Cimbrone

Terrific link, Gary!

What's the Latin for "yum, yum"?

Wekiva

ruechapon

Good try...but she's not hating anyone. Strange world you live in...hating everyone you disagree with.

NeoPatrick

I didn't see a shred of hate in the first post. A little weirdness, yes. If Buzzy "loved" the Marais, then obviously she's been there and experienced it enough to know that she loves it. Yet in a later post she says she was mainly trying to find out if the Marais is "ostentaciously gay". Duh. If she's been there and experienced it and loved it, wouldn't she be aware for herself how "ostentaciously gay" the place is? And as one of the first posts said, "if you walk into a bar like that, couldn't you just walk back out?" Very, very weird post -- but not one I'd call hateful in the least.

I'd prefer not to end up in a sports bar, but that doesn't mean I HATE all sportslovers. I also would feel out of place if I entered a lunch place completely filled with little old ladies in hats having tea, but that sure doesn't mean I HATE little old ladies in hats. How silly to suggest that someone saying they might feel out of place means they HATE the people there.

Meanwhile a click on Buzzy's name seems to indicate she is no longer registered here -- either by her choice or the editors' choice. Sign of a troll -- perhaps a regular poster who temporarily registered a new name to be provocative?

suze

IMO it is hardly a provocative post, not enough to warrant a new screen name to post it or leaving the forum over the replies. I'm guessing Buzzy went elsewhere because things were not quite the answers and the tone she was hoping for.

All well and good to ask about gay people, until gay people start questioning your questions?

NeoPatrick

suze, have you read all the posts here? Obviously there were plenty of people including those saying the original post was filled with hate who DID think it was provocative.

But let's be honest. Why did Buzzy come here and register just to post this? She said she's looking for apartments in Paris. Wouldn't it be logical that she might have posted on one of those many Paris apartment threads? If she's trying to decide between apartments near Notre Dame or in the Marais, wouldn't it seem MORE logical or meaningful if she had posted links to those and asked for opinions as countless other new posters do? Or posted about one of her Rome issues? Or anything else about the trip besides this? It sure seems like a very odd first and only post from anyone getting ready to go to Europe.

For that matter, how many brand new posters would refer to us all as "Fodorites"? It was ages before I learned that term. Just another reason I think there was more to this post than simply someone coming here for the first time and asking a serious question.

ruechapon

Wekiva: I live in Paris. Not so strange. And you don't see anything wrong with Buzzy's post yet see mine as hateful?

Uh huh.

ruechapon

Neo: here's a suggestion. Why don't you cut her posts and paste it in the gay and lesbian thread. I think it would be interesting to see what happens.

The fact that Buzzy is gone suggests the original post was a put-on. As I had suggested.

But I'm glad you don't see anything wrong with any of this. I'll turn a blind eye too and we can all live in bliss.

ruechapon

Just one last thought.

The original post said this:

"This must really sound offensive"

Why would she write that? She herself recognized she was being offensive. Why don't Neo, Wekiva and suze recognize it?

I'm confused. But not for the last time, no doubt.

And Wekiva, I suppose I take your point. I am being intolerant of her intolerance. Like Voltaire said: the only think I hate is hatred (sounds better in French).

Wekiva

ruechapon

You know...as neat as forums are this is a good example of how forums can send people down the wrong path quickly. I try to say what I mean and you take it the wrong way. This would be much more clear in person!

You were the one who said "in my opinion she's free to hate whomever she wants" My point was that just because she didn't want to be surrounded by them didn't mean she hated them. It seemed you thought differently. I never meant to imply there was hatred in your posts. But it's late and I'm tired. Too much to worry about already for tomorrow than continue arguing.

You are lucky to live in Paris. I love that city and have only been able to get there twice. Hope to get back some day.

NeoPatrick

ruechapon, you surely do like focusing on a single phrase and taking it to the nth degree. Yet, you chose not to comment on my simple comparisons of little old ladies in hats or sportslovers. Where do you see my hate in not feeling comfortable in places dominated by those groups?

Meanwhile I assume the statement that started out directed to me shifted gears by the time you said "But I'm glad you don't see anything wrong with any of this." I clearly stated I found the whole post "weird". I just don't see someone being uncomfortable in a situation surrounded by people different from themselves as being a clear statement of "HATRED".

PatrickLondon

Blimey, is this still going on?

suze

ruechapon, I see the OP (if not a troll) as incredibly silly and naive not hateful. She painted a fairly colorful picture of Docker-panted American tourists ending up in the middle of a gay disco in Paris by mistake. It's funny.

Besides her husband being a homophobic catholic (hardly the first) I read this as harmless.

GaryCA

Hey, Suze, watch the anti-Docker bias!!

ruechapon

Thanks for the responses Neo, Wekiva and suze. My point is only this: I was offended by the original post. I thought it bespoke a sort of homophobia which offended me. To me homophobia is hateful. So, therefore to me the post had the whiff of hate about it.

I don't ask or expect that you see it my way. But I didn't think it was out of the realm of possibility that someone (me) might have been offended by the OP -- as the poster/troll realized it would be. I certainly didn't mean to be hateful in response to the OP but if fodor-folk take my response to be hateful then so be it. It doesn't bother me to be thought of as someone who hates hatred.

We all agree that the OP was weird and probably written to be provacative if not down right nasty.

My other point in all this was that I not only found the OP weird but also found the response of some fodor people to be weird too (when they said things like "There's nothing wrong with your post" etc).

hypatia

"What this thread demonstrates is that there are questions you can ask sincerely of a friend or associate that a public forum will misunderstand. Hereabouts you might ask "Which rental car company do you prefer in Italy?" and half your reponses might be along the lines of, "YOU'D HAVE TO BE CRAZY TO DRIVE IN ITALY!"

to the point!!!tomassocroccante you have a knack of expressing yourself well