You Gotta Admire British Wit

The British military writes EPRs as officer fitness reports. The form used for Royal Navy and Marines fitness reports is the S206. The following are actual excerpts taken from people's 206s:

- His men would follow him anywhere, but only out of curiousity.
- I would not breed from this officer.
- This officer is really not so much of a has-been, but more of a definitely won't be.
- When she opens her mouth, it seems that this is only to change whichever foot was previously there.
- He has carried out each and every one of his duties to his entire satisfaction.
- He would be out of his depth in a car park puddle.
- Technically sound, but socially impossible.
- This officer reminds me very much of a gyroscope - always spinning around at a frantic pace, but not really going anywhere.
- This young lady has delusions of adequancy.
- When he joined my ship, this officer was something of a granny; since then he has aged considerably.
- This medical officer has used my ship to carry his genitals from port to port, and my officers to carry him from bar to bar.
- Since my last report he has reached rock bottom, and has started to dig.
- She sets low personal standards and then consistently fails to achieve them.
- He has the wisdom of youth, and the energy of old age.
- This officer should go very far - and the sooner he starts, the better.
- In my opinion, this pilot should not be authorised to fly below 250 feet.
- This man is depriving a village somewhere of an idiot.
- The only ship I would recommend this man for is citizenship.
- Works well when under constant supervision and cornered like a rat.

Discriminate against Discriminants

If you've read my other blog (see entry here), you'll know I experienced racial discrimination first hand during my time in Reykjavik, Iceland. In a gist, a teenaged boy used a laser pointer to shine into my peripheral vision. The boy knew that pointing directly into the eye is a no-no, but he also knew the peripheral vision would irritate. The boy could have pointed at the others at the shop (all locals), but he picked the only asian there.

What happens when you experience discrimination first-hand? For me, the instinctive reaction was to pummel the guy into pulp. If people are ignorant enough to discriminate by skin colour, they deserve to be taught to lose such ignorance. And pain is a very good teacher. At least, in my mind, it will make me feel better taking my anger and irritation back to the source.

However, the first thing that popped up in my mind stopping me from doing so was the fact that I was in a foreign land. If I pummeled the guy and got into trouble with the police, I wouldn't be able to enjoy the rest of Iceland. This also entails the fact that I was a minority in the country, so in the case of any questioning by the authorities, I was going to receive the short end no matter what.

Secondly, the guy had a friend with him while I was alone. This meant that if I were to take action on one, the other might intervene. I have less of a right to harm the second guy because he merely watched the wrong being committed but didn't commit the wrong himself. The worst he deserves is probably a slap, not being pummeled.

And finally, by the principle of retributive justice, the punishment must reflect the severity of the offence. In this case, the dude only meant to irritate, so will pummeling be the best punishment?

Faced with all the above arguments, I finally decided to let the guy off, merely sneering a sarcastic, "Having fun, eh?" Sarcasm usually doesn't get through to people, especially those stupid enough to commit discrimination, but I let it be that way. If I'm told to offer my other cheek to the enemy, I can at least throw in some sarcasm, right? So the first food for thought for this post is: if faced with discrimination, what will you do? Also, whatever answer you gave, will you actually do it when such a situation arises?

The other food for thought is: We all know that discrimination clearly leaves a bad aftertaste for the tourist and will often overshadow the good memories of that place. Cognitive maps formed in a person's mind will take a very long time to be reshaped. Given the above two facts, a tourist's impression of the country will be easily tarred and remain so for a long time to come. The tourist is not mute, he will tell his friends about the discrimination at the travel destination. This obviously hurts a country's tourism industry. Even 4 million smiles cannot cure a single incident of discrimination. And yet, it's such a simple act to perform. So whose prerogative is it to prevent discrimination? The individual has proven time and again to be incapable of changing discriminative behaviour, so how can the government step in? Fines, perhaps? Caning? A discrimination police force?

The third and final food for thought is: Dammit, so much negative energy and hatred over one small incident. -Jimmy