"I Accidentally Walked Into A Christian Book Store"... Got Any Good Store Stories?
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I've only been to one Christian book store... It was as quiet as a library outside of hearing tracks from both Nickleback and Skillet...
Other than that, I remember being freaked out by a Victor Secret employee asking me about my size instead of wondering why the fuck was I even there in the first place... (Spoilers: It was part of a dare with some older kids...)
Other than that, I remember being freaked out by a Victor Secret employee asking me about my size instead of wondering why the fuck was I even there in the first place... (Spoilers: It was part of a dare with some older kids...)
The only one I can think of is mainly due to language barrier.
Many years ago I was in China and they got quite a few malls there aswell. Thing is I'm BBC (British Born Chinese) HOWEVER I can't speak my native langauge (Cantonese) at all other than a few phase but not enough to form a proper sentence.
Needless to say there were plenty of clerks there aswell and they too asked me for any assistance whevenever I wander into the Gundam section on my own. It got really awkward for me quite quickly due to not being able to say I'm can't speak Chinese or that I don't need any assistance. After that I pretty much have to bring my mum or my dad with me when I look into those section.
The whole ordeal did make me feel somewhat awkward with myself as in I feel I was a wolf in sheep clothing but the clothing is glue onto me.
Oh before you mention why I can't speaked it, I never went to this Chinese speaking school when I was a kid and I can't remember any new Chinese phrases like "I don't need assistance" at the present.
Many years ago I was in China and they got quite a few malls there aswell. Thing is I'm BBC (British Born Chinese) HOWEVER I can't speak my native langauge (Cantonese) at all other than a few phase but not enough to form a proper sentence.
Needless to say there were plenty of clerks there aswell and they too asked me for any assistance whevenever I wander into the Gundam section on my own. It got really awkward for me quite quickly due to not being able to say I'm can't speak Chinese or that I don't need any assistance. After that I pretty much have to bring my mum or my dad with me when I look into those section.
The whole ordeal did make me feel somewhat awkward with myself as in I feel I was a wolf in sheep clothing but the clothing is glue onto me.
Oh before you mention why I can't speaked it, I never went to this Chinese speaking school when I was a kid and I can't remember any new Chinese phrases like "I don't need assistance" at the present.
When I was 17 I nipped into a bookshop after joking I might skive off work for the rest of the day. I turned sharply and aggravated a rugby injury resulting in the cartilage in my knee getting stuck in the joint. I was carted off to hospital on a stretcher and then had to explain to work why I wasn't in for the rest of the day
It seems there's no point in continuing this further.[/quote] In fact at no point do the FBI mention Christianity in that report.
Seriously did you think it was going any other ending. Any mention of Feminism, Christianity or gender on the internet will only start a fight. I'm not anyway a practicing christian, in fact I have deal with god, I don't talk to him and he doesn't talk to me but you opening post came off sounding quite derogatory and unnecessarily insulting. Starting off a thread finding others belief as a matter for comedy, means more likely than not you will have arguement on your hands.Twintix said:
To start with, I don't use Twitter. To continue, the FBI is probably a better source than your assertions that the "real world" knows something. To finish, not all white supremacists are Christians, but there is overlap and there are terror groups which are both. That argument has no bearing on the fact that you're making claims which are not true.Something Amyss said:
It seems there's no point in continuing this further.[/quote] In fact at no point do the FBI mention Christianity in that report.
Excuse me? Comedy? Derogatory? Insulting? What did I say that was so bad?albino boo said:
I don't remember saying anything about Christianity being bad. One creepy clerk does not an enite religion represent. I'm serious about being scared that she might accuse me of something, because I have never met a religious person who acted as creepy as she.
...OK, so the Ghost thing and Terry Pratchett was a joke, but I didn't think they were insulting. At least not of Christianity as a whole. Just the one clerk.
Why would a christian care if you were from sweden? Is it really so rare to meet one in Sweden that you get freaked out? Like they are just normal people.
Does it ever occur to you thats your interpretation, she might have been just trying to help. Furthermore if you substituted the black for Christian do you this wouldn't have been an argument, or let's be honest here would you have made mention of the fact it was a bookshop only selling books about black history or how to be a better Zulu. As I said before I am not Christian but many Christians do feel that they do not receive the same level of sensitivity about their beliefs that other more fashionable groups do. Richard Dawkins was a darling of the left right up to the moment when he attacked Islam with equal vigor as Christianity. My opinion of him went up because he was willing to go after target that might try to kill him rather than stick to soft targets that guarantee a media profile. Since then, Professor Dawkins appearances in the media have fallen away.Twintix said:
In short your post doesn't exist in a vacuum, the way others read it may not be the way you intended but against a background of culture wars any perception of double standards will result in conflict.
Hasn't really happened, but it wouldn't exactly be strange if I DID walk in. I'm Catholic and my brother's a priest.
Nope, too many complete and total jackasses.Twintix said:
Sorry about your thread, OP. My advice is to ignore the pricks and keep on keeping on.
Now, to actually contribute to the thread, unlike some people.
OT: A couple of years ago I went to my local Walmart around 1 in the morning to pick up some odds and ends. My town has a massive heroin issue, and it seems the people that work night shift at Walmart are some of the biggest users. While I was buying some OJ this one employee took a couple gallons of milk and poured it into his mop bucket. He then proceeded to mop the floor with milk! I asked him what he was doing and after 3 minutes of zombie-like, unfocused staring he said "I'm making the floors extra clean. Milk is white, white is clean, so milk is better for cleaning than water."
I said something to the effect of "fair enough" and went on my way.
A few minutes after that I ran into a different employee that didn't know what a 5 gallon bucket was.
He was completely lost when I asked him where they kept buckets.
After 10 minutes of explaining what a bucket was he led me to where they keep water coolers.
I found all of this hilarious!
I love my Walmart.
I'm not seeing anything Christian related on there, it's all Croatian Defense Leagues and Jewish Revenge Societies and what have you.Something Amyss said:
I dug a little further and all the most substantial thing I dredge up is from the wiki article on Christian Terrorism:
"After 1981, members of groups such as the Army of God began attacking abortion clinics and doctors across the United States.[96][97][98] A number of terrorist attacks were attributed by Bruce Hoffman to individuals and groups with ties to the Christian Identity and Christian Patriot movements, including the Lambs of Christ.[99] A group called Concerned Christians was deported from Israel on suspicion of planning to attack holy sites in Jerusalem at the end of 1999; they believed that their deaths would "lead them to heaven".[100][101]
Eric Robert Rudolph carried out the Centennial Olympic Park bombing in 1996, as well as subsequent attacks on an abortion clinic and a lesbian nightclub. Michael Barkun, a professor at Syracuse University, considers Rudolph to likely fit the definition of a Christian terrorist. James A. Aho, a professor at Idaho State University, argues that religious considerations inspired Rudolph only in part.[102]
Terrorism scholar Aref M. Al-Khattar has listed The Covenant, The Sword, and the Arm of the Lord (CSA), Defensive Action, the Montana Freemen, and some "Christian militia" as groups that "can be placed under the category of far-right-wing terrorism" that "has a religious (Christian) component".[103]
In 1996 three men?Charles Barbee, Robert Berry and Jay Merelle?were charged with two bank robberies and bombings at the banks, a Spokane newspaper, and a Planned Parenthood office in Washington State. The men were anti-Semitic Christian Identity theorists who believed that God wanted them to carry out violent attacks and that such attacks will hasten the ascendancy of the Aryan race.[104]
In 2011, analyst Daryl Johnson of the United States Department of Homeland Security said that the Hutaree Christian militia movement possessed more weapons than the combined weapons holdings of all Islamic terror defendants charged in the US since the September 11 attacks.[105]
In 2015, Robert Doggart, a former right-wing Congressional candidate, was arrested by the FBI while planning a terror attack on New York Muslims. The FBI says Doggart was planning to firebomb and burn down a mosque, school, and other buildings, and to use an M-4 assault rifle, a handgun, Molotov cocktails, a pistol, and a machete to kill anyone who resisted him. He faces five years in prison and was released on $30,000 bail after pleading guilty to a single count of interstate communication of threats. As noted by the criminal complaint, Doggart spoke of his willingness to sacrifice his life to prove his "commitment to our God". He also exhorted his followers to be "cruel" to Muslims, to burn down their mosque, kill them, and even to cut them to shreds with a machete. Doggart's defense attorneys said that their client is an ordained minister in the Christian National Church, has numerous degrees and certificates, and is a veteran. According to court documents, Doggart is a member of several "private militia groups"
Pretty tame compared to other countries without a Bible Belt.
Yes, I am from Sweden. And I understand how good secular people have it here. Like the OP, I have been in other countries than my own, and I have seen and experienced the way people can treat atheists. When I was in NY, just saying "I'm not really religious" in response to some question I don't remember about Jesus made people avoid and look at me as if I was a fucking terrorist. And NY isn't exactly in the bible belt. And "most places" is religious. "Most places" is not first world countries.ThreeName said:
Geez this one got derailed quickly,
I have been once or twice confused for a staff member at a shop in Australia called JB Hi Fi (general electronics cds, dvds etc). The standard uniform there is some sort of black shirt so I'm just there flicking through cd's apparently too methodically and out of nowhere some random asks me where they can find something. I must have frozen for two seconds because it was just that unexpected not sure if they ever got help actually
I have been once or twice confused for a staff member at a shop in Australia called JB Hi Fi (general electronics cds, dvds etc). The standard uniform there is some sort of black shirt so I'm just there flicking through cd's apparently too methodically and out of nowhere some random asks me where they can find something. I must have frozen for two seconds because it was just that unexpected not sure if they ever got help actually
I get that quite often at a whole range of shops - I'm just there browsing and a random person comes up and asks me where to find something. I could kind of understand it when I was at a shop during my lunchbreak and was wearing my work suit, but it's also happened when I've been in jeans, t-shirt and leather jacket in places where all the employees have some form of uniform. I feel like I must just give off an aura of "I'm helpful - ask me anything!" and it's kind of annoying. What makes it doubly annoying is that on each ocassion I have actually been able to help point out where to find something too - makes me feel like I'm encouraging people to do it again!Grumpy Ginger said:
I told you, I didn't want any help. I told her this, and just to be absolutely clear here, I didn't blow her off like some kind of jackass. She asked me if I needed help, I said "No thanks, I'm just looking around", and she still insisted on following me around and not let her eyes off me.albino boo said:
I'm sorry if I don't like it when people won't take a polite "No" for an answer. And that goes for all people; I'm not singling her out because she's religious like you seem to think I am, because the other clerk got the hint and kept doing his job. I'm singling her out because I don't like being followed no matter how good the intentions are and I don't like it when people are staring at me. And it's also about how close she was; She was less than two meters away from me during the rest of my time in the store.
I guess I can't rule out it being a cultural thing, but please keep in mind where I'm from. Namely, the country who is only slightly more religious than Estonia. (...I think.) Religious book stores might be a thing here as well, but I've never seen one and never been into one, and besides, religion is a thing that we tend to keep to ourselves over here. Where I'm from, what she did is not a thing that people generally do. Hence why it creeped me out.
And if she wanted to help, she alrady asked once. Nothing wrong with following it up with an "Are you sure you're fine on your own?". I mean, she could've just asked again.
Now you're just making assumptions. I'm not the one who started an argument here. I just wanted to share an anecdot and wanted others to do the same, I didn't think people would think what I said was so offensive.albino boo said:
Like I said, I only walked into the store because of the cake decal in the window. I wanted to find a cookbook because I like to see what they eat and drink in other countries.
Furthermore, the story is just as much of a mockery of how inattentive I was to not see all the books about religion in the window. I'm not religious, but I'd hesitate to call myself an atheist. Thus, I consider myself agnostic. But that doesn't mean that a religious book store can't contain any good works even for non-believers. That's why I didn't immediately turn around and leave.
Also, people can in most cases pick their religion. You can't choose to be black, just as little as you can choose to be gay or transsexual or other sexual orientations. I'm sorry, but I find that comparison to fall a little flat.
Sorry to hear that. But again, remember where I'm from and the culture I'm used to. That doesn't happen here because, again, religion is generally not something we talk about publically here.albino boo said:
Look, from how you word your post, you seem to think that I'm a rabid anti-theist. I'm not. If what I said pissed you off, regardless of whether you're religious or not, it was not my intention. I didn't mean to come across as "hurhurr, stupid christians are so stupid, believing in some century-old imaginary friend, why aren't they as enlightened as me blueeeeh". I just wanted people to share stories, I didn't expect everyone to get so fixated on the religion part of my story and blow everything out of proportion.
I just wanted to have a discussion. That's all.
Other than losing my left hearing for 30 seconds in the store today from tinnitus, nothing noteworthy springs to mind
You don't have to defend or apologize for your post Twintix. You are not responsible for how other people read your post If people like albino boo want to accuse you of somehow trying to start a religious flame war, that's their problem, not yours. Point of fact, someone else made the direct insult to religion, and the OP (Twintix) specifically told them to not do that. So again, you did nothing wrong. Let them generate their own insult and outrage if they want. Who fucking cares what they think anyway?Twintix said:
This isn't going to help matters at all, but I've got to mention that I once got kicked out of a Barnes & Noble for moving as many bibles as I could over to the fantasy/ficion section.
I've got to admit, thats quite funny.Cycloptomese said:
Seriously alot of thread derailing here guys, its clear the OP was just identifying where this incident happened. Would tou be making an issue of him saying "so I walked into a scifi book store"?
Ah Walmart, I remember going there once or twice when I was visiting the US. Certainly one of those places that have the strangest people in them. Certainly explained alot of the weird stories us foreigners hear.Beffudled Sheep said: