Right now you're jumping up and down about how great you are because you're a one trick pony...oh yea, and you can trace your heritage back to Africa. That has a lot to do with nuclear power, and it's certainly not something anyone else in the US can do.
Hello spekkio,
The comment that I quoted above does not live up to the high quality standards that your post usually possess. In this case, you seem more concerned about this lady’s ‘heritage’ than she does. It seems to me that you may have unfairly stereotyped her when you said, “Right now you're jumping up and down about how great you are because you're a one trick pony...oh yea, and you can trace your heritage back to Africa.”
Perhaps I have misunderstood the situation, so I would like you to clarify it for me. Hopefully I am wrong, if not then I think your comments may have a negative effect on the free exchange of ideas that this site seems to encourage. The way I see, it the lady asked a legitimate question and she received a number of decent answers with the major exception being part of one of your comments that is quoted above.
It seems to me, that your comment that I quoted above can be seen as moving a generally healthy discussion into a bit of a personal attack that the OP does not deserve. If we don’t address this type of bad behavior in its infancy, it is possible to grow into a climate or culture that makes beneficial civil discourse less likely to occur, and hurt the reputation of this site.
I have to say that based on your previous post it is likely that you are not guilty of doing what, I am going to suggest, it looks like you have done. Please don’t take my request for clarification personnel. You deserve the benefit of the doubt, the time and energy you have spent contributing professionally to this site earned you that much and more in my opinion.
First: I know that “jumping up and down” is a figure of speech, nonetheless, it does not accurately depict the OP, IMHO.
Second: Are you saying she is “jumping up and down about how great” she is because she thinks she is “a one trick pony”? Or are you trying to say she is “jumping up and down about how great” she is, and you think that the she is a one trick pony?
Either way she is not jumping up and down and she did not say how great she was, just that nuclear physics was a topic she was great in. Maybe she is great in nuclear physics. Perhaps she could have chosen a better word to describe her success in that area, but to go from her saying she is great in nuclear physic to you saying say she is jumping up and down etc is not accurate and unfairly opens her up to contempt or scorn.
Third: Are you saying she is “jumping up and down about” because she is able to trace her heritage back to Africa?
Read what she wrote with her OP and her replies. She said clearly ,
thanks for your replies. race and gender was not an issue coming into the door until recruiters for both the navy and the air force volunteered that it many have an impact on my career. I was hoping to get real world perspective outside of the recruiter offices.
What I am trying to say is I don’t see this lady “jumping up and down about” anything, and certainly not about her heritage.
There is a second aspect of you comments to her that I would like to bring to your attention, mostly because this second aspect of you post tends to push me towards my first conclusion, so for that reason I ask you to explain it, it you don’t mind.
No one cares... at least not anyone who matters. Why do you believe this is important to mention? Your GPA doesn't match your opinion of yourself.
You asked her why she thought it was important to mention that she is an African American Female, an hour and forty-five minutes after she already explained her reason for mentioning it. Notice the time stamp on these quotes.
thanks for your replies. race and gender was not an issue coming into the door until recruiters for both the navy and the air force volunteered that it many have an impact on my career. I was hoping to get real world perspective outside of the recruiter offices.
That coupled with your possible miss characterization of her jumping up and down over being able to trace her heritage to Africa, is something that seems out of character when compared to your other post, so I wanted to hear your side of the story.
I am willing to believe that you started to answer her first post and perhaps did not see her second post when you answered her first post, (if that makes any sense). Hopefully that is what happened. Otherwise you are badgering her.
I thought you deserved the benefit of the doubt in this case based on your history of thoughtful and professional advice you have given to the members of Nukeworker.
Your apparent miss characterization of the OP appears rude, IMNSHO. Being rude to a first time poster, who asked a racially sensitive question, is not something we usually see from you or any one else here. So if I have misunderstood you please correct me. I just did not want what I saw as a potentially unfair generalization of a guest that came looking for help, to go unchallenged
It looks a little like you are taking out some frustration on the OP. That would be unfair and counter productive. She, after all, has allowed our members to get involved in a discussion that we are not always welcomed to be a part of.
We owe this lady our thanks for opening up this dialogue and I hope I’m wrong to suggest that we need to be reminded not to shoot the messenger if we want a place at the table when these types of issues are being discussed.
Bigchris
