[A_perfect_lady]

The first I've read from a reality that's not attempting to whip me into a frenzy to return to Mother Africa and reclaim my heritage.

That whole "reclaim the heritage" thing turned sour in my mouth too, when I was a shiny young 20-something. I went "back" to Ireland to reclaim my heritage. Well, Ireland is beautiful. But the Irish are... hm.... how shall I say this?

Okay, a joke will do: an American and an Irishman are walking down a country road and they come upon a spacious mansion.

The American says, "Someday, I'm going to live in this house!"

And the Irishman says, "Someday, I'm going to get the bastard who lives in this house!"

And that's how the Irish (and the rest of the Euros, as far as I can tell) are.

[jla]

The American says, "Someday, I'm going to live in this house!"

And the Irishman says, "Someday, I'm going to get the bastard who lives in this house!"

And that's how the Irish (and the rest of the Euros, as far as I can tell) are.

Very true, but I wouldn't confine the phenomenon to Europe.

[XBob]

112 - "The American says, "Someday, I'm going to live in this house!"

What a great story, and that is exactly what my grandfather did.

As a second generation German-American, his mother, my great grandmother, did laundry for the people in the big house on the hill, and as a boy he carried it back and forth. It took him 40 years, but first he bought my grandma a washing machine, then he bought the big house on the hill (to hold it).