Safety of members is the duty of any forum

[Ozzy Pete]

Yesterday I commented on the harrowing experience my wife and I went through
when we crossed on Brittany ferries from Portsmouth to Caen on the 2.45 sailing
and 9.30 docking.
My story was deleted completely when comments by others could have been edited.
Telling the whole sordid story I was called a racist because I mentioned the skin colour
of the scumbags that tried to Rob us.
The purpose of my tale was to warn fellow travellers that it’s not all as rosy as we would
like it to be in a perfect world.
The only safe place to stay is a proper recognised camp site.. Full stop.

 

[Polomint]

I for one am greatful for your telling of your horrid experience on the aire outside of the ferry port.
If everyone kept quiet about the bad things that can happen in Life, it would make travelling and enjoying our Californias very difficult.
BTW, I did not think you were being racist, only factual.

 

[Neuromancer11]

I didn’t see the thread, which is a shame as I plan to take my young family to France next year and use some aires myself…

 

[Meoncoast]

I saw your post although not any later comments. I found it helpful. I saw it as factual - so as I did not read it as being racist perhaps I am a racist.

 

[chockswahay]

I saw your post as informative (if a little blunt perhaps) but otherwise you said it as it was. The only issue I would take with you is that life involves risk, and a life lived in fear is a life half lived (imho). Safety is never guaranteed anywhere. The French Aire system works very well and we will certainly use Aires when ever we can…… they are perfect for touring without all the faff and expense of booking campsites.

 

[flying banana]

It's a constant battle these days I'm afraid. Should have seen the grief I got once for calling a woman a bird (common language in yorkshire heard every day). Another deleted thread. You were only quoting facts before some left wing nut job started it all.we now live in a world where the NHS asks biological men if they are pregnant. Go figure.The description was accurate and necessary to inform others. Couldn't it just be moved to the 3 cocks?

 

[sidepod]

I refuse to stay/stop/fuel-up anywhere within 100km of a channel port.

 

[calikev]

It's a constant battle these days I'm afraid. Should have seen the grief I got once for calling a woman a bird (common language in yorkshire heard every day). Another deleted thread. You were only quoting facts before some left wing nut job started it all.we now live in a world where the NHS asks biological men if they are pregnant. Go figure.The description was accurate and necessary to inform others. Couldn't it just be moved to the 3 cocks?

It got deleted not moved because it contained personal insults to fellow members and was way off topic I am on holiday and do not have time to edit all the insults and personal attacks

 

[sidepod]

Finding/looking for trouble where there is non is equally offensive/unacceptable. I don’t need anyone to crusade or be offended on my behalf.

 

[Ozzy Pete]

I saw your post as informative (if a little blunt perhaps) but otherwise you said it as it was. The only issue I would take with you is that life involves risk, and a life lived in fear is a life half lived (imho). Safety is never guaranteed anywhere. The French Aire system works very well and we will certainly use Aires when ever we can…… they are perfect for touring without all the faff and expense of booking campsites.

Yes of coarse life involves risk. If it was just me then I have been in this sort of situation and far far worse many times in my life. But not where my wife is involved. She was absolutely petrified and it took me a while to calm her down.

 

[GrumpyGranddad]

Yes of coarse life involves risk. If it was just me then I have been in this sort of situation and far far worse many times in my life. But not where my wife is involved. She was absolutely petrified and it took me a while to calm her down.

I saw your post yesterday as informative @Ozzy Pete , not racist.
Unfortunately one club member saw it as racist and effectively accused you of being such. It then escalated. Some people in this PC world see racism where there is none.

My post was an attempt to inject a bit of humour** and defuse the situation but obviously it failed miserably, since the same member then reported me. Others were then vocal in condemning him/her for doing that, resulting in the entire thread being binned.
Anyway, apologies for my part in the thread and I hope it didn’t spoil your evening.

** BTW I loved your reply

There was an interesting feature in the news recently on the subject of accusations. It was along the lines that if you are accused of I.e. theft or murder, you can normally quite easily defend yourself and prove your innocence. However, if somebody accuses you of I.e. racism or homophobia it is really difficult if not impossible to defend yourself.

 

[flying banana]

I saw your post yesterday as informative @Ozzy Pete , not racist.
Unfortunately one club member saw it as racist and effectively accused you of being such. It then escalated. Some people in this PC world see racism where there is none.

My post was an attempt to inject a bit of humour** and defuse the situation but obviously it failed miserably, since the same member then reported me. Others were then vocal in condemning him/her for doing that, resulting in the entire thread being binned.
Anyway, apologies for my part in the thread and I hope it didn’t spoil your evening.

** BTW I loved your reply

There was an interesting feature in the news recently on the subject of accusations. It was along the lines that if you are accused of I.e. theft or murder, you can normally quite easily defend yourself and prove your innocence. However, if somebody accuses you of I.e. racism or homophobia it is really difficult if not impossible to defend yourself.

I thought that post was hilarious.we still have humour in the North although Roy brown keeps getting binned by left wing councils.

 

[Ozzy Pete]

Oh and by the way my brother had a chuckle when I was mistaken for him.
He soon got over it.

 

[flying banana]

The post was not racist.

It was a horrifying account of being confronted by some violent thugs.

I did want to ask if had "Ozzy wotsit" described them as white, bearded or tattooed it would have drawn the same "racist" slur as was implied. I was too late.

My Mother repeatedly suffered from racist slurs, I myself am often abused for being a minority, my Grandfather was an Irish traveller ("Pikey" as is now the supposed racist slur) and quite frankly we minorities and virtue-signalling defenders of minorities need to get over ourselves.

Grow up the bloody lot of you and let's get on with camping and enjoying our beautiful world.

@calikev enjoy your holiday. Thank you for this forum.



Jen

That comment is aimed at the guy who started it I hope

 

[edocali]

Yesterday I commented on the harrowing experience my wife and I went through
when we crossed on Brittany ferries from Portsmouth to Caen on the 2.45 sailing
and 9.30 docking.
My story was deleted completely when comments by others could have been edited.
Telling the whole sordid story I was called a racist because I mentioned the skin colour
of the scumbags that tried to Rob us.
The purpose of my tale was to warn fellow travellers that it’s not all as rosy as we would
like it to be in a perfect world.
The only safe place to stay is a proper recognised camp site.. Full stop.

I read your post and found it very informative, as others have said I did not find it racist at all. I even replied with my experience of motorway aires - fine so far but on paid motorways where barriers may deter scumbags ?

 

[The Tall Luthier]

Having not read your post I have no view specifically but I would suggest you take heart of Calikevs post that the thread was deleted because of conflict, not racism.

The written word is a bit of a minefield isn’t it. I find that one of the biggest problems is that over time language changes …… a lot.

Words that we used in the 70s and 80s to describe race, ethnicity, gender, physical conditions, sexuality are now inappropriate. They cause difficulties for younger generations who have developed more inclusive language.

The question becomes, how do we keep up with changes in language socially? Now that my kids have left home the only people I have to check my language are my peers, we use the same words, so that’s no good. Eventually our language gets stuck in an era and to younger others we can appear to be what we are not.

A minefield I think waiting for us all as we get older.

 

[sidepod]

Having not read your post I have no view specifically but I would suggest you take heart of Calikevs post that the thread was deleted because of conflict, not racism.

The written word is a bit of a minefield isn’t it. I find that one of the biggest problems is that over time language changes …… a lot.

Words that we used in the 70s and 80s to describe race, ethnicity, gender, physical conditions, sexuality are now inappropriate. They cause difficulties for younger generations who have developed more inclusive language.

The question becomes, how do we keep up with changes in language socially? Now that my kids have left home the only people I have to check my language are my peers, we use the same words, so that’s no good. Eventually our language gets stuck in an era and to younger others we can appear to be what we are not.

A minefield I think waiting for us all as we get older.

Works both ways.

 

[sidepod]

It’s not really a case of language. People can’t be allowed to assume/accuse other of racism/bigotry simply because they don’t share the same opinion.

 

[sidepod]

The original post contained no venom/racism or bigotry simply an adjective to accurately describe a group of people. FACT.
If idiots wish to deliberately and needlessly take things completely out of context and extrapolate that into a problem then that’s a mental issue they have.

 

[calibusje]

@Ozzy Pete
I am not going to comment at all on alleged racism in your deleted post (and did not do so at the time itself). In any case, I didn't take offense to what you wrote; for me it was about the sleeping place and what you experienced and I have therefore written a long response with, among other things, a lot of explanation about Camping CAR Park. English is not my native language and it took me a long time to write my post. Too bad the moderator deleted the entire thread under the guise of personal insults. There is still a post on this forum where I was personally insulted; not removed, but only closed for further responses. For me, your thread could safely remain so that anyone interested could read the information about Camping CAR Park and other useful info contributed by other members. Well, it is what it is.
Happy travels to you all.

 

[Viktorgeorge]

I am not going to comment at all on alleged racism in your deleted post (and did not do so at the time itself). In any case, I didn't take offense to what you wrote; for me it was about the sleeping place and what you experienced and I have therefore written a long response with, among other things, a lot of explanation about Camping CAR Park. English is not my native language and it took me a long time to write my post. Too bad the moderator deleted the entire thread under the guise of personal insults. There is still a post on this forum where I was personally insulted; not removed, but only closed for further responses. For me, your thread could safely remain so that anyone interested could read the information about Camping CAR Park. Well, it is what it is.

Your Camping Car post was much appreciated and useful and it is a pity the string was deleted which was I agree too bad.

 

[sidepod]

I am not going to comment at all on alleged racism in your deleted post (and did not do so at the time itself). In any case, I didn't take offense to what you wrote; for me it was about the sleeping place and what you experienced and I have therefore written a long response with, among other things, a lot of explanation about Camping CAR Park. English is not my native language and it took me a long time to write my post. Too bad the moderator deleted the entire thread under the guise of personal insults. There is still a post on this forum where I was personally insulted; not removed, but only closed for further responses. For me, your thread could safely remain so that anyone interested could read the information about Camping CAR Park. Well, it is what it is.

Not my post, Ozzy Pete.

It’s simply about free speech. If we’re all terrified of opening our mouths in fear of someone changing context to suit their agenda, then we may as well just all stay at home and stop communicating!!

 

[The Tall Luthier]

Not my post, Ozzy Pete.

It’s simply about free speech. If we’re all terrified of opening our mouths in fear of someone changing context to suit their agenda, then we may as well just all stay at home and stop communicating!!

Are we terrified?

I, like most of my friends, have never been scared of expressing my emotions or opinions. I can chat loudly in mixed company and not cause offence to any in the room.

I can even drop in the odd anachronism like fB’s ‘Bird’, wait for a kick in the shin, and do well as people know I have no hate or fear in me.

Are we really terrified?

 

[Boomer]

I rarely get involved in these types of discussions as it's largely pointless; we each have our views and I doubt any exchange on the internet will change these. But I thought I'd go against my own rules here and chip in!

I thought Tall Luther's point before was interesting. Language does change and evolve over time. We'll have our views on whether it changes for the better, but usually language changes to make others, who may have felt excluded and marginalised in the past, feel more included in conversations and with society. Sometimes this goes too far one way, but (large generalisation coming up based on not fact or evidence) society probably gets it right most of the time.

Which leads us to the use of colour (and gender etc) in descriptors. The issue here is that groups of people have been (and continue to be) disadvantaged in society and can feel legitimate hurt and upset at the use of such descriptors. Personally, I think it's right to highlight this hurt and explain why it is so. This allows us all to reconsider our language. They way I talk now is very different to to way I talked in the 70s and 80s, and this is largely down to me becoming more aware of the upset terms and phrases can cause, even to one person. It can be a difficult process to go through and you do consciously have to think before you speak, but is that such a bad thing to be more aware?

Therefore, we can all have our views and opinions on whether a phrase or descriptor should or should not be used. We can all have our view on whether people take too much offence or not. But - final thought - even if one person does take offence, then personally I think it's for us to sit back and reconsider the use of certain words and descriptors and the impact they can have.

This is not a comment on the original post. I didn't see it. It's a general comment on the evolution of language (and society) over the years.

 

[calibusje]

I saw your post yesterday as informative @Ozzy Pete , not racist.
Unfortunately one club member saw it as racist and effectively accused you of being such. It then escalated. Some people in this PC world see racism where there is none.

My post was an attempt to inject a bit of humour** and defuse the situation but obviously it failed miserably, since the same member then reported me. Others were then vocal in condemning him/her for doing that, resulting in the entire thread being binned.
Anyway, apologies for my part in the thread and I hope it didn’t spoil your evening.

** BTW I loved your reply

There was an interesting feature in the news recently on the subject of accusations. It was along the lines that if you are accused of I.e. theft or murder, you can normally quite easily defend yourself and prove your innocence. However, if somebody accuses you of I.e. racism or homophobia it is really difficult if not impossible to defend yourself.

Although I rarely see your posts as humorous , your photo from yesterday genuinely brought a smile to my face and -for me- that alone justified it.
Everyone his opinion about racism but I do agree with what you saw in the news recently.