With apologies for the atrocious grammar and other crimes against humanity

Posted byNatalia AntonovaPosted inWork

Here is something that I wrote when I was very, very annoyed.

Oh, and this bit of chin (and other parts)-stroking in regards to “300” was recently published on the newly launched Arab Comment.

19 thoughts on “With apologies for the atrocious grammar and other crimes against humanity”

  1. Good piece, that. The one you wrote when annoyed. X is, of course, right – unlike her holier neighbors.

  2. What is it with you and Arabs? I always see you linking towards either Muslim or Arab sites.

  3. No, she isn’t really right. Of course she shouldn’t be required to give money, but does she have any proof whatsoever that Z broke her car window? Being ‘sure’ really doesn’t mean much.

    She feels threatened. Fair enough. Surely some sort of communal support for Z is in order? Why doesn’t she work on that? Why is her welfare more important than his? This isn’t clear-cut.

    As for ‘feeding addiction’: what a person puts into his/her own body is entirely his/her business.

    Will K making more money than you and giving you some to buy, say, a pretty dress be ‘feeding your addiction’ to nice clothes? What if you called him an asshole if he didn’t? What if you, say, broke a plate in reaction because you were in a particularly bad mood?

    Of course, buying a dress doesn’t do you much harm. But that doesn’t matter: If you accept a person’s right to make decisions regarding his/her own body, how is it any different?

  4. Lovely story! Your style makes me think of Tim Hartford – FT columnist – he is also friends with X, Y, Z…

  5. Sorry Rann, not up for debate. Go fish elsewhere. Oh, and quit being a douchebag while you’re at it.

    Durendal, I’ve got a lot of personal ties to the Arab world.

    Olechko, I’m actually unfamiliar with Tim Hartford. What can I say? I’m an uncultured swine. 😉

  6. Hi,

    Just wanted to drop by to say you have a very nice way of telling & putting things, especially for someone not originating from one of the English countries.

    Kind regards from The Netherlands.

  8. What kind of personal ties ?
    Sorry if i sound rude i’m just curious thats all.
    It would explain a lot about why you are in my favorites list as i’m an anti-Islamist.

  11. Natalia hey c’mon why not share your ties with the Arab world?
    You made me curious because you said you are from the Ukraine thats far away from the Arab world 🙂
    Do you have family that live there?
    You don’t have to say anything of course , but why not share so at least I get the right picture here.

    BTW you are a very talented writer and you are pretty smart 😛 or pretty and smart 🙂

  12. Rann – X’s welfare is not necessarily “more important” than Z’s welfare. I do not think Natalia (or X) implies this. It’s just that no one who has been physically harassed and threatened by someone else is a) obligated to help the person who harassed them (on their own front lawn!) or b) in their right mind if they decide that rather than yelling back at the person to leave, they should try to sit down and reason with that (drunk/high) person instead.

    Also – get serious – liking expensive clothing may be indicative of poor mental health and financial distress, but it is absolutely not comparable to a drug addiction. Pretending that it is is actually quite offensive.

  13. Oh, Maarten, thank you.

    Durendal, I’m assuming that people going to different places and doing different things is probably not that surprising, once you think about it.

  14. I just thought about this some more and realized that I’d be a lot more critical of X’s “harsh” treatment of Z had Z been female instead of male. I might be wondering why X was not more interested in trying to support Z in some more direct fashion. But Z is a male, and that matters. Personally, when a male makes me feel threatened, that’s it – I am not sticking around for it to get any worse, and I’m sure as hell not seeking out his company again to get to the heart of his problem or help him get treatment. Call me a heartless pig, whatever. I’d venture a guess that most women in that situation would do exactly the same thing, nevermind having previously dealt with a drug-addicted family member. It’s about self-preservation, in my opinion.

  15. @Natalia of course not ..do you work for an Arab company or do you go to school there?
    You said it’s personal though..why keep everything so secret? LOL.
    Do you want to move to an Arab country?
    I’ve been to Egypt once and they have some really nice places to go and visit.
    Although the poverty is absolutely horrible over there.
    Your story about the beggers is nothing like what it is in Egypt.
    There they really have little kids starving on the sidewalks.

  16. I’m tempted to say that I would have been less threatened by a female version of Z – but you never know for certain.

    I think the heart of the problem has to do with the fact that Z is a kind of “amusing pet” that X’s neighbours keep around. And they don’t believe X when she says that he threatened her. They think that Z will get help “at his own pace” – but what they’re not seeing is how their behaviour ensures that Z will probably never get help. I’m sure they mean well, though.

  18. Hm. Let’s see. A dude comes here posting under the nickname Durendal, but I’m the one keeping all these “fascinating” secrets. As in, why do you write about the Arab world? Well, why not? Seriously. I suddenly feel like Siena Miller without the posh wardrobe.

    (Oh no! I mentioned the wardrobe! I must be addicted to expensive clothes! And waiting desperately for my boyfriend to feed said addiction, since I’m not at all capable of doing so myself! My, what a brilliant analogy!).

    Pssssssssssh.

  19. LOL do you think i’m a conspiracy? 😛
    You said you had personal ties with the Arab world and thats why you link and write about the Arab world so often.
    So i wondered what that personal tie was.
    But I understand you will keep that a secret huh? 😛
    Now I am starting to think conspiracy , maybe you are a secret agent infiltrating the USA.
    And thats why I had you in my favorites 🙂 you are a spy or something.

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