12/15/2006: "Rosie O'Donnell: barometer for the rest of the country?"

music: George Michael
mood: Disappointed

Rosie O'Donnell "ching chongs" herself into a pickle

This is the first I've heard of this. It should probably be getting more press. Anyway, here's the offending quote...

"You know, you can imagine in China it's like `ching chong, ching chong chong, Danny DeVito, ching chong chong chong, drunk, "The View," ching chong,'"

This bothers me. It bothers me as much as people using the term "oriental" to describe Asians. Yes Rosie, I was in fact teased on the playground by white kids slanting their eyes with their fingers and sing-songing "ching chong!" at me. And I'm only half Korean. The full Asian kids probably got it worse.

That was only about 20 years ago. I wonder how much people have changed. It's absolutely unacceptable to use the "n-word" but it just doesn't seem quite as bad as "g**k," "ch*nk," "sp*c," or even "cracker" for that matter. What goes on in people's heads unspoken? How much is actually spoken these days? I try not to notice.

I actually had to tell a co-worker that "oriental" isn't acceptable anymore. It made me second-guess myself. I'm not second-guessing anymore.