Private forum for "respectable" dominicans?

[cobraboy]

Some of you have just moved to the DR in recent years (months, as in cobra's case).

I've been coming here for 22 years.

Yes, the "respectable" issue came out after a guy posted a video. But it's always been burbling under the surface, Eeen the guy who poisted the video had videos demonstrating his lack of respect for the country when his buddy threw garbage out of his car...live, on video (and we're 'sposed to believe that was an isolated incident).

Yes, there ARE two Dominican Republics when it comes to foreigners: those who live here and ~have~ to respect and abide by the myriad of unwritten social rules (that any culture has) IF they want to create a "successful life" here. And there are those who do the "seagull tourist" thing: fly in, eat your lunch, crap all over everything, then fly away, not really caring what they did since they are not a "stakeholder" in the country.

I suppose it all goes back to the situation described in the old Godfrey Saxe peom:

It was six men of Indostan
To learning much inclined,

Who went to see the Elephant
(Though all of them were blind),

That each by observation
Might satisfy his mind

The First approached the Elephant,
And happening to fall

Against his broad and sturdy side,
At once began to bawl:

?God bless me! but the Elephant
Is very like a wall!?

The Second, feeling of the tusk,
Cried, ?Ho! what have we here

So very round and smooth and sharp?
To me ?tis mighty clear

This wonder of an Elephant
Is very like a spear!?

The Third approached the animal,
And happening to take

The squirming trunk within his hands,
Thus boldly up and spake:

?I see,? quoth he, ?the Elephant
Is very like a snake!?

The Fourth reached out an eager hand,
And felt about the knee.

?What most this wondrous beast is like
Is mighty plain,? quoth he;

? ?Tis clear enough the Elephant
Is very like a tree!?

The Fifth, who chanced to touch the ear,
Said: ?E?en the blindest man

Can tell what this resembles most;
Deny the fact who can

This marvel of an Elephant
Is very like a fan!?

The Sixth no sooner had begun
About the beast to grope,

Than, seizing on the swinging tail
That fell within his scope,

?I see,? quoth he, ?the Elephant
Is very like a rope!?

And so these men of Indostan
Disputed loud and long,

Each in his own opinion
Exceeding stiff and strong,

Though each was partly in the right,
And all were in the wrong!

Moral:

So oft in theologic wars,
The disputants, I ween,

Rail on in utter ignorance
Of what each other mean,

And prate about an Elephant
Not one of them has seen!

 

[Ringo]

I must be stupid, or just missing something, as you guys so vehemently want this thread closed.
Is this not the topic here?
(AdrianB's OP)

Is there something wrong/racist/denigrating or whatever in his suggestion?
I'm all ears. As I said before, I'm not all that bright at times and I may be missing something, but as I understand it right now, Adrian is trying to resolve a problem and better "the system".

I agree Rocky. As I posted above, this could be a good idea that I as an expat could be shown another point of view and maybe learn from it.

Regards, Ringo

 

[rio2003]

Not quite as clear cut.......

........

Yes, there ARE two Dominican Republics when it comes to foreigners: those who live here and ~have~ to respect and abide by the myriad of unwritten social rules (that any culture has) IF they want to create a "successful life" here. And there are those who do the "seagull tourist" thing: fly in, eat your lunch, crap all over everything, then fly away, not really caring what they did since they are not a "stakeholder" in the country.

Hang on there - can I just challenge this one, please. This is something that has been posted on a number of occasions. It is NOT black and white, one or the other.
Yes there is the former and the latter but there is also a very good middle ground. That of the repeat visitor or returning ex-resident who does know how to abide by the rules, does understand the culture, does know how to behave and also does know what makes things tick.
To be lumped into the latter, purely because they are not a DR resident - is pre-judgmental and ill informed by those doing the labelling.
IMHO

Rio

 

[cobraboy]

Hang on there - can I just challenge this one, please. This is something that has been posted on a number of occasions. It is NOT black and white, one or the other.
Yes there is the former and the latter but there is also a very good middle ground. That of the repeat visitor or returning ex-resident who does know how to abide by the rules, does understand the culture, does know how to behave and also does know what makes things tick.
To be lumped into the latter, purely because they are not a DR resident - is pre-judgmental and ill informed by those doing the labelling.
IMHO

Rio

It is from the perspective of Dominicans. It is not MY idea. It is they who see black and white, not me. They are far more judgemental than the typical PC "we" are.

It's how they see ~us~, not how we see ~ourselves~. THEY see folks trying to be part of THEIR culture (Lambada/BushBaby/Hillbilly/AZB/Rocky, etc.), and folks who are the atypical tourist (the seagull analogy was mine), and this even includes many DomYorks.

 

[rio2003]

It is from the perspective of Dominicans. It is not MY idea. It is they who see black and white, not me. They are far more judgemental than the typical PC "we" are.

It's how they see ~us~, not how we see ~ourselves~. THEY see folks trying to be part of THEIR culture (Lambada/BushBaby/Hillbilly/AZB/Rocky, etc.), and folks who are the atypical tourist (the seagull analogy was mine), and this even includes many DomYorks.

I understand what you are trying to say cb, but with all due respect how do you know that that is the Dominican perspective?
Yes, I know that your group of ex-pats above do mix and integrate more than the vast majority of visitors - but there is even in-fighting amongst yourselves over the actual level of acceptance. You can almost hear the " I am better than you are" being sung!
I could say that I also know a great many Dominicans of professional standing and am sure they don't see me as a tourist, more like a returning friend. But then you see, certain people will argue that - but that is on the North Coast and doesn't count!
I can't win this one - Can I ? :ermm:

Rio

 

[Squat]

So there are the "perfect & respectable" Dominicans wearing long pants and chacabanas, and the "Bad & Ugly" Gringos wearing shorts and flip-flops hangin'out in Sosua's hooker houses...

Of course, the perfects deserves a private forum, as the bad & uglies could contaminate their "respectable" talk with "bad & ugly" ideas...

-How does that sound ?

Ladrones con yeepeta se creen mejor que uno, solamente porque parecen respetable. Lo siento, a mi no me van a enga?ar, ya que hemos visto claramente su agenda...
Mentirosos con traje, fingiendo ser buenos padres de familia mientras visitan casas de cita a las doce...
-?Y que ?
Quedense con su chacabanas...

 

[cobraboy]

I understand what you are trying to say cb, but with all due respect how do you know that that is the Dominican perspective?
Yes, I know that your group of ex-pats above do mix and integrate more than the vast majority of visitors - but there is even in-fighting amongst yourselves over the actual level of acceptance. You can almost hear the " I am better than you are" being sung!
I could say that I also know a great many Dominicans of professional standing and am sure they don't see me as a tourist, more like a returning friend. But then you see, certain people will argue that - but that is on the North Coast and doesn't count!
I can't win this one - Can I ? :ermm:

Rio

90+% of my daily contacts are with Dominicans of all strata.

 

[Mr. Lu]

hey

I must be stupid, or just missing something, as you guys so vehemently want this thread closed.
Is this not the topic here?
(AdrianB's OP)

Is there something wrong/racist/denigrating or whatever in his suggestion?
I'm all ears. As I said before, I'm not all that bright at times and I may be missing something, but as I understand it right now, Adrian is trying to resolve a problem and better "the system".

Whoa, calm down there. Why are you getting all hot and bothered by my comments? You've responded as if this were a personal attack on you, when it was instead a call for all DR1 members to take a step back and reflect on what has been going on on these boards lately. That's all. Is there something wrong with that? The only reason I finally threw my hat into all of this was because my name was mentioned in a previous post, other than that I would have let this silliness continue without a second thought.

But now that I am here, there is something wrong with this thread, as the fact that it exists is tied to an even bigger issue, that in my opinion was irrelevant and burdensome anyways. I was responding to that, not the OP's post. OP had an idea, fine, but the fact that the OP made his suggestion is in reaction to a topic which I thought degrading and unnecessary to begin with. Like I said this has nothing to do with OP, rather that his suggestions have surged from the futility exposed in other threads. That is what I had a problem with.

Finally, as per the "Closed." comment. I could care less if this thread is closed. But there is a reason I put that in my post. This was in reference to an ongoing joke that I have with the moderator AnnaC. This was directed towards her and I thought once she saw that she'd get a kick out of it. You've read into and responded to something that was meant to lighten things up. I have done this in the past, in other posts and never has it been a problem, rather an attempt to be funny.

But as with many things on this board, a small thing has now turned into an unfortunate "bumble."



Mr. Lu

 

[Robert]

This has gone way south, how does that happen on DR1?

We will look at this and I'm sure sometime in the future spin off a "members" only type forum.

By the way, Mr. Lu is a Dominican that lives in Santo Domingo, in case you hadn't guessed. Maybe I'll drag his sorry a$$ up to the north coast one day so he and Rocky can verbally spare face to face. Rocky, he's not very fond of big dogs (Dominican thing), you may just have the edge with your side kick Bruno. hehehe

I might have to copyright the whole "Closed" thingy, just like the "Let's get ready to rumble" dude.

CLOSED!