I am a bigot. I did something I swore I wouldn't do

[mediawatch]

As I have said before my job is going to India. It is not the Indians fault, but our own corporate greed. I raised my children not to hate and that anger only hurts them.

Well, my phone rings and there is an Indian on the other end. He tells me his name is buddy.... and then I went off. I told him his name wasn't f@cken buddy, and I said "First you Indians not only take our jobs, but you are doing a shitty job with them. Now you have taken over the phone lines... and don't' ever call this house again. I then hung up. I feel like a jerk

[Colobo]

1. It happens to everyone at some point in life.

Just recognize you made a mistake and move on.

[Cobalt-60]

54. He's probably heard it before.

Once upon a time I did SBC DSL phone support.
The customers that were transferred to me by (Asian)Indians were usually pretty frustrated.
Often they were chewing the transferring tech's *ss as I spoke to him or her.

[Vincardog]

2. Don't worry. When I get a call from Manuel or Fernando who can not pronounce the letter 'v'

I have been known to waste their time for no profit too.

[Phredicles]

3. No one's at their best all the time.

Katzenkavalier's right. Good luck.

[RB TexLa]

4. I hate to report this but last week I had to call customer service centers one in Tulsa and one in

India.

The one in India did a much better job in every aspect.

[Deja Q]

5. Don't. The dude on the other end isn't going to care; he's got a job.

Yes, it is about corporate greed - if not migrating infrastructure from one country to another; the same way we drink cola from a can then discard it when finished.

If it wasn't for the US helping their country, how would India officially feel about the US? Knowing India and Iran have been close allies for centuries, one think the future is going to be very interesting indeed.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/4263730.stm

:popcorn:

As with everything else going on, it's a wait-and-see approach. But given how the US has helped China for decades and they're threatening sanctions against the US (good grief), one cannot help but to wonder when India starts biting the hand that feeds it too.

http://www.deccanherald.com/Content/May282007/foreign200705284212.asp?section=updatenews

Oh boy.

[Nikia]

10. We don't know how much the Indian guy cares or not

I was brought to tears a few times by customers when I worked as at fast food and as a desk clerk. It did not matter that I was doing what I was supposed to do and wasn't going to get fired. Words still can hurt.

[Deja Q]

13. True, very true.

I know firsthand how bad words can hurt...

That's not why I'm polite to customers and, as a customer, try to retain a cool head when snafus happen.

If globalization wasn't hurting Americans as it has been (hence the term 'offshoring' will never lose its validity), I doubt the OP or anybody else would have gotten angry.

[High Plains]

100. The US has helped China for decades?

[Marrah_G]

6. The wife of a co-worker actually has a job teaching Indians how to speak english without an accent

Apparently there are alot of annoyed people who find it insulting that we are supposed to believe the most common names in India are John and Mary.

Personally I just hang up on them.

[Deja Q]

8. Sick. What the frig happened to honesty?

Like Gore's inability to say if he's going to run or not, it's aggravating to be told something will replace these jobs being offshored, yet more and more people say that now everyone else can do the same.

Everyone talks of globalization, yet nobody is saying that the cost of living AND wages offered should be the same.

The tinfoilhat people could come up with some really crazy-ass stories to fill in the gaps political and corporate leaders aren't telling us.

All we're told is to "get educated" yet looking at EVERY college, they peddle training for jobs and career choices... being offshored. (Medical is going to take off fairly quickly too...)

Nothing adds up; not even the most bizarre of the tinfoilhat theories.

But if there is a plan for America, having the facts laid out would be nice on their part.

[Freddie Stubbs]

57. Gore is being very upfront

He said that he's not running.

[Pastiche423]

70. No, he din't

"I have not closed the door on being a candidate"

Al Gore Tuesday May 22, 2007 Larry King Live

[AngryOldDem]

60. My experience

Few weeks back I had to get a new phone number. I was switched from a "local" customer service rep to another "local" rep who had an accent so thick I could barely make out the numbers. Few days later I called back to confirm what I thought I had heard because I wasn't sure WHAT the hell I had heard.

Such. Utter. Bullshit.

[zanne]

83. The classes aren't working

Has anyone ever tried to get Dell Tech Services? I don't know if it's just me, but I can't understand them. It's really awkward and uncomfortable to have to say "Pardon"? every other sentence. I'm sure they know what they're doing, but I can't understand what they're saying.

[Dorian Gray]

7. You should feel awful.

You were rude. (I was rude to a really bad driver yesterday, though I didn't throw in any ethnic blame into the mix.)

All you can do now is not do it again. But, we should all feel badly for the times we are rude and make other people feel awful.

[BlueJazz]

9. Aw...don't be so hard on yourself. We love .....

...ourselves and our friends in spite of our/their sometimes faults. :)

Nobody's cool ALL the time....

[BlooInBloo]

11. lol! Wrong website, o abominable one.

[TlalocW]

12. I don't feel such rage at them as I do the corporations

But that doesn't mean I don't like to play around with them. When I get a call from someone who sounds like he might be in India but says his name is Bob, I always ask him where he's calling from (always some place in America), and then I start asking him questions like how's the weather there, how did the local sports team do, etc. This normally frustrates him enough that I have plenty of time to look up what the weather is really like where he's supposedly calling from as well as the latest results of the sports team, etc. I've gotten a few who tried to keep up appearances, but every now and then I catch them when he claims he's from New York, and I go on about what a big White Sox fan he must be.

TlalocW

[Deja Q]

15. But you're disproving the myth Americans are stupid. How dare you!

:rofl:

Touche on your M.O., BTW.

[Kingshakabobo]

21. I had a Citibank rep tell me they couldn't disclose location due to "security reasons."

That pissed me off more than anything. Nothing pisses me off more than the fake "security reasons" bullshit - Mayor "for life" Daley did it here in Chicago when he wanted to get rid of Miegs Field airport for "9/11 type security reasons" (the airport he wanted to get rid of PRIOR to 9/11) or when The Cubs put up a tarp to block rooftop viewers from viewing th games "for 9/11 type security reasons"......

anyway, back to Citibank......The only reason I asked the woman's location was because I was annoyed by the static and the 2 second delay in the conversation. Prior to that, I had conversations with Citibank employees who VOLUNTEERED their location to be Dallas when asking me how the weather was in Chicago.

grrrrrr.....

[Bluebear]

14. Well, you *are* a jerk, what else can we help you with? nt

[Deja Q]

16. What line of work are you in?

All things considered, his response was impolite and a knee-jerk one.

But not an unnatural one given the state of things, surely?

[Bluebear]

17. Customer service & to begin with the whole anecdote rings false

Her job is going to India, when out of the clear blue, an "Indian called Buddy" just happens to call her house. What karma! What coincidence!

[LBJDemocrat]

23. Layoffs can take a while

For all you know, she could've gotten the info about the offshoring a few months ago. It's not "clear out of the blue."

[mediawatch]

30. I have known since the first quarter of this year

The tap is coming July 4th thru to November. We will be given 60 days notice

[slowry]

18. Impolite?

That's some racist shit; even the OP says so, lol. Why is everyone defending this fellow :wtf:

[Bluebear]

19. Oh, everyone isn't . . .

but as you can see, some will take any opportunity to be contrary.

[etherealtruth]

28. Of course it is (racist)

I've been angry, stressed and inebriated (think Mel Gibson) ... curse words have flown and I have said some vile things ... however, racist shit did not come flying out of my mouth (nor does it just cross the lips of non-racist people).

The best thing the OP can do is consider why they are having racist thoughts and work to overcome them (and if they can't overcome them ... make sure they NEVER act on them).

[mediawatch]

33. unix administrator

been doing it for 25 years

[northzax]

93. everyone is tolerant

when there is not stress. Personally, I hate the fact that all the coloreds are taking good white people's jobs, and don't get me started on the mexicans. why don't they all get their own jobs and leave us good white people alone? huh?

same difference, right? why just last week I lost out on a job to a black guy, and when I was walking down the street, I saw a black guy, probably the same one, I mean they all look the same, so I cursed him out for taking my job away.

note to the sarcasm impaired: get a life.

[fujiyama]

20. Well sometimes we all say things we probably shouldn't have

and given your frustration and that it was some person on a telephone...And as long as you realize your mistake (and that it's not the Indian's fault for accepting a job taken there)....

I don't think you should think too much of it. Just try to focus your anger more positively. Target it toward the companies you are frustrated with. Oh well I suppose it's better to lash out toward someone on the phone...I would hope that in call centers in India they teach them to have a THICK skin, because there's bound to be anger and frustration when jobs shift to lower cost labor markets.

[Coyote_Bandit]

22. I try

to be civil to the working folks putting in their time doing customer service - regardless of their dialect or citizenship.

Not so with the non profits, solicitors, sales folks and proselytizers for various products, belief systems and services. They are uninvited, intrusive and unwelcome. I take delight in wasting their time and hacking them off. I told the funeral home selling pre-planned funerals that I couldn't imagine anything worse than dying and being buried in (J)Oklahoma. Haven't heard from them since. I told one of the non profits that they should make their funding request to the mega-church down the street. I suggested that another one ask for federal funding. Both were speechless.

As for higher education, it has long been overvalued. It is a tool to reduce the size of the workforce. The schools are little more than businesses operated for profit - but without any tax liability. Most educational institutions could care less about the long term career prospects and employability of their students and alums.

I have no good advice for you. I am a single, forty something, highly educated (ten years of college and three graduate and professional degrees with the most recent conferred in 2001) professional female who was laid off nearly five years ago. Since then I have collected well over a thousand rejection letters. I have determined that there is not a place in the traditional workforce for me. Certainly not a place for me to begin a new career. I am in the process of re-inventing myself. I am learning new skills that will enable me to start my own small little business producing a tangible product line in a niche market. I have identified a target market near my aging parents and plan to relocate after refining and perfecting my skills. My loyalties are to myself and my family.

[mediawatch]

31. I wish you the best

of luck. These are trying times

[Coyote_Bandit]

44. .

Thanks for the good wishes and warm thoughts. I find that it is hard not to be frustrated and angry. So I try to direct my anger and frustration and use it contructively. I'm politically active - and outspoken among my family and friends. I've become very resistant to advertising. I try not to patronize big business in any form. And I have a deep appreciation for those who work and provide tangible services and products. For the most part, I always know what I get from them - unlike my broker, my banker, my CPA, my attorney, and my clergyman. May your dance with the outsourcing demon be kinder and gentler than my own. Good luck with your upcoming job search.

[LeftyFingerPop]

24. You are not a bigot.

You had a rude moment. We all have them. Don't beat yourself up. I very much doubt that you truly hate people from India. The fact that you feel bad tells me that.

[AngryOldDem]

25. No, you aren't. Stop beating yourself up.

They take your job and then they insult your intelligence. Your reaction was perfectly understandable. All of us are being played for fools by outsourcing so the anger IS justified.

Yes, Indians need to provide for themselves and their families just as we do. But, sorry, you do NOT do so at someone else's expense.

[Reterr]

26. "But, sorry, you do NOT do so at someone else's expense"

So let me get this straight-if you lost your job and you were living in a rotten economy, if someone offered you a job that you were taking away from say someone in some European country, you would turn it down on principle right? Even if you were hard-up and really needed the job, you would be thinking of someone in some far off country and not your own needs/family. Yeah right...

I get the anger about out-sourcing. Shit, I am in an industry that is being outsourced heavily, but I cannot be angry at people in some country where I am guessing the economy is even worse than ours. I blame our corporations. I am not going to blame those people for something I would do if the situations were reversed.

I think it is hypocritical to pretend that if the roles were reversed Americans wouldn't be snapping up jobs from other countries that had better economies than ours, if we needed jobs.
My job may be outsourced tomorrow. If that happens, I hope I don't lose my mind along with my job and blame some other poor working slob like myself for taking a job they can get in this dog-eat-dog world. All anger I have will remain focused on our corporate masters.

[AngryOldDem]

58. I stand by what I said

Didn't I say that I realize people have to make a living?

My problem lies with those companies that take jobs away from competent people here and ship them off overseas where they are done (more often than not) incompetently. I have a problem when one nation's economy is built up by tearing down the economy of another's.

I think if you ask anyone who is in a situation where outsourcing is a daily threat, they would probably say the same thing.

I know more people than I can count right now who have been, or will be, victims of outsourcing. Some will probably never find comparable work in their fields again. So excuse me if I do get a little pissed whenever this topic comes up.

[Dorian Gray]

91. I'm NOT a fan of off-shoring jobs

but the person didn't TAKE the OP's job. It was someone who took "A" job. Probably because it was available and offered to him. You can't blame someone for taking a JOB! Blame the company. Call the company that hired the off-shored people and tell them that you will never do business with them anymore. But to curse out the caller? It's totally unwarranted and uncalled for. It was rude, "borderline" racist (and borderline is in quotes because I don't quite know how borderline the activity was), and obnoxious. Even the OP seemed ashamed of his actions, as he should be. How can we make excuses for such rudeness?

[Reterr]

27. "It is not the Indians fault, but our own corporate greed"

No it isn't their fault-it is not the Indians, the Chinese or the Mexicans. You are right-the people to blame are our corporate masters.

[blondeatlast]

29. I'm married to an Indian (now a proud US citizen, registered Democrat) and

friend--I have done the exact same thing.

Mine was "Jennifer" calling from "Minnesota." Where in Minnesota--"Minnesota..."

[mediawatch]

37. you know the funny thing

I have always worked with Indians. I admire their family values, they actually walk the walk. They respect those around them. I would tell them we need more of people like you in this country and if I were to ever marry again I am gonna take me an Indian. They would laugh of course as I say the last part in jest. You are a lucky person to be married to one

[Reterr]

66. What a strange post

Did your spouse like your telling someone from India that all Indians do shitty jobs (am inferring since that is what the OP told someone from India) :shrug:? At least the OP seemed to recognize their bigotry.
Seriously, I hope I am misunderstanding this post, but to me it reads like the only reason your spouse is ok, unlike all the Indians doing shitty jobs is because they are now a "proud US citizen" :shrug:.

It so happens that I am dating a guy who came over here from India for a Masters and is now working for a software firm. He plans to apply for citizenship and will one day be a US citizen, but I cannot imagine him being ok with my being slighting or bigoted towards someone from his country. In fact he is quite fond of the country he grew up in even though he is now here.

[blondeatlast]

85. You are misunderstanding.

I wasn't bigoted or rude, but I did have a bit of fun with "Jennifer." Specifically, I pressed her for information on the weather in Minnesota--for which she was clueless. All my fun consisted of was asking how was the weather in Minnesota--it was January of this year.

It's no excuse, but she caught me (I didn't initiate the call, it came form "Minnesota") and she caught me on a particularly bad day and time, my son was ill and I was trying to call my husband at the time--I would have been snotty to anyone who called at that point even if the caller ID had said Omaha.

I'd like to suggest, with all due respect, you learn to be a bit less sensitive about the issue, otherwise you and your love are not going to have a chance. Trust me, I've been with him for almost 16 years, married for 11. You may very well find grief not just from your own, but from Indians as well. My son will not go into one particular Indian grocery in the area because of what he has overheard from some customers when he's been there with his dad.

My husband is proud of being a US citizen but he's proud of his heritage as well and is teaching our son to appreciate both. We plan to attend his neice's wedding in Bangalore this summer and my son is very excited to meet his cousins.

I hope you find the happiness I have with half the grief I've experienced. I'm happy to say it's been more than worth it.

[Reterr]

107. Thank you & sorry-I misunderstood you

:)
My apologies.

The only thing about the OP that stuck with me was the "Indians doing shitty jobs" part. Yes I know I need to be less sensitive and there are many Indian as well as American bigots to deal with. Its especially hard in my very red neck of the woods, where there are people who hate those browns even more when they "steal theyah white women" :puke:.

Good to hear how well things turned out for you. Coincidentally my SO's family is also from B'lore :).

[rucky]

32. but you're OUR bigot!

:hug:

[mediawatch]

34. lol

[stirlingsliver]

35. Wow.

Wow.

What a horrible thing to have done.

Consider the fact that the person who called you most likely is just trying to make a living, supporting his family.

Wow.

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

36. Well You Should. What You Did Was Disgraceful.

Glad you recognize it was disgraceful, but I still can't soften it up by telling you something like "it's ok, we all slip". Hopefully you'll think hard next time before doing something so prejudiced, hateful and disgusting.

[liberalEd]

38. Your main mistake was answering the phone

That's what answering machines are for.

[mediawatch]

and I had the chance to hang up to

when I answered the phone, it then rang and he came on

[Jed Dilligan]

39. Are you sure the name wasn't

something like Bhadi?

I doubt that you affected him emotionally. You did, however, make America look like a racist country. And I would chalk that up to "honesty in advertising."

I went to a super-hippie-liberal-eco-freako festival with some Indian friends of mine recently, and someone there made racial comments.

What you did was wrong for you, but you gave "Buddy" a realistic idea of what it will be like for him if he "onshores" at any point.

edit: grammar

[alcibiades_mystery]

40. sniff sniff...What's that I smell?

Oh yeah.

BUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUULLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIITTTTTTTTTTTTT

[mediawatch]

42. light a scented candle

it helps with the smell.

[alcibiades_mystery]

56. But it's coming from your bullshit story

Are there scented candles for the internets?

[Sapphocrat]

43. Damn.

I'd hoped you were going to say pepperoni.

[mediawatch]

47. lol

too funny Damn!:silly:

[nam78_two]

41. I am not Indian but I am of Indian origin

and while I can understand your frustration and at least you seem to feel bad about it, I really wonder about the people in this thread who are telling you that there was absolutely nothing wrong with what you did, they have done the same etc.

Its a variation on the Freeper theme about "them Mexicans". I have been to India-it is a developing country. A lot of people there live on the edge. I am not surprised that they would be looking out for themselves rather than for Americans :shrug:. But, you seem to realise that since you say "It is not the Indians fault, but our own corporate greed." But again, I have to wonder about all the other people in this thead who seem so enthusiastically supportive of bigoted statements like "You Indians are doing a shitty job." etc. I think they have more of a problem than you do.

[mediawatch]

45. I lost my cool and they understood

Haven't you ever slipped up and said something you wish you hadn't? I have been under pressure worrying about how to keep my house. I live like most, a pay check away from losing everything and he just called at the wrong time.

[Sapphocrat]

46. What was your point in posting this in the first place?

Absolution?

[mediawatch]

50. my point? hmmm

good question. I guess I was just sharing my thoughts with a group of virtual friends. If I want absolution I will go to confession

[nam78_two]

49. I know

Thats why I was saying that I don't think you have a problem (if you actually felt bad about it that is), but there are some here who do seem to dislike Indians now because of the outsourcing and express it often without expressing any regrets the way you did. I avoid the outsourcing related threads because of that.
You can get away with saying a lot of things about Indians or Asians in general here, which you couldn't get away with for almost any other ethnicity. (0r maybe I am just more sensitive to those.)

[Dorian Gray]

92. I have....

Though I've never made racial generalizations or stereotypical accusations when I've lost my cool.

[lukasahero]

105. "They understood"? I thought you said you hung up on them?

How do you know "they understood"?

(Place me firmly in the bullshit camp.)

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

111. Ding Ding Ding!!!!! I'd Say It's Pretty Much Confirmed Now With That.

Which raises the question of "why make it up to begin with?". I couldn't imaging making up a story in which I was a prejudiced moron but sorry for it, unless I actually was one, was not sorry for it, and just felt like saying something prejudiced publicly while having cover.

[flvegan]

48. Open your mouth, and say ahhhhh...

shit:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=986657&mesg_id=987024

[mediawatch]

51. did that

[flvegan]

52. Maybe *thinking* before speaking/typing might be a grand idea.

Seems you've made two BIG "mistakes" lately.

Just sayin...

[mediawatch]

55. no flies on you Flvegan

I like you. Right to the point

[mediawatch]

53. you remembered I just got it!

pay back is a bitch, nice catch!

[bamacrat]

59. No, probably not the best response but..

It is true that not matter what if you call tech support for anything you get an Indian person.

[malaise]

61. Turn off Lou Dobbs n/t

[noamnety]

62. Wow. I wonder how you treat American employees

who work for foreign owned companies. You treat American employees of Canon or Panasonic like shit for stealing Japanese jobs?

Once your job goes to India, you'll refuse to take a job from a foreign company - because you'd rather you or your own family goes without food than steal a job from some foreigner you never met?

You DO realize, right, that the reason they use Americanized names is because Americans are such racist bigoted assholes that if they use a foreign sounding name people respond like freepers?

I guess the mistake they made isn't what name they chose, it's in falling for the myth that if they could just act white enough, Americans WOULDN'T be racist assholes. Guess you taught them a lesson.

Sorry for the harshness. I get that you recognize you were wrong. I get more pissed off by bigotry than just about anything else. That greed and fear that the middle class falls into is gonna be the end of us - it's what pulls people to the right wing fundies, it's what makes us into war mongers, it's what makes us okay with fucking up the environment in those OTHER countries.

The rich aren't gonna lose their privilege. They won't be seriously hurt in a recession. The middle class sees they ARE on the edge, and they are so desperate to hang onto the little bit of privilege they got, they don't care who they run over in the process sometimes. That's how the right manages to control so much of the country, by playing into that fear.

If they can ship jobs overseas and keep you worried about yours, your resolve to be in a union will fall a bit - unions are nice, but maybe you need to cut corners so they don't ship that job out. If they DO ship it overseas, who do you blame? The Indians - all of them, generically. And BushCo needs that - if you can think of those brown-skinned people over there as "those brown-skinned people" who talk funny and have funny names, you just moved a bit toward internalizing some hatred and xenophobia, and dehumanized them, in your own mind a bit. Next time we wage a war against them, you'll be a little closer to warming up to the idea. That's how it works.

Even in your OP, you say you SHOULD be mad at the corporations. But emotionally, that ain't where you heart is. You can thank the media for that, and folks like Lou Dobbs, who will always blame those foreigners who are trying to feed their families - rather than addressing the system that shoved them into poverty to begin with.

It's hard to take an honest look at colonialism, and come to the conclusion that INDIANS are responsible for screwing up OUR economy.

[nam78_two]

63. kick-beautifully put.nt

[Reterr]

65. Why how old-fashioned of you

Speaking out against bigotry on a progressive board. How 2000 of you :sarcasm:.
Look upthread, enthusiastic endorsement of bigotry is what all the cool kids are doing nowadays.

[Sapphocrat]

68. One thing's clear.

I get more pissed off by bigotry than just about anything else.

Tru dat. You've been a solid, consistent -- and much appreciated -- warrior in all battles against all bigotry. This homo thanks you. :)

As for your entire post: Right on.

[Name removed]

74. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[noamnety]

76. LOL. I am not a "liberal." (or a conservative or libertarian)

"This is OUR place to talk." You mean I need to help create a "safe place" for xenophobic people to talk?

The OP didn't move, as far as I could see, beyond "I shouldn't hate Indians; I should hate corporations for not recognizing that Americans deserve to work more than Indians deserve to work."

If that's the sum total of DU's critical thought process about why the system works the way it does, then we have a bit of a problem.

I would hope that in a contest over who best embraces liberalism, I would lose. Discussions like this one are a part of the reason why. For more on that: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=389&topic_id=962543#963084

and: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=389&topic_id=964977#965072

Liberals tend to want everyone in the world to be treated fairly, but they want the Straight White Anglo-Saxon Male Protestant to be treated a little MORE fairly. Everyone else can have rights, just so long as those rights don't impinge on the rights of the SWAMP. So gays can be married - so long as we can prove it won't hurt the marriages of the SWAMPS. We want Indians to have work, not starve - so long as it doesn't hurt the middle class status of SWAMPS. Blacks and gays and women can serve in the military - once we prove it won't affect the morale of the SWAMPS.

[Name removed]

80. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[entanglement]

79. Excellent post, lwfern

Thank you for being a steadfast voice against bigotry of all kinds :)

[Dorian Gray]

94. Lwfern....

good rant. I think you nailed it, too. :)

[SemiCharmedQuark]

101. Well said.

[foreigncorrespondent]

64. Why post this?

Seriously, why post this? Do you need 15 minutes of bigoted fame or what?

[LBJDemocrat]

71. Leave her alone

The Indians look out for their countrymen.
The Chinese for theirs.

America doesn't look out for its own these days. It looks out for multinational institutions with no loyalties.

That's no excuse for racist remarks.

The point of her posting is for her to share her frustration and to show how economic injustice breeds immorality and cruelty. I think she made the point very well.

[foreigncorrespondent]

78. Exactly my point!

America doesn't look out for its own these days. It looks out for multinational institutions with no loyalties.

That's no excuse for racist remarks.

It is NO excuse for racism, period! The person on the other end of the phone isn't responsible for big corporate greed, so why post your racist tantrum on a board that is meant to be progressive?

I understand very well the frustration many American's have concerning the outsourcing of jobs. It impacted on my personal life in a major way, but direct the anger where it needs to be directed, not at the poor innocent just doing a damn job.

[Canuckistanian]

67. HE didn't "take" your job. It was handed to him by a nice corporation

So now, the nice corporation man has enough money to give twice as much this year to the GOP.

[illinoisprogressive]

69. you were angry. You should hear me. we all say things we regret.

It's like calling your spouse a stupid head or something. Telling them you hate them. and then you feel bad later

[Matsubara]

72. You're not a bigot.

You did unfairly lash out at someone who didn't deserve it, but that doesn't make you a bigot.

I don't think they do a shitty job, considering. They speak pretty good English and do their best with the resources they have, but because of their location and limited knowledge of what's going on over HERE, they oftentimes can't help as well as a US-based customer service rep.

That being said, I am 1000% opposed to all offshoring of US jobs, I think it should have been banned years ago.

These people are much like scabs, only they have been made into scabs through no fault of your own.

If you were there and someone was handing out good money for a fairly cushy job like that, you'd take it too.

The villains are the corporations, their stoockholders, and our government which has reneged on its responsibility to regulate these businesses.

[leftist.]

73. EVERYONE is guilty of that ...

Liberal or conservative, it doesn't matter, everyone is guilty of that. Nothing to be ashamed of. Just keep pushing ahead ...

[gravity]

75. People are people

He is just trying to make the best lives for himself and his family just like yourself so he took the best opportunity to do that working for a telecom company. He probably complains about the Americans who want him to be out of a job too.

Everyone is a little bigoted in some way or another, we are just too afraid to admit it. You at least took this step which is more than most people are willing to do. You can't go back and change what you said, so the best thing to do is to learn from your mistake and grow from it.

[KharmaTrain]

77. Fun With A Online Travel Site

I won't mention the specific one...those who've dealt with the company will know this one. Last year, I had planned a trip online and reservations got all screwed up (typical). I called the online travel company and sure enough ended up with my own "Buddy". Growing up in Chicago...which has a large Hindu/Pak population, I had worked with and known several people from either India or Pakistan. I saw a lot of prejudice against them here...no need to get on the phone and do it there.

After attempting to explain my situation to "Buddy", I knew I was talking to a wall. He couldn't understand my full-raged rant and I couldn't understand him on a crappy phone connection on a cellphone. Then I tried my old trick "can I talk to your supervisor" (the temptation to say "Can I speak to someone who speaks English was tempting, but I thought better). He said he "didn't have a supervisor available"...and that's what set me off. How the hell was he able to work without having someone overseeing what he was doing? He said that he was in Mumbai (Bombay) and had just started working for "this company"...I don't think he was even sure what company he was working for.

Long, long, long story short. I decided to find who the American corporate bosses were and get them on the phone. It took a lot of digging as the corporate company wasn't the same as the online site and any attempt at reaching the company by not just its online name, but several other subsidiaries came up with Indian phone banks. I finally played "investor"...looking to purchase some stock and wanted the latest prospectus...That's the call that got through.

I finally got a person who claimed to be a Vice President on the phone...all ready to peddle me stock, but to his surprise, he got an earful from me. Before launching into my mess, I took a shot...asking why he was hiding...didn't he have the balls to deal with "real people"...not just the ones with money. Of which, I told him how much business I had done with his company and how that was about to come to an end if he didn't get my mess straightened out. Amazingly, within an hour I got free tickets...but that's not what I wanted...I wanted an apology from the company and how poorly they treated their customers.

While I liked the convenience of these online services, the human factor was gone...thus now I attempt to book directly on trips...the only time I'll play with online now is strictly for plane tickets...hotel reservations I now do direct.

Ironically, recently I got an email from the company with the header "We missed you"...their records showed I hadn't purchased from them for over a year. I emailed back and asked if they had hired an Americans lately...I'm still waiting for that reply.

[moondust]

81. It's fraud.

Fraud, 3b: One who assumes a false pose; an impostor.
American Heritage Dictionary

They'll say or do anything for money. Some would say whores and parasites.

[noamnety]

86. offensive on so many levels

They try to act white enough that they don't have to deal with American assholery. Can you blame them?

In that way, they're like gay people trying to pass as straight in high school so they don't get the crap beat out of them. You can call it fraud if you like. Some people would call it survival. If we weren't racist assholes, people could feed their family AND use their real (nonwhite sounding) names.

Black folks sometimes change their names on resumes to sound less ethnic, because the reality is that white folks are less likely to hire someone with an ethnic (nonwhite) sounding name. So Ms. Ethnicname Smith becomes Ms. E. Smith on a resume. People do what they need to when the system's stacked against them. And those with the privilege of NOT having to disguise their identity as part of an oppressed group in order to be treated as an equal need to STFU if they're whining about other people acting as "imposters" in order to get the same privileges you take for granted.

Same with "whores" - which, when used the way you did, as a hate slur, shows a disdain toward women in poverty. I guess you think women sell themselves because they LIKE having to do that to survive? Just like Indian people use American names to hahaha get one over on us? Edit to add this link: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x992000

[northzax]

95. and, let's not forget the dirty little secret

that no telemarketer/customer service person on the phone actually uses their real name. call a call center in Omaha and most are using fake names assigned by the company, it actually is a protection issue, in case they piss someone off enough to employ violence against them.

[noamnety]

103. Good Post

It shows how nobody resents that sort of thing - even though both groups are just trying to survive.

The key difference is that they aren't insulting us by pretending to be "one of us" - they already are our "equals."

People really only get offended if "The Other" has the nerve to try to pass as someone in "our class" of people.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

96. You now why they do it?

Because if racist Americans hear "hello, I'm Balwinder from Bangalore" they're far more likely to hang up.

Parasites? Been reading Mein Kampf recently?

[BoneDaddy]

82. So you are human

I think it is a lesson in reality. So when some man or woman loses their job to someone who is willing to work for less to survive, we can understand their misplaced anger and how that anger was used to keep the black workers and Union members separate. We can understand how the powers that be keep us divided and angry at one another instead of at the power structure.

No worries.

[Marie26]

84. Uh-huh

You felt so bad, you decided to repeat the slur on the Internet!

[Midlodemocrat]

87. Oh, FFS.

Do you feel better now? Are you clean and absolved of your bigotry?

What a crock. :eyes:

[hiaasenrocks]

88. You don't have to talk to the overseas, outsourced workers. When you call a company...

or a company calls you, you can ask to speak to someone in the United States. I know this is true of BellSouth and HP because I have done it. They will transfer you to the United States. The worst that can happen is that you will have to go through a supervisor, but you'll get around them.

[newportdadde]

89. You should outsource your bigotry. Then it goes something like this...

"Hello?"

"This is Bob in support(with accent)."

"I know your not Bob.. can you hold for a second?"

"Why do I need to hold?"

"Well Bob I've outsourced my ass chewings to India, I've found that I can now get my ass chewings done over there for a fraction of the cost of doing my own ass chewings and it frees up more time."

Click..

"Hello?"

"Hi this is Bob(with accent)."

"Hi Bob this is Tom I just want you to know your an asshole(with accent)."

"Wait a minute Tom I'm tring to call..."

"Sorry thats not in the script... now I have to repeat step 1. I want you to know your an asshole."

[Forkboy]

90. Yup...pretty fucking racist.

[Arugula Latte]

97. You SHOULD be ashamed.

I would never say something like that to someone...Thanks for enforcing the stereotype that Americans are racist assholes.

[fhqwhgads]

98. i may regret this post, but...

...i can't get outraged about the whole outsourcing thing. i just can't. my family is from india, though i was born and raised in the u.s. my aunt, a retired english teacher, has done part-time work training indian call-center employees. there are people in my extended family who have call-center jobs. the racist comments i've read on this thread disappoint me, but you learn to live with that sort of thing.

part of me has a problem with outsourcing, but part of me is happy that many people in india are doing better economically because of the influx of new jobs. that country has suffered far worse than this one, and i feel like on some level, it's about time people in the developing world got a piece of the pie. on the other hand, no matter what happens, the corporate greed-o-crats will always always always win, and there is nothing we can do about it.

this is one area of life where i just don't know what to think. ultimately, someone has to get screwed, and it's not going to be the corporations.

and to anyone who blames the guy in hyderabad or chennai or bangalore for taking a call-center job, well, here's a napkin to wipe the drool off your shirt.

[nam78_two]

108. I hear ya-I am in the exact same situation myself.nt

:hi:

[mitchum]

99. You did nothing wrong..."I have hung up on "Scott" more than once

[jeffrey_X]

102. How are the indviduals taking our jobs?

"They" aren't stealing our jobs. Greedy American corporations are moving our jobs overseas. These people who happen to be Indian are not responsible for anything, other trying to better themselves.

[undeterred]

104. I am bigoted against Indians too,

Not American Indians. India Indians. Not in every way. If I had a job, and I had to work with someone from India I would get along with them and be fine.

But I am out of work. And half the people who call me and email me are Indian recruiters who don't write or speak English very well. Half the time they are contacting me about an out of state position or a position I am not even remotely qualified for. So I don't respond to them and I don't call them back. A lot of the time they include the word "urgent" in the subject line which really irritates me.

Recruiting is a business. I want the American companies to stay in business and not lose business to the Indian companies. Its that simple. I want the American companies to hire me instead of the Indian consultants. Its that simple.

In 2001 - 2002 I was out of work for a long time and when I went back to work I sat next to a very nice Indian man who was here on a H1-B Visa who was a C++ Programmer. So apparently they were unable to find a C++ Programmer in Wisconsin and they had to go all the way to India to get one. There were no unemployed C++ Programmers in Wisconsin.

ARE YOU KIDDING ME!!!!!!!!!!!!

He's still here, and his wife has a technical job here now too.

[entanglement]

112. Your bigotry and your sense of entitlement aren't going to make it easier to get a job

n/t

[undeterred]

114. Yeah, the people who can't speak English are really going to help me

especially the ones who repeatedly call me up with job requirements that don't match my skills. I should really spend more time with them.

[Javaman]

106. It ain't the poor schlubs fault in India. He's probably making just

enough to get by and feed or help his family. It's the corporate schmucks that have caused this. Call them and bitch them out.

Or even better, next time you call one of the costumer help lines, let the guy in India know that his corporate overlords could pay him 10 times what he's currently making but choose not to because they live off the sweat and toil of the masses.

Or

Tell him that the person in the states that had his job before him, actually could own his own house and a large piece of land with the money he was paid at his job prior to it being shipped over to India.

There are many ways to stir the pot to screw the corps.

Speaking up for workers rights isn't only for Americans, it's global.

[Madspirit]

109. Shameful and bigoted

Why are you bragging about it here?
Lee

[treestar]

110. Who knows but that you hadn't been stealing "his" job before?

Why do Americans have a problem with the following reality: you are competiting for jobs with everyone in the world! You are NOT extra entitled for being born within certain borders. How else can this be done? If others are willing to do the same job for less, on what ground do you stamp your foot and demand that you be paid more for the same work for no reason but being born on certain parts of earth?

If you'd just been OK with the H-1bs; but no, you weren't, so you got rid of them and of the entire factory too.

If you could just bear a few brown people over here, you could have the economy expanding here, instead of in India.

The Indians are going to defeat us economically, before we know it we'll be migrating there. I only hope they are as snooty about their immigration laws as we are of ours.

We're going to choke on that sense of entitlement. And it will be totally deserved.

[cgrindley]

113. Globalization is the real culprit

globalization is evil. of course it is too late to stop it. it won.