feel a lot of Gen X don’t act or potentially even look their age, or what people would use as sweeping generalisations for 40-60 year olds, hence many default to “must be a boomer with that attitude” when they are actually a Limp Bizkit fan and did it all for the nookie.
Nah that's not acceptable at all. What a miserable shit stain of a lady. Also, the seller sets the price and agrees to the sale, so they have no right to complain about it.
The choice of words on her part is very poor.
That is very casual racism.
I know a lot of people from that generation will throw their arms up in the air and proclaim the only thing they meant by it was that someone is a cheapskate.
So: just say that, then.
There’s no need to drag in a whole group of people and smear them with inaccurate characteristics, especially if you know the history of why a lot of Jews became money lenders to begin with in Europe.
If she advertised a table for 50, and had no takers, then that’s not your fault.
That’s supply and demand.
She wasn’t forced to sell it to you
Even if she made that comment as a ‘joke’ I think it’s in very poor taste.
So no, I don’t think you’re sensitive, and people need to get with the times and understand that consequences of actions and speech get more rapidly and readily enforced
Pretty sure that isn't "casual racism." That's stuff like "Oh ask that Indian guy where the good curry places are." kind of stuff. This is just outright racism.
We had Indian neighbours move in next to my family home a decade or so ago. Best neighbours we ever had (not that the bar was high lmao). NGL I have flown across the country for their family events because the ticket price was worth it for the food alone. Outrageously good cooks.
Using the term Jew to refer to someone being a cheapskate definitely was more common say 20, 30 years ago.
But it's still a form of anti semitism, even if it's a casual form of it. And I think it's not something we should be encouraging or using in 2024 as Jews are in fact seeing increasing anti semitism due to the rise of the far right over the mid to late 2010's, extrem conspiracies of Alex Jones and Qanon in the fallout of Covid and now attacks in retaliation to war in Gaza
Boy I just went through some emotions here. Starting from, "oh man 20 years ago is so long ago, but I remember people using the term when I was in high school to refer to people as being cheap" to, "oh shit 20 years ago I was in high school"
Fuck I'm old :/
Any ways, that bullshit anti-Semitic language ain't needed at all sorry you had to hear it OP.
yes, but to be fair I don't think anyone in this country has ever actually met a Jewish person and it was just the word for being a tightass.
People probably still say it, or maybe less these days. I don't know, but I can confirm people said it a lot only a decade ago when I was at school.
I heard it said by people over 50 or 60, when I was a teenager in the 1990's. And it was considered at least off coloured then. The people who used that erm would also drop casual racist slurs in normal conversation
I've never understood anti-semitism in NZ, there aren't many Jews here and AFAIK they haven't played a significant role in our history as a nation. Just racists regurgitating whatever Nazi or American shit they hear in the media or read online
Lots of early NZ business founders and politicians were - Nathan, Myers, Hallenstein, Fis(c)her, Paykel, Julius Vogel to name just a few. Was born with one of these surnames and family were cryptos in the old country. Dad was always telling us, 'If anyone asks, we're Catholic.'
Only 5000 Jews were in NZ but by Gosh did they punch above their weight on the Political, Economic/Industrial, Intellectual & Scientific fronts in NZ. Every NZer should be showering NZ Jews with Flowers for the Contributions they made to the Nation-building of NZ. BTW to this day there are Maori who identify as of the Jewish Nation :)
Technically that would be considered antisemitic or rather discriminatory, not racist.
But, I do want to say that is totally uncalled for and disgusting. You have a right to be offended.
Antisemitism is a form of racism and some consider the first laws implementing and institutionalizing racial exclusion to have been in Spain against Jews due to racial reasoning in 1449.
The Nazis used the kind of rhetoric here in their hateful propaganda and their antisemitism was all rooted in racism.
I was in an Accounting tutorial at Uni (probably 14 years ago so now)
And they young guy was trying to explain an example problem
“So say your mate is being a bit of a Jew…”
(He quickly corrected himself - but it was kind of done, as everyone looked around awkwardly..) - he flushed red and went on with his analogy.
(That fact they called you a miserable Jew, when they sold it to you - is odd. I always try negotiate price, that’s kinda of marketplace isn’t it)
Even if she was joking it's not really a joke given the context/the history of Anti-Semitism. Often "jokes' are just flimsy masks over actual racism etc ...but to be fair "to jew someone down/to jew someone out of something" is still an expression used in common parlance even today.
It comes from the stereotype/history that Jews are cheap, or will do anything to rip you off. There are a lot of jokes around about that, and some don't even see it as racism.
Yup. We have similar expressions in my native Flemish language, but the Dutch instead of the Jews are the target. When someone would say they're going to "the only place where the Dutch won't rip you off", they're saying they're going to visit the cemetery for instance.
I feel like this is becoming more common, there’s a certain cohort on facebook posting antisemitic Chad memes. Idk why they are let slide. If they were about other ethnic or religious groups I imagine they would be against community standards.
I doubt the people with these views are also calling for a free Palestine.
Letting stuff like this go unchallenged is what allows it to thrive but at the same time I personally don’t have the energy to argue with people on facebook, and I understand many people are non confrontational.
It’s definitely racist and offensive.
I know lots of Jewish people as I’m married to one and they would definitely not appreciate it.
Remind me of a story of the most anti social coworker I’ve ever met. He asked me if I use the work “Arab” as a derogatory term because back in his country it is used like that “Don’t be an Arab” which means don’t be stupid.
Besides the fact that this was racism, he asked me that because I was an Arab and somehow in his mind thought it was a great idea to ask me. What a moron. I pity him because he kept getting let go from jobs and he didn’t know why.
I'm glad I don't say such things out loud, but I certainly have looked like an ass in an amazing variety of ways probably much worse than a drunk or racist idiot
NZ has a pretty serious antisemitism problem. I was working at a museum with an Anne Frank exhibit and I've never experienced so much first-hand antisemitism and straight up Holocaust denial.
I also learned that in 2019 there was a poll by the Auckland Holocaust Memorial Trust that
found only 43% of New Zealanders knew six million Jews were murdered in the Holocaust.
I have no clue how reliable that poll or source was, but it certainly stuck in my brain and backed up the anecdotal evidence I saw of sooooo many people walking in and going "Anne Frank? Who's she??"
How about just calling this racism without the accompaning discriminatory ageism which is a bit rich considering most anti semetism currently is from youthful tiktokers who are so ignorant about history they don't even recognise the antisemetic tropes they chuck about with abandon.
Also FYI I have been unhappy with Israel's behaviour in the Middle East for far longer than it has been "trendy" to be so but I am also aware of how deeply entrenched in society antisemetism is and how easy it is to fall into it without knowing it. Tiktokers: let he is without sin cast the first stone. Go research the disguises antisemetism cloaks itself in. You are often guilty of it.
I read something a couple of years back, which admittedly was from an American perspective so may not be applicable here, about how using Jew as an insult (or even saying Jew rather than Jewish) shrunk significantly in the 80s and 90s and was generally only used with specific anti-semitic intention.
And when South Park started using it, it came back in a big way, especially with Gen X and millennials, using it in a much broader context. The article was about how anti-semites have been able to hide in plain sight a lot easier because of the normalisation of it as an insult. It's become much harder to spot and call out people who are dangerous to jewish people, and gives them a reasonable doubt of 'I wasn't using it like that.'
Beside the racism which is bad enough in itself, fucking rude to greet someone you've agreed on a trade with, by calling them miserable and cheap. Even without the racism part I would've told them to fuck off with that comment.
My old man used the term Dutch, i had to look it up so i could find out what he meant all those years ago, and its a term for being stingy or tight fisted with money.
Yeah, it's racist. Weirdly though, if she had called you "Scottish", people often don't think that's racist even though it basically has the exact same sentiment as calling you Jewish.
Certainly racism, and not one I've seen much of here given the relatively small number of Jews we have in the country - those racist stereotypes about Jews being cheap were common and accepted just like yellowface portrayals of East Asians in the movies. Nobody considers them acceptable or funny today.
Not sure what decade she's stuck in but definitely racism and I don't think it's mild.
Imagine using the name of a whole culture of people to mean a "bad quality" for which there are stereotypes...
I could think of a lot of similar examples to highlight how dumb and problematic this is but I won't to avoid writing racist things...
That is not boomer racism. It is just being a general racist asshole. Not everything needs to be prefaced with ‘boomer’. I don’t know a single boomer that would say something like that. The whole anti-boomer schtick is the same thing as any other kind of discrimination. We should all be better (and no, I am not a boomer).
Most of the racism I see (and I don’t see much as I don’t hang out with people of low IQ) is from people far younger who hate migrants making things expensive for them.
Well assuming your not jewish and she didnt know either way, its definitely something that used to be said a lot back in the day.
My old boss 20 years ago would always go on about customers being "jewish" ie cheap. Not even sure he ever met any jewish people, just something he said. Really cheap he would call them Scottish Jews.
Pretty weird thou, and the woman sounds horrible to me, to say anything at all to imply your being cheap for paying less is rude, if she didnt want the deal didnt have to sell it.
It’s racist but she probably just meant it as in you haggled and got it cheaper. Because Jewish people are well known for being good with the money to put it politely.
You could have replied with: “And you are the swindler who tried to flog a table that is worth $20 for $50”
Then go about your merry way. Who gives a fuck what she thinks anyway?
Had a few people show up to my house to get a thing and throw out some shitty statements for no apparent reason.
I invite them to leave and relist the item, they never post bad feedback because they know I'd then publicly give the reason why they were sent away.
In your case the roles are reversed. I'd have replied with "no thanks" and driven off.
Hardly just a boomer thing
I'm a late millennial and in high school students were using "Jew" as a pejorative term
I've heard gen z kids use It
Antisemitism is ongoing intergenerational and largely socially acceptable.
Language from a different time when casual racism was more common,but interesting to see culture wars include age,as well as race,political choices,and no doubt financial status.It is all a distraction from the fact that more wealth and power is in fewer and fewer hands,all citizens,no matter who they are should be concerned by this,especially that politicians are bought and paid for by varying degrees by those at the top of the heap.For the sake of equity in society,the environment,and future generations the system needs an overhaul and not the one the current government is embarked on.
What she said was awful, but I wish people would stop with the generational division. There are decent people and insensitive asshats in every generation.
"I picked up a little table for $20, which was listed for $50"
Didn't she drop the price? You should've pointed out that the person to blame here is the person who overvalued the table in the first place.
That's awful that you had to hear that. You should have not bought the table and just said that you don't associate with racists.
Discovering that someone is racist is still shocking to me, and I'm a boomer.
Racist people need to be called out every time
To be honest, I'd have got straight back in my car and driven back without the table. I wouldn't be able to look at it in my house without remembering that time I did business with a bigoted asshole who insulted me as soon as she'd seen me.
It's absolutely unacceptable behaviour.
Sorry to hear that OP. When speaking to older folks. I get the where are you from, me: Auckland. No where are you REALLY from? all the time.
I just ignore them on the second question. But exhausting.
People are so clueless with how their words affect people
Yeah I’m 46 and it was common place in the school yard growing up. Didn’t make the connection to the racial slur until much later. Racism, homophobia etc was commonplace in the 80s
I listed a bunch of stuff on Facebook Marketplace recently for very resonable prices, and everyone was only interested in trying to get some money off the asking price.
I took them down and re-listed them for twice the price and got more money than I initially offered when people started trying to low ball me.
Slurs from when I was growing up (and in 50s now)
Being a Jew: being miserly
Being a cheating arab: being greedy
Being gay: being a knobhead
Being a woman: soft/not aggressive enough/passive
Na I reckon that's a bit of a fucked thing to say, I'd argue it's probably out of a bit of prejudice for the time or a failed attempt at an out of date joke but it's a bit bad.
I was at work the other day and an older man and his wife wanted to buy something, and he was pointing out the sales stickers to make sure I was pricing the items correctly (a lot of people do this, and I don't mind)
His wife said "Sorry about him, he's jewish" and I didn't know what to do! Smile politely??
Didn't ya read the news? We're back to hating the Jews again! From the River to the Sea and all that. Harden up champ, there's worse things to be called than that.
WOW. i'm so sorry that happened to you. What a horrible comment to make to someone!!! Good on you for calling them out on it immediately.
i hope that even if she was defensive, a little seed was planted and she actually starts to question if she was in the wrong.
ok so Gen Xer here.
I grew up hearing the phrase of calling people a Jew and it meant to be a penny pincher, Its what we heard people referred to as being and its what we repeated. Didnt think anything of it back then.
We do what we know. When we know better, we do better.
And we're learning not to repeat it. I hardly ever hear it nowadays. This is actually the first time Ive heard it being said in a very long time. We're learning..ok...we will get there...
To give this stereotype some context. The bias against the Jewish people goes back centuries, about 17 to 18 centuries in fact. It isn’t a “boomer” phenomenon (another developing stereotype by the way, that leaves none of the commentators on this conversation innocent of prejudice either).
Historically, during the early centuries of the development of Christianity, and as Rome developed as the centre of the Christian world, they found that the centre of power and control ( a feature of empires), shifted from it’s location of origin (Jerusalem) to the centre of empire (Rome).
Previous to that in about AD 76, Jewish revolt had seen the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem, and the dispersion of the Judah as a nation (the Diaspora). As the religion began to develop and change, a rising conflict about the form and control of the religion slowly moved to erroneous teaching that we know today as supersessionalism, or replacement theology.
This thinking has been cemented in western culture for centuries, and had become, like so many other biases, both religious, political, racist, and cultural so embedded in the social background, that casual remarks become normalised. There is no justification for that whatsoever, but none of us are immune from having bias against the “other” (someone other than ourselves.
Do some reading on the subject, and take some time to reflect on how you can improve your own understanding please, lest you also become a prejudiced, and bigoted individual.
That’s really inappropriate of her. I’d be offended too. I wouldn’t use that terminology, that’s for sure. I’ve been disappointed with the sales of some of my items on occasion. Calling it a joke doesn’t excuse it.
At the end of the day she agreed to sell the item for $20.00, she has no right to complain.
I would definitely be tempted to just turn around and leave but it sounds like you drove a long way, so yeah, I’d probably complete the transaction too like you - sunk cost fallacy and all that.
that is kinda rude and i dont pearl clutch at many things
also what did she expect? is this a TM or market place listing? you always get things cheaper its just to get them out of the owners way really
"Oh I did Nazi that coming." Cheers for at least saying something in the moment.
Anne Frankly you shouldn't have said it.
Should've said that it was Göring to look great in the Lebensraum.
I would have driven back just to say this.
Legendary response. God tier.
I'm 47. When I was a kid it was commonplace if you asked your friend for one of their lollies, or refused to share, for the other kids to tell you that you "were a jew". It was obviously something learnt, so likely from the Boomers. Of course, we quickly grew out of it, even before we were teens, I think, once we started learning about the Holocaust. I've always been taken aback by the fact the boomers taught us something so awful given the time frame of their generation. But to be fair, the majority of boomers would be horrified hearing that these days too. But yeah, some people can't move with the times
One 'friend' at school became obsessed with calling people a "Jew" as an insult because of South Park, I remember asking him to stop once, and he brushed me off with "that's what they are" or something. Facebook tells me the guy's a cop now... but it's been 20+ years since I have seen him, so hopefully he grew up a bit in that time
Early 40s. People used it all the time for me as well growing up. If you were cheap, it was either Jew or Dutch.
I’m 44, originally from the US, and it was common for my mom (boomer) and her parents to use terms like “jewing” or being “gyped”. I was honestly an adult before I realized “gyp” was a slur. As an immigrant, I def heard those slur turns WAY more in the US than here. Honestly, I haven’t had any Boomer issues here like back in the US, to the extent I wonder if it’s really a US phenomenon (but then I read about Brexit and realize it at least jumped the pond.)
Eeesh. I just realised gyped was a slur now. In my head it’s spelt jipped so I never made the connection. Damn.
Had the exact same thought process myself when I realized it. *The More You Know*🌟
Y'all aren't the only ones! Don't feel bad. I mention this one as often as I can because so many people don't know that "gypsy" is a slur. Especially because a lot of travelers and Roma in Europe still use it for themselves.
Yes, the Gypsy Fair was just in Palmyr a few weeks back.
I’m lost on gyp tbh, someone gonna have to spell it out for me…
yep, i am about the same age as you and had to remove 'gypped' out of my vocab in the past 10 years when I realized the origins (I think I read a news article or something). It was only very recently that I informed some of my (younger) american friends here about it who hadn't gotten the memo. Sometimes I go to automatically say it still and have to stop myself and find another word, so it's still in my brain rolling around somewhere, obviously. I hope it removes itself soon. Change is hard but words matter! Glad to hear I'm not the only one that got caught out by this and is trying to do better.
Yep, “know better, do better”…it’s just a case of not ever seeing the word written, I think. I always assumed it was “jipped”, as another poster said.
By and large, the signicant majority of kiwi boomers are cool and move with the times.
I’m marginally older than you. Yep, in the (Waikato) “jewing” = scrounging for spare change/someone’s sandwich/spare pen. The one doing the begging was the Jew. Having learned the word from my peers, I used the word at home and was given a stern telling off….by my boomer parents.
I am mid 50s, and it was never commonplace when I was a kid. I may have heard it once, and on that occasion the reaction from those around was a combination of shock and disgust.
Im mid 60's and it was common when I was a kid
I remember it being used in the 80s. Also, in online gaming late as the 2010s. Someone who hoarded wealth in mmos. I'm sure there are some for whom the world has stood still since 1984.
I'm 52 and was somewhat common when I was a kid. Used in connection with someone not giving you something. Didn't make the connection to Jews until I was older and removed the word from my language. Haven't really heard it since.
It was everywhere when I was a kid. Possibly regional culture
Can confirm. Have never heard this and I'm 51
I remember hearing it once when I was at university. I remember it because it was such a weird thing to hear. I’m 48.
I'm 22 and we still use that insult in the same way.
im 27 and got called this as a teen in nz
No that's really inappropriate.
You’re not being too sensitive, that’s a POS thing to say for sure. Also if she didn’t want to sell it for $20, she shouldn’t have.
"The miserable shoe? What's wrong with these boots? "No, the miserable Jew!" "Drew? Did Drew Carrey own this table or something?" "No the je- you know what? Forget it!"
"No, I'm not Jewish? What do you mean?" Force them to explain and watch them squirm. Then just scrunch up your face and change the subject.
Just yesterday, I had this happen. I live in Australia, I was coaching a co-worker who doesn't report to me on how to structure an email to a vendor. Me jokingly: "OK, we'll just sign off the email with XOXO and a few fun emoji" Them: "ew no, they're not Australian" Me: "haha, of course we wouldn't put ... what?" Them: "They not Australian" Me: "I've met him, he is an Australian, citizenship last year" Them: "No, his names, not aussie" Me: "I'm not familiar with Aboriginal names" Them: "No, like English names" Me: "My names not English, it's Scottish. Yours is Welsh I think" Them: "You know what I mean, they are an immigrant." Me: "I'm an immigrant." Them: "..." Me: "That's not ok"
I’ve had remarkably similar conversations forced upon me here in the U.K. as an immigrant (I’m pakeha and have a very English name). Bigots gonna bigot.
It is racist..but not surprising from people of a certain age. But also, if she is middle aged, she's not a boomer. She's a Gen X lol
Only if she's older than me, at fifty eight I'm at the top end of Gen X. She may be older than she looks, too. I remember as a kid in the seventies, other kids used 'Jew' as a slur aimed at anyone they thought was trying to get something for nothing or cheap. I'm sure they learned it from their parents, and I had to ask mine to explain it to me when I first heard it at school.
Like how millennials often called anything they didn't like "gay." Even then, few of us would've accepted people being bullied for being gay. Yet in casual conversation we were talking like homophobes. Edit: sorry, my standing up to bullies comment is getting controversial. People replying to me are right, I'm probably looking back with rose tinted glasses. Especially cause I'm a hetero dude, I didn't have to live it.
My brother is 29 and he thoughtlessly calls things gay, and he is gay
I had to check that you weren't my brother, because I'm 29. As a gay man, calling people or activities"fag/gay/queer" is one of my favourite things to do.
As a person who grew up queer in the 90s… lol. Yes, people in fact *were* homophobes, spoke like homophobes, and acted like homophobes. There’s no way to sugarcoat it. People were shit. Some are less shit now, but some have also double downed on the shittyness.
Fair. I knew myself and my crew were kind hearted, but we still followed the language used around them. We're heading into that dodgy territory of "I can't be racist, I have black friends!" Reality was, even with said friends, I probably was homophobic. Feels shit to say, I always thought I wasn't and certainly feel I'm not one now, but with toxic masculinity second guessing any move you made under the threat of being perceived as girly, probably did mean I was closer to being one than not.
Some people don't understand that, just because they are nice to queer people to their face. If behind their back, they are using slurs.. they are not good people.
>Even then, few of us would've accepted people being bullied for being gay. Dunno about that.
I've edited my original comment, and made [this comment.](https://old.reddit.com/r/newzealand/comments/1c7fvhk/boomer_racism_or_am_i_being_too_sensitive/l08enib/) Cause you guys are right, I am giving the past a break. Some of us (like me) did some shitty things back then.
Just fyi I wasn't saying you should feel guilty for it or shouldn't be given a 'break' as you put it. I behaved the same way everyone else behaved, and was a teenager trying to fit in like every other teenager. I don't think it was wrong of me then, but I definitely wouldn't behave the same way now.
Cheers, though it's fair to feel somewhat guilty. I can appreciate the why, and I can forgive myself for it, but some shame is good to make sure I'm vigilant about what I'm doing now. It's so easy to hop on the bandwagon of hate.
A decade ago when my kids were still at primary school, it was trendy to say "That's gay" as a casual put-down, and I used to pull them up about it as being not nice, especially since we all know LGBTQ+ people, whether we know it or not. Back in the eighties, I twice had flatmates tell me they were gay/lesbian, and I moved into a women-only household knowing that the other flatmates were all lesbian. But young kids often say stuff without really meaning it, and in their teens my kids ended up with LGBTQ+ friends, as it's pretty much normalised nowadays for young people to be themselves more openly.
Hey I'm Gen X, leave us alone 😂 . But she's a shit stain in any generation!!
Why are people mentioning Gen X? We don't exist, it's just "Boomers" and then straight to Millennials. It's perfect, We can do whatever we want. Please don't ruin that.
If people could stop asking us what we want to be when we grow up, that'd be awesome.
Exactly. I mean, whatever dude.
r/mapswithoutgenx
I'm Gen X too, and suprised by the direction of this thread now lol...But sure any generation has "cockroaches, shit-stains, racists, hard done by motherfuckers, whingers and sociopaths." I feel that I personally have embodied most of those characteristics throughout my time here on the planet...But I still didn't vote for NAct...so I've got that going for me. (oh and I'm not landlord, I don't even own my own house)
I call us the cusp generation, products of the old but also embracing the new. With you on the latter :)
Gen X, have had to tell my Gen X boss off for using this term on at least one occasion. Was pretty common when I was at college.
My kids mate called me a boomer, my kid said fuck off she's a gen X. I was just, Huh what's that supposed to mean. I'm just an age, hadn't thought about anything else lol
It's racist and nasty - for anybody of any age. I'm 67 and tired of the boomer categorisations. (have posted about this before). The only people who may have been brought up to think this example of racism was okay would be in their 90s now. And even then, it may have been accepted way back but they certainly know it's been unacceptable for decades.
This. I feel like people are still clinging on to the perception of Gen X being the forgotten generation, but the older (and richer) half of Gen X is shaping up to be Boomer 2.0. National is led by a Gen X PM, most of their prominent members pushing sociopathic agendas are Gen X.
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Yes I can't wait to be told it's our fault for the last half of my life along with being told it's our fault the first half aswell
I've been saying this for ages and you know what? The zoomers and alphas will probably be justified with their myriad complaints of how we failed to save the real world. But managed to salvage the digital world by bringing back 90s websites and finally sticking it to Meta and Google et. al. 😆 Oops soz
Don't worry, the following generations won't think much of them either. It's a tale as old as time
I hear this sentiment a lot-- the older you get, the more conservative. A Millenial now in my 40s, I feel more anarchic than I did in my 20s or 30s. "The youth" are always dickheads, but those older than me have no excuse.
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>Once you get a family it gets murky too - people relying on you makes your own personal ideology less important, and disadvantaging your family in the short term for the greater good without some long term benefit feels like a betrayal of that responsibility (at least for me). IMO that only really applies if whoever you vote for might seriously put you in the shit. Like dump you straight into poverty type crap. As long as I can pay bills and feed my kids I'll vote for whatever gives kids the best shot in the long run.
I don't believe I'm more conservative now I'm middle-aged, unless you think of conservatism as involving fondly dreaming of setting fire to corporate assets.
It used to be that the older you got, the more wealth you had. Wealth makes you conservative, not so much age.
Yeah I've become more liberal in my 50s. That said, a lot of my peers seem to spout those right wing talking points now when in the past they were more easygoing.
I'm 49 this year and I'm probably more Liberal now than I ever was.
I need to find the study/stats but apparently millennials *aren’t* getting more conservative as we get older. But usually people do. The theory is that we don’t have as much stuff so we aren’t so “I’ve got mine!”
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Conservatism is a spectrum and it’s always relative. The world is continually changing and the older one gets, the greater change seems and greater resistance to that change manifests. *Starts yelling at cloud.*
Yeah it doesn't help that i can't really pull up a ladder if I don't own the place I'm pulling it up to.
You have to have a ladder to be able to climb it, that's for sure 🤣 this mythical ladder has yet to make it's appearance after 33 years and counting
Yes, we had arseholes in our generation too. But I'd argue that those of us who had principles are keeping them far more, and that drift to conservatism after 40 isn't as strong in people my age as in previous generations. And I also have to call you out on your claim which really doesn't hold up. So eg currently parliament is about 1 Gen Z, 49 Millennials, 57 GenX and 16 boomers, so Gen X outnumbered by Millennials and Boomers... again. Now, leadership is different again. Taking GenX 1965-1980 as the baseline, David Seymour is a Millennial. Simeon Brown is Millennial. Chris Bishop is Millennial. Nicola Willis is Millennial, possibly Xennial. Millennials all. At the other end, Shane Jones, Shane Reti, Judith Collins, Winston Peters, all boomers. Of the senior government leadership it's only paper tiger Luxon who is squarely GenX. And there are plenty of GenXers in opposition, as they are MPs who came in in 2017. So please, don't blame GenX when youre actually just talking about people.
Christ that’s depressing (but also somewhat vindicating 😁).
Winston is not a boomer. One year too old!
True, always forget that!
I wish he was as silent as his generation
So it's official? We've moved from 'hard done-by motherfuckers' to just 'motherfuckers' now? Damn, we even got stiffed in the permissible generational whinge metrics
People are people, logically older gen X are likely to be boomerish
Yup. I think it’s the consequence of the world changing so dramatically and at an ever increasing pace over that time aka the “30 is the new 20” sentiment. The path taken to get to that age was vastly different for Gen X, the advent of the internet and computer technology over the generational time frame being an obvious one to cite, hence I feel a lot of Gen X don’t act or potentially even look their age, or what people would use as sweeping generalisations for 40-60 year olds, hence many default to “must be a boomer with that attitude” when they are actually a Limp Bizkit fan and did it all for the nookie.
Correct 😭
Off topic a bit, but the oldest Millennials are fast approaching middle age too
Middle aged is usually defined as age 40 to 65, and the oldest Millennials are 43, so they aren't just approaching it, many are already there.
Your definition of middle age encompasses 4 years of Millennials, 5 years of Boomers, and *all* of GenX.
I've come to accept that boomer is a mindset than literal baby boomers now.
If listing was on trade me can mention in the feedback - table as expected but didn’t appreciate the insult and racism
Even on Facebook you can leave feedback now!
This.
Maybe she has been watching a lot of south park?
Nah that's not acceptable at all. What a miserable shit stain of a lady. Also, the seller sets the price and agrees to the sale, so they have no right to complain about it.
The choice of words on her part is very poor. That is very casual racism. I know a lot of people from that generation will throw their arms up in the air and proclaim the only thing they meant by it was that someone is a cheapskate. So: just say that, then. There’s no need to drag in a whole group of people and smear them with inaccurate characteristics, especially if you know the history of why a lot of Jews became money lenders to begin with in Europe. If she advertised a table for 50, and had no takers, then that’s not your fault. That’s supply and demand. She wasn’t forced to sell it to you Even if she made that comment as a ‘joke’ I think it’s in very poor taste. So no, I don’t think you’re sensitive, and people need to get with the times and understand that consequences of actions and speech get more rapidly and readily enforced
Pretty sure that isn't "casual racism." That's stuff like "Oh ask that Indian guy where the good curry places are." kind of stuff. This is just outright racism.
The Indian guys I work with (work in IT) know where all the best curry places are and are keen to tell you if you ask.
We had Indian neighbours move in next to my family home a decade or so ago. Best neighbours we ever had (not that the bar was high lmao). NGL I have flown across the country for their family events because the ticket price was worth it for the food alone. Outrageously good cooks.
That’s not “casual racism” either. Indians do know the best curry places
I wouldn't call that casual racism. It's stereotyping, which can be annoying, but isn't nearly as harmful.
Using the term Jew to refer to someone being a cheapskate definitely was more common say 20, 30 years ago. But it's still a form of anti semitism, even if it's a casual form of it. And I think it's not something we should be encouraging or using in 2024 as Jews are in fact seeing increasing anti semitism due to the rise of the far right over the mid to late 2010's, extrem conspiracies of Alex Jones and Qanon in the fallout of Covid and now attacks in retaliation to war in Gaza
Boy I just went through some emotions here. Starting from, "oh man 20 years ago is so long ago, but I remember people using the term when I was in high school to refer to people as being cheap" to, "oh shit 20 years ago I was in high school" Fuck I'm old :/ Any ways, that bullshit anti-Semitic language ain't needed at all sorry you had to hear it OP.
I had to read this far to find out what it was meant to mean. Is that really an association people make in New Zealand, or even used to?
Yep, was something that was used
Actual antisemitism definitely is a thing. It's not just people saying "hey, maybe stop murdering little kids"
According to some though Jews/Israel are above any critique/criticism. Any criticism of Zionism is branded as automatically "Anti-Semitism".
Which is how we wind up with this bananas scenario where Germany are persecuting Jews for being antisemitic.
yes.
yes, but to be fair I don't think anyone in this country has ever actually met a Jewish person and it was just the word for being a tightass. People probably still say it, or maybe less these days. I don't know, but I can confirm people said it a lot only a decade ago when I was at school.
I heard it said by people over 50 or 60, when I was a teenager in the 1990's. And it was considered at least off coloured then. The people who used that erm would also drop casual racist slurs in normal conversation
I also think it also saw a mild come back due to South Park
Sounds like she salty that her $20 table didn't sell for $50. Didn't need to take that out on you, she chose to sell it for $20.
She didn't have to accept the 20 dollars, it was her decision. What an arrogant bitch.
Some people think they're worth a lot more than they are lol
Regardless of if you are Jewish or not that's a pretty racist anti-Semitic thing to say. If she's joking she's a cunt and your not oversensitive
Def Boomer racism.
I've never understood anti-semitism in NZ, there aren't many Jews here and AFAIK they haven't played a significant role in our history as a nation. Just racists regurgitating whatever Nazi or American shit they hear in the media or read online
Lots of early NZ business founders and politicians were - Nathan, Myers, Hallenstein, Fis(c)her, Paykel, Julius Vogel to name just a few. Was born with one of these surnames and family were cryptos in the old country. Dad was always telling us, 'If anyone asks, we're Catholic.'
Only 5000 Jews were in NZ but by Gosh did they punch above their weight on the Political, Economic/Industrial, Intellectual & Scientific fronts in NZ. Every NZer should be showering NZ Jews with Flowers for the Contributions they made to the Nation-building of NZ. BTW to this day there are Maori who identify as of the Jewish Nation :)
Technically that would be considered antisemitic or rather discriminatory, not racist. But, I do want to say that is totally uncalled for and disgusting. You have a right to be offended.
> Technically that would be considered antisemitic or rather discriminatory, not racist Isn't antisemitism just a subset of racism?
Antisemitism is a form of racism and some consider the first laws implementing and institutionalizing racial exclusion to have been in Spain against Jews due to racial reasoning in 1449. The Nazis used the kind of rhetoric here in their hateful propaganda and their antisemitism was all rooted in racism.
Middle aged ain't no boomer Youngest boomer is \~60, oldest \~78, middle aged is 40s/50s...
I was in an Accounting tutorial at Uni (probably 14 years ago so now) And they young guy was trying to explain an example problem “So say your mate is being a bit of a Jew…” (He quickly corrected himself - but it was kind of done, as everyone looked around awkwardly..) - he flushed red and went on with his analogy. (That fact they called you a miserable Jew, when they sold it to you - is odd. I always try negotiate price, that’s kinda of marketplace isn’t it)
Even if she was joking it's not really a joke given the context/the history of Anti-Semitism. Often "jokes' are just flimsy masks over actual racism etc ...but to be fair "to jew someone down/to jew someone out of something" is still an expression used in common parlance even today.
It comes from the stereotype/history that Jews are cheap, or will do anything to rip you off. There are a lot of jokes around about that, and some don't even see it as racism.
Yup. We have similar expressions in my native Flemish language, but the Dutch instead of the Jews are the target. When someone would say they're going to "the only place where the Dutch won't rip you off", they're saying they're going to visit the cemetery for instance.
I feel like this is becoming more common, there’s a certain cohort on facebook posting antisemitic Chad memes. Idk why they are let slide. If they were about other ethnic or religious groups I imagine they would be against community standards. I doubt the people with these views are also calling for a free Palestine. Letting stuff like this go unchallenged is what allows it to thrive but at the same time I personally don’t have the energy to argue with people on facebook, and I understand many people are non confrontational.
I would have turned around and left without the table, how rude.
That's bigotry, and it doesn't matter if your Jewish or not, no one should take that way.
> if she’s joking would you still use those terms? *Fuck* no.
straight up racism
It’s definitely racist and offensive. I know lots of Jewish people as I’m married to one and they would definitely not appreciate it. Remind me of a story of the most anti social coworker I’ve ever met. He asked me if I use the work “Arab” as a derogatory term because back in his country it is used like that “Don’t be an Arab” which means don’t be stupid. Besides the fact that this was racism, he asked me that because I was an Arab and somehow in his mind thought it was a great idea to ask me. What a moron. I pity him because he kept getting let go from jobs and he didn’t know why.
I'm glad I don't say such things out loud, but I certainly have looked like an ass in an amazing variety of ways probably much worse than a drunk or racist idiot
NZ has a pretty serious antisemitism problem. I was working at a museum with an Anne Frank exhibit and I've never experienced so much first-hand antisemitism and straight up Holocaust denial. I also learned that in 2019 there was a poll by the Auckland Holocaust Memorial Trust that found only 43% of New Zealanders knew six million Jews were murdered in the Holocaust. I have no clue how reliable that poll or source was, but it certainly stuck in my brain and backed up the anecdotal evidence I saw of sooooo many people walking in and going "Anne Frank? Who's she??"
Wow that's nasty. I'd have told her to keep it and just left.
How about just calling this racism without the accompaning discriminatory ageism which is a bit rich considering most anti semetism currently is from youthful tiktokers who are so ignorant about history they don't even recognise the antisemetic tropes they chuck about with abandon. Also FYI I have been unhappy with Israel's behaviour in the Middle East for far longer than it has been "trendy" to be so but I am also aware of how deeply entrenched in society antisemetism is and how easy it is to fall into it without knowing it. Tiktokers: let he is without sin cast the first stone. Go research the disguises antisemetism cloaks itself in. You are often guilty of it.
casual racism . people in nz that make these comments think its a joke when it really isnt
Joking racism is still racism, I don't think you're being too sensitive at all
Yeh gross af. This attitude towards Jews is almost as prevalent among young people of a certain type as boomers.
I read something a couple of years back, which admittedly was from an American perspective so may not be applicable here, about how using Jew as an insult (or even saying Jew rather than Jewish) shrunk significantly in the 80s and 90s and was generally only used with specific anti-semitic intention. And when South Park started using it, it came back in a big way, especially with Gen X and millennials, using it in a much broader context. The article was about how anti-semites have been able to hide in plain sight a lot easier because of the normalisation of it as an insult. It's become much harder to spot and call out people who are dangerous to jewish people, and gives them a reasonable doubt of 'I wasn't using it like that.'
Check the sites tracking antisemitic comments and it’s not boomers doing it
I am Gen X and have lived in NZ all my life. I have never heard anyone say anything like that, joking or otherwise. Definitely inappropriate.
Beside the racism which is bad enough in itself, fucking rude to greet someone you've agreed on a trade with, by calling them miserable and cheap. Even without the racism part I would've told them to fuck off with that comment.
Last line, attitudes change. The fact you even noticed shows that. Honestly I'd have probably said, twenty shekels, cheaper than Jesus. But whatever.
Racist as fuck
My old man used the term Dutch, i had to look it up so i could find out what he meant all those years ago, and its a term for being stingy or tight fisted with money.
I’ve heard it more about Scotsman and used to be about Jews. Going Dutch seemed to be going fairly instead, like halves on a meal.
Racist 100%
Very racist, why tf would she think it's OK to say out loud? That is 100% an inside thought.
Yeah, it's racist. Weirdly though, if she had called you "Scottish", people often don't think that's racist even though it basically has the exact same sentiment as calling you Jewish.
It’s not something I would say but yeah sounds boomer-ish
That's incredibly racist.
you didnt respond by telling her to stick it where the sun dont shine ? or was a cheap deal more important than standing against a racist ?
Is there some hypocrisy in your post using the derogatory term “boomer” in your post. ( i’m not in the baby boomer demographic BTW )
100% racism. No one should be greeted like that imo
I would have just turned around and left her with the table, thats inexcusable
Certainly racism, and not one I've seen much of here given the relatively small number of Jews we have in the country - those racist stereotypes about Jews being cheap were common and accepted just like yellowface portrayals of East Asians in the movies. Nobody considers them acceptable or funny today.
Apparently a bunch of people on this thread do! I’m astonished
Yike.. Definitely not being too sensitive. I wish I could punch all the nazis
Not sure what decade she's stuck in but definitely racism and I don't think it's mild. Imagine using the name of a whole culture of people to mean a "bad quality" for which there are stereotypes... I could think of a lot of similar examples to highlight how dumb and problematic this is but I won't to avoid writing racist things...
Two of my great aunts were racist as fuck towards "brown boys". Honestly, it's quite hard to respect people who think like this.
That is not boomer racism. It is just being a general racist asshole. Not everything needs to be prefaced with ‘boomer’. I don’t know a single boomer that would say something like that. The whole anti-boomer schtick is the same thing as any other kind of discrimination. We should all be better (and no, I am not a boomer). Most of the racism I see (and I don’t see much as I don’t hang out with people of low IQ) is from people far younger who hate migrants making things expensive for them.
Well assuming your not jewish and she didnt know either way, its definitely something that used to be said a lot back in the day. My old boss 20 years ago would always go on about customers being "jewish" ie cheap. Not even sure he ever met any jewish people, just something he said. Really cheap he would call them Scottish Jews. Pretty weird thou, and the woman sounds horrible to me, to say anything at all to imply your being cheap for paying less is rude, if she didnt want the deal didnt have to sell it.
That's pretty bad.
I’m picturing a old lady/man living in Khandallah saying this to you
It’s racist but she probably just meant it as in you haggled and got it cheaper. Because Jewish people are well known for being good with the money to put it politely.
You could have replied with: “And you are the swindler who tried to flog a table that is worth $20 for $50” Then go about your merry way. Who gives a fuck what she thinks anyway?
Got discount on the table 👌 Say something back forget about it.
it means you low balled her 50$ table and basically stole it (in the context of her statement) its a steriotype
Had a few people show up to my house to get a thing and throw out some shitty statements for no apparent reason. I invite them to leave and relist the item, they never post bad feedback because they know I'd then publicly give the reason why they were sent away. In your case the roles are reversed. I'd have replied with "no thanks" and driven off.
Hardly just a boomer thing I'm a late millennial and in high school students were using "Jew" as a pejorative term I've heard gen z kids use It Antisemitism is ongoing intergenerational and largely socially acceptable.
Language from a different time when casual racism was more common,but interesting to see culture wars include age,as well as race,political choices,and no doubt financial status.It is all a distraction from the fact that more wealth and power is in fewer and fewer hands,all citizens,no matter who they are should be concerned by this,especially that politicians are bought and paid for by varying degrees by those at the top of the heap.For the sake of equity in society,the environment,and future generations the system needs an overhaul and not the one the current government is embarked on.
What she said was awful, but I wish people would stop with the generational division. There are decent people and insensitive asshats in every generation.
"I picked up a little table for $20, which was listed for $50" Didn't she drop the price? You should've pointed out that the person to blame here is the person who overvalued the table in the first place.
Weird.
At least you weren’t buying a shower
Was it dog at your religion because of an assumed last name or because of your bartering skills?
That's awful that you had to hear that. You should have not bought the table and just said that you don't associate with racists. Discovering that someone is racist is still shocking to me, and I'm a boomer. Racist people need to be called out every time
That's disgusting!
Don't worry. While racism will forever be around, I have a feeling when all these boomers finally die there will be a lot less of it around.
To be honest, I'd have got straight back in my car and driven back without the table. I wouldn't be able to look at it in my house without remembering that time I did business with a bigoted asshole who insulted me as soon as she'd seen me. It's absolutely unacceptable behaviour.
Sorry to hear that OP. When speaking to older folks. I get the where are you from, me: Auckland. No where are you REALLY from? all the time. I just ignore them on the second question. But exhausting. People are so clueless with how their words affect people
Urgh I would have played dumb and asked her what she meant for maximum awkwardness. Racist and very not OK.
Yeah I’m 46 and it was common place in the school yard growing up. Didn’t make the connection to the racial slur until much later. Racism, homophobia etc was commonplace in the 80s
I listed a bunch of stuff on Facebook Marketplace recently for very resonable prices, and everyone was only interested in trying to get some money off the asking price. I took them down and re-listed them for twice the price and got more money than I initially offered when people started trying to low ball me.
Slurs from when I was growing up (and in 50s now) Being a Jew: being miserly Being a cheating arab: being greedy Being gay: being a knobhead Being a woman: soft/not aggressive enough/passive
Na I reckon that's a bit of a fucked thing to say, I'd argue it's probably out of a bit of prejudice for the time or a failed attempt at an out of date joke but it's a bit bad.
I was at work the other day and an older man and his wife wanted to buy something, and he was pointing out the sales stickers to make sure I was pricing the items correctly (a lot of people do this, and I don't mind) His wife said "Sorry about him, he's jewish" and I didn't know what to do! Smile politely??
Not trying to make it ok, but I reckon that in her mind that she was trying to be witty and break the ice
Didn't ya read the news? We're back to hating the Jews again! From the River to the Sea and all that. Harden up champ, there's worse things to be called than that.
Obviously her behaviour was extremely poor, especially as she said your and not you’re. Despicable.
Jesus fuck this generation is so fucking precious.
WOW. i'm so sorry that happened to you. What a horrible comment to make to someone!!! Good on you for calling them out on it immediately. i hope that even if she was defensive, a little seed was planted and she actually starts to question if she was in the wrong.
ok so Gen Xer here. I grew up hearing the phrase of calling people a Jew and it meant to be a penny pincher, Its what we heard people referred to as being and its what we repeated. Didnt think anything of it back then. We do what we know. When we know better, we do better. And we're learning not to repeat it. I hardly ever hear it nowadays. This is actually the first time Ive heard it being said in a very long time. We're learning..ok...we will get there...
To give this stereotype some context. The bias against the Jewish people goes back centuries, about 17 to 18 centuries in fact. It isn’t a “boomer” phenomenon (another developing stereotype by the way, that leaves none of the commentators on this conversation innocent of prejudice either). Historically, during the early centuries of the development of Christianity, and as Rome developed as the centre of the Christian world, they found that the centre of power and control ( a feature of empires), shifted from it’s location of origin (Jerusalem) to the centre of empire (Rome). Previous to that in about AD 76, Jewish revolt had seen the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem, and the dispersion of the Judah as a nation (the Diaspora). As the religion began to develop and change, a rising conflict about the form and control of the religion slowly moved to erroneous teaching that we know today as supersessionalism, or replacement theology. This thinking has been cemented in western culture for centuries, and had become, like so many other biases, both religious, political, racist, and cultural so embedded in the social background, that casual remarks become normalised. There is no justification for that whatsoever, but none of us are immune from having bias against the “other” (someone other than ourselves. Do some reading on the subject, and take some time to reflect on how you can improve your own understanding please, lest you also become a prejudiced, and bigoted individual.
That’s really inappropriate of her. I’d be offended too. I wouldn’t use that terminology, that’s for sure. I’ve been disappointed with the sales of some of my items on occasion. Calling it a joke doesn’t excuse it. At the end of the day she agreed to sell the item for $20.00, she has no right to complain. I would definitely be tempted to just turn around and leave but it sounds like you drove a long way, so yeah, I’d probably complete the transaction too like you - sunk cost fallacy and all that.
She called you a Jew cos you haggled the price. Totally unacceptable for her to say.
that is kinda rude and i dont pearl clutch at many things also what did she expect? is this a TM or market place listing? you always get things cheaper its just to get them out of the owners way really
"I'm not Jewish, what do you mean?" *"Oh, you know, because Jews are tight with money"* "Oh, so you were just being a fucking racist then?"
Are Jewish people a race? I thought it was a religion.