Dating Advice: To avoid racists, look for Star Trek fans.

[IdaBriggs]

Last edited Thu Jun 27, 2013, 02:38 PM - Edit history (1)

Or fans of any other genre that embraces a multi-species approach to intelligence. Black, yellow, red, green, blue, white - pointed ears versus round ones -- once you understand that Horta are intelligent (silicon based life form that looks scary), Klingons, Vulcans, Orians, and a host of other "aliens" just make human beings look -- well, HUMAN.

This message brought to you by a Geek Woman who likes to play matchmaker.

P.S. Also, pay attention to how someone treats wait staff: my mother always told me "that is how they will be treating YOU in six months" and I have found her words on this topic to be True with a Capital T.

[mainer]

1. Agree totally. Also about how people treat wait staff.

Never marry a man who's cheap when he tips. Never.

[IdaBriggs]

6. Good point - if he is a cheap tipper, either

a) he can't afford to do better, or b) he doesn't care about other people.



I suppose there is also c) he got really bad service, and is being petty about it, but again - that tells you a lot, doesn't it?

[AndyA]

2. I agree with your mother--she's a smart woman!

I've always watched to see how people treat wait staff, store clerks, flight attendants, and others in similar fields. Really, it takes less effort to be pleasant and courteous than it does to be a jerk. With so many jerks around these days, I'll bet you make their day better by being nice.

[IdaBriggs]

7. No one "makes" you be nice to people you will probably never see again.

I think your true character probably shows through A LOT in those cases, and that is how you will be treated in private.

My mom is wise.

[AndyA]

3. Just remembered something

A friend used to introduce herself and me after the wait person introduced themselves. She'd say, "How are you, Mary? I'm Ronda and this is Andy and we're happy to be your customers." They always laughed, and we always received EXCELLENT service. We were also remembered when we'd go back.

Once, we arrived during a very busy period and the hostess asked the wait person if she could take another table, as she'd just seated a few other tables within minutes of each other. The girl remembered us, and said, "Of course, they're my favorite customers!"

[IdaBriggs]

9. I love this story!

I might be following in her footsteps a little more frequently!

[longship]

4. Unless you are Klingon or Romulan or Borg.

Unlikely to get a date then. But if you are Borg, you basically can get any date you want.

[IdaBriggs]

5. I know lots of people who want to date Klingons, Romulans and even Borgs.

Last edited Fri Jun 28, 2013, 11:58 AM - Edit history (1)

Especially Seven of Nine. I even know people who can speak Klingon, which is just like saying "I know people who can speak Elvish."



ON EDIT: For the record, yes, I know people who can speak Elvish, as well as some who can recite the "one ring" mantra in its original tongue. (Five points of coolness automatically awareded to the first one who replies with it IN ENGLISH.)

[redgreenandblue]

8. !

[DonRedwood]

10. K & R My favorite game as a kid was playing Star Trek

I liked to be Spock a lot. For a while I was a killer robot. But I settled into being Dr. McCoy and found that was really my niche... I was quite good with my tri-corder (my mom's groovy 1970s lady schick electric leg shaver).

[KittyWampus]

22. whatever you do, don't be one of the extras who end up in the landing party...

you know they're only there for one episode.

[Sissyk]

36. Or never made it to the planet because

they were vaporized in the transporter. 10 seconds of a career. lol!

[SummerSnow]

37. Landing party...

Capt Kirk...Spock...Chekov...Williamson



Williamson gets vaporized.lol

[Sissyk]

39. Every.time!

lol!

Original Series was always my favorite. Occasionally, I get out the VHS tapes I recorded, plop them in the VHS player we still have (we never get rid of nothing, lol) and watch a few episodes. I have all the movies, also.

Ahhh, my 600th post about Star Trek. Couldn't be better. lol!

[exboyfil]

46. My biggest irritation

with the original Star Trek on Netflix is the updated special effects. You are fortunate to have access to the originals.

[Sissyk]

47. I haven't watched them on Netflix but

doesn't sound like I would enjoy it just for the reason you state.

Leave my TOS alone! lol.

Unfortunately, VHS doesn't last forever.

[IdaBriggs]

50. Wearing a red shirt (unless you were Scotty) in the Original Series

was a near automatic death sentence!

[hollysmom]

53. I thought it was the guy in the red shirt

they didn't always belong to a landing party, but when they wore a red shirt and beamed - Oh MY

[Matariki]

11. Your mom's advice is good.

So true.

[stevenleser]

25. Being nasty to wait staff is a non-starter/deal-breaker

I've been on a few 1st dates with women who were nasty to wait staff and in that moment I decided there would be no date #2.

[IdaBriggs]

51. Smart man!

Seriously, why would someone supposedly trying to make a good first impression behave in a fashion that could be described as "nasty" -- ? It shows a complete lack of awareness of basic social decency, and (in my opinion) reveals bad character. Who wants to spend a lifetime being embarrassed by someone else's bad behavior?

Dump 'em quickly! Date a nice geek girl; enjoy fascinating discussions about everything in the Universe (literally), and if you are lucky, play out a few fantasies about (fill in the blank about your favorite character).

Hmm. Giving myself some ideas here -- lol!

[Tree-Hugger]

12. My friend

My friend is a huge Star Trek fan. She is also extremely Conservative, drinks the Tea, and is a fundamentalist Christian. It honestly just floors me - I wonder if she ever learns tolerance from the show she watches.

Then again, her favorite is Voyager and she has never even seen The Next Generation, which gives me more reason to question her judgment.

[IdaBriggs]

14. Wow - that stuns me.

How can a person miss the entire point of the franchise - "infinite diversity in infinite combinations" - with a big heaping of "different isn't BAD?"

Shaking my head....

[Tree-Hugger]

20. It completely boggles my mind nt

[JHB]

38. Possibly some variant of "Kirk is a badass and always gets the babe" syndrome...

...which I've encountered a few times in varying degrees, one of which was explicit enough to provide the quote. That guy was "not into politics" but when he voiced an opinion on something it tended to be of the lazy "sounds good to me" libertarian sort.

The others were from random chatting at Trekkie-friendly events, too brief to get any sense of political views.

[Tree-Hugger]

48. Ah yes, I have encountered that.

It later progresses into, "I watch because I like Troi's boobies" disease.

I was happy to learn that one of my favorite actors from the franchise is apparently a raging liberal.

[The Wielding Truth]

55. Even the Ferengi appreciated things others enjoyed.

[pink-o]

13. Also add: the way they treat your friends.

Many years ago, I was having breakfast with my best friend and her then-boyfriend. I made some off-handed remark and before I could swallow another bite of the omelet, he was ripping me 5 new ones! I remember being too astonished to even react...and to make a long story short, I told her the guy had serious anger management issues.

She didn't listen to me: but most young women NEVER heed their friends' warnings about bad boyfriends. Well, she married the jerk, and it wasn't long before he turned that same irrational anger on her. They are long divorced now, and I never said I told you so.

But I'm telling YOU, folks! Love is only blind for so long, beware the angy man or entitled diva woman!

[IdaBriggs]

17. People rarely change until the way they are doesn't work for them anymore.

If you meet someone who behaves like an asshole regularly, RUN!!!

At least you tried to warn her.

[Whisp]

15. very good advice! k&R

[arely staircase]

16. how about avoiding nerds?

just kidding

[lumberjack_jeff]

18. What would Kahless do? n/t

[FrodosPet]

19. What about "Whovians"?

I suppose we can wait to date. We have PLENTY of time.

It's all about the triumph of intellect and romance over brute force and cynicism.

[IdaBriggs]

23. Plenty of time -- ROFL!

That was funny!

Whovians qualify under the "Or fans of any other genre that embraces a multi-species approach to intelligence." comment.

Whovians are generally well mannered and intelligent - I support people who date Whovians.

Although I am in a bit of a tizzy about this unknown doctor, and wish the current one would stick around longer....

[kentauros]

28. Matt Smith is great!

The last few Doctors have been great, but I really took a liking to Smith. He came across as a little goofier, flustered, and yet so very clever, too. The writing has been great so far, and yes, I would like to see him stick around

Right now, I'm anxiously awaiting my 20th anniversary book on Babylon 5

[FrodosPet]

29. For sure I like Matt Smith

He is one of my 3 favorite Doctors, along with Tom Baker and David Tennant.

[IdaBriggs]

31. Tom Baker was my "first" so he will *always* be special to me.

I have enjoyed all of the new doctors - each brings something special to the role and expands it a bit.

But I don't like changing doctors (she wails)....

[dionysus]

57. This summer i dropped 50 bucks on the official BBC Tom Baker scarf.

the sucker is 12 feet long.. almost makes me long for next winter.

[FrodosPet]

58. Does it at least come with a bag of Jelly Babies?

Add a wide brimmed hat and frock coat, and you are on it!

[dionysus]

59. sadly no, but i'd like to get the hat and coat somewhere....

[Pelican]

32. The wife never got over David Tennant getting swapped out...

... so we will see what the new guy is up to.

[A Little Weird]

21. I think that's true generally

But I've known some racist Star Trek fans. It always baffled me.

Usually though, I find that guys who are a bit on the nerdy side are the most interesting. And Trek fans are usually quite fair minded and forward thinking.

[IdaBriggs]

24. Sadly, the biggest wars will erupt over "which version?"

TOS, NG, DS9, Voyager, or Enterprise?

My love is a DS9 fan, but his true love is Star Wars. I love him anyway.

[LeftinOH]

26. Remember this Star Trek episode (TOS) about racism?:

The planet where the "half-blacks" and "half-whites" were at war with each other-

"Let That Be Your Last Battlefield", 1969.

[IdaBriggs]

34. It introduced me to the stupidity of racism when I was a child.

"Left side" versus "right side" -

I ended up looking up the script for those powerful words/reminder of great performance.

http://www.chakoteya.net/StarTrek/70.htm

BELE: It is obvious to the most simpleminded that Lokai is of an inferior breed.

SPOCK: The obvious visual evidence, Commissioner, is that he is of the same breed as yourself.

BELE: Are you blind, Commander Spock? Well, look at me. Look at me!

KIRK: You're black on one side and white on the other.

BELE: I am black on the right side.

KIRK: I fail to see the significant difference.

BELE: Lokai is white on the right side. All of his people are white on the right side.

I loved the "huh?" looks from Kirk and Spock. Great show!

[napkinz]

41. that was one of their BEST episodes

Brilliant how it shined a light on our own racism -- and ignorance -- in this day and age.

[kentauros]

27. I remember having to work with a particularly racist piper at one job.

And mentioning one day how I would be watching something on Babylon 5 that night. His comment was something on the order of "I don't like all that science fiction crap." My comment shut him up, though he fumed the rest of the day:

"Yes, it does take a modicum of intelligence to appreciate such shows."

And yes, he was also a cheapskate when it came to eating out. He'd only do so if someone else was paying, even though he made more money than I did! I suspect he would be the type to not only not leave a tip, but badger the waitperson to "get a real job!"

Thanks for the thread!

[eShirl]

30. I would have thought so, but I do know of one exception.

Couldn't freaking believe what I heard coming out of this person's mouth, when they were back in this area for a visit after moving down south years ago. They had better not hold their breath waiting for me to accept their Facebook friend request. Makes me angry/nauseous thinking about it.

[IdaBriggs]

52. So sorry! Some people just relate more than we want to the villains!

[Major Hogwash]

33. William Shatner and Nichelle Nichols shared 1 of the first inter-racial kisses on tv.

Considered to be one of the first times on tv that a white man kissed a Black woman.
On the episode "Plato's Stepchildren".
Televised on November 22, 1968.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plato's_Stepchildren

I have always liked William Shatner.
He had some great lines in Star Trek.

[IdaBriggs]

35. Amazing how much social influence this series has had.

Nichelle Nichols has shared extensively about how many people came up and told her that seeing someone like themselves being treated as an equal professional on the bridge of a starship gave them hope and strength for the choices they had to make in their own lives.

Throwing a Russian on the bridge in the middle of the cold war gave others hope that we could move past the nonsense and might not annihilate our planet.

George Takei - well, what words can describe the man? Locked in an internment camp by his own country as a child, he is the Gay Asian Man who owns the internet. He is funny, and brave, and amazing.

William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy made exploration and science fascinating, while DeForrest Kelley's "old country doctor" made using technical devices (and inventing them!) normal - and James Duhan as "Scotty" has inspired more engineers than I can remember.

There are others who will always deserve a mention - Gene Roddenberry and the writers (Coon!), and Majel Barrett will always be the voice of a computer in my head for me, and deserve my thanks for keeping the legacy alive....

Love the show. Love the people who brought it to life for all of us.

[napkinz]

43. it's amazing how during the time of "Mad Men" (the 1960s) ...

... Star Trek had female and African-American characters who were political leaders, lawyers, doctors, physicists, computer scientists, etc. And an INTEGRATED crew.

Gene Roddenberry was a visionary.

The only real fault I can find with Star Trek ... those damn sets were so cheap. If only he had a "Star Wars" budget to work with. The network really didn't back him on the show.

[Major Hogwash]

44. Yup, probably more than people ever thought it did before.

When it first ran, it didn't seem all that great of a show to me.
But, it was fascinating stuff for my older brother and his friends, so I hung around them and so I also wound up watching the program.
He had to explain to me how a lot of the plots of the episodes in the series paralleled what was going on in real life.

When it came back a few years later in reruns, my friend and I watched it every day after school.
And we talked to our little brothers and explained some of what the show was really about.

All of the characters were fairly well-developed in that tv series.
I think that particular tv program did have quite an impact on our society, which is why it led to so many movies, and newer tv programs that were created on the original series after it was taken off of the air.
Plus, we wouldn't still be talking about it today if it weren't so powerful of a program.

[IdaBriggs]

45. It is also about a dream of how we want to view ourselves and society.

Explorers instead of conquerors; diplomats instead of enslavers; people who embrace science, and the diversity of views of the universe...in the world of Star Trek, people are still people, but food isn't a fight on our planet, and "skin color" or "sexual orientation" aren't how people are judged, and education is available for everyone. Life isn't a paradise, but the words of the opening, updated appropriately,

"Space: the final frontier. These are the voyages of the starship Enterprise. Its five-year mission: to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where no one has gone before."

My take on why this series still lives?

"Space: the final frontier. These are the stories of humanity, its never ending mission: to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where no one has gone before."

First we dream it, then we do it....

[pink-o]

56. Don't forget Dorothy "D.C. Fontana

She of the "initials" because people were more receptive to her scripts if they assumed she was a man. And she wrote some of the best episodes of TOS! So it was groundbreaking for every non-white, non-male, non-Christian (Shatner and Nimoy are both Jews, and Nimoy plays Spock like the man from the Shtetl who's been thrust into a gentile community.)

I'm old enough to have watched TOS when it was first broadcast--and even though we can tout the progressive mindset, there were some cringe-worthy, tone-deaf eps for sure! Mudd's Women almost negated any attempt to get past sexism. The other with the "Yangs" and the "Combs" is enough to make you puke as well. My sis and I hated those eps when we first saw them, so I'm not looking back with 21st century sensibilities.

But for the most part, we loved the show and certainly technology today owes 90% of its innovations to it!! My IPad is a tricorder, and the old flip-phone a communicator. So thanks, Nerds! You turned Sci Fi into Sci Fact.

[exboyfil]

49. Yes but since it was given under duress

It would have had even more impact if it had been done in an affectionate relationship between them.

Still had an impact.

Star Trek does practice a form of speciesism towards sentient bipedal human looking mammal like species. A next generation episode addresses why this is so.

[lapislzi]

40. Wish I could rec this x 1,000

You are brilliant, IdaBriggs!

[IdaBriggs]

42. (blush) Thank you!

You don't know how much I needed someone to say that to me today - I am working on the analysis of our project, and every now and then, I just feel TOTALLY STUPID trying to figure out the patterns of improvement, and more importantly, why some DON'T IMPROVE --ARGH!!! Sigh.

Thank you!

[Zorra]

54. My gf and I love Star Trek.

[markiv]

60. but it puts you at risk for dorkazoids nt