Paul Terry wrote to uk.transport.london on Mon, 4 Jul 2005:

In message , Mrs
Redboots writes

Paul Terry wrote to uk.transport.london on Sun, 3 Jul 2005:

Just as you can tell the criminals because they wear ear-rings and call
you "mate"?

What the smeg are you talking about?

I am referring to the fact that you made a loaded assumption about a
person on the slightest evidence (his accent).

How you can tell that he might have a good salary, own his own home,
send his kids to public school or whatever it is you mean by "middle
class", simply on the basis of an accent, I cannot tell.

Whatever do you mean? I mean nothing of the kind - can't think what
*you* mean by "middle class", but I make absolutely no assumptions like
that! I said he appeared to be middle class, based on his accent and
the way he interacted with his child. Accent and vocabulary are still
class indicators - but no "judgement" was given. Why is it more of a
judgement than to say someone is male?

In my book, this is tantamount to assuming that someone who is gay
must be promiscuous, that an Albanian is likely to be a criminal or that
a Christian is an extremely gullible person. One really should think
carefully before making unsubstantiated generalisations based on
limited personal experience.

Or that a woman with a baby buggy on a bus is liable to be a prostitute?

The bottom line is that your comment was nothing like making a factual
observation such as saying that a person appears to be male, black or
well-dressed - it was simply pre-judging him on "accent".

Not at all. No prejudice involved, I assure you! I make no value
judgment at all - it was, I can assure you, merely an observation to
counter the observation that someone else made that people with babies
in buggies on buses (splendid alliteration there!) are apt to be "chav
slappers" - which is far more of a value judgement, in my opinion.

Just as well, since you're being totally incomprehensible!

I am sorry that you don't understand. I enjoy your contributions to this
newsgroup, Annabel, but I don't like the idea of making assumptions
about people on the slightest of evidence, such as accent. Perhaps that
is your style, but it is not mine.

What assumptions? I think you are making assumptions about what I am
assuming!
--
"Mrs Redboots"
http://www.amsmyth.demon.co.uk/
Website updated 23 May 2005