Politically Correct?

• In the newspaper yesterday there was an article about how the Baby Boomers do not like being called "Senior Citizen's". Another co-worker and I thought this was silly. We were like, "People just need to understand that they get older. It happens. They should embrace it because it means they are wise." Another co-worker is all about being politically correct. She thinks her generation should just be called, "Baby Boomers".
• I think it's crazy when people do not even allow their grandchildren to call them, "Grandma" or "Grandpa" because it makes them feel old. SILLY! You can be a grandma or grandpa at an early age, and it's just a name attached with a responsibility and devotion. Just like a 15 year old could be a mom or dad.
• This conversation got a little crazy. The co-worker on my side of this discussion and I think people can be described by the color of their skin, being bald, glasses and that's ok. As long as you are not using it in a negative manner. Just a description. The other co-worker thinks this is wrong, it's stereotyping.
• I said, "Well we have to come up with politically correct way of defining people".
• It gets crazy because you can offend anyone now a days when you are not even meaning to.
• I lived in Pine Lake, GA, a small suburb of Atlanta for awhile. I was one of the only "Caucasian" people in the area where I lived. I actually sat in the bus, and was rarely talked to. I worked with people from Iran, and there was this one guy I sat with on the ride home, and I taught him a little bit of English. I was a graphic designer and he worked in the factory shop. He was asking if there was anything I needed? I said, "Saw dust, I need to take a picture of saw dust". He didn't know what saw dust was. I pointed to dust, and acted like I was sawing wood. It took him a few weeks to A) Figure out what in the heck I was talking about. OR B) Get enough saw dust to bring up to me.
• In Omaha, NE where I grew up I'm the majority. I live in Omaha now, and I wish my son's could get the experience of of being a minority, if only for a little bit.
• I do miss Savannah, GA where it's a mix of all races. I loved our gatherings where my college friends would bring a different food from their culture. People were pretty excepting of anything there. People were proud of their culture and many of the African America's could actually say they lived in Africa and in America. But...here in Omaha, NE many African American's haven't. I was a "Book Buddy", and helped kids read while in college. A little African American girl was fascinated with my skin color and lack of texture in my hair. She kept touching me. Was I offended? No, I actually liked her curiosity.
• So, how do we as a culture separate people apart in a conversation without being offensive? With race we never did come to an agreement in our conversation. Imagine that.
• We did end the conversation on a crazy note: My allergies are really bad, but I don't like being defined as an allergic person, I'm now, "Pollen Intolerant" to be politically correct.