News and notes from Reston (tm).

Thursday, January 21, 2010

Reston: Bastion of Political Correctness, If Not Goats

Chinese auction.jpg
Okay, so maybe calling a fundraiser a "Chinese auction" isn't exactly the most enlightened choice of words in the world. It could be worse, though. In our progressive neighbor to the west, they're talking about letting people keep goats in their back yards.

Posted by Restonian at 9:42 AM

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15 comments:

  1. AnonymousJanuary 21, 2010 at 11:15 AM

    I want to have a goat in my backyard in Reston.

    ReplyDelete
  2. The Convict in the GulagJanuary 21, 2010 at 11:23 AM

    Would you rather that they called it a Coolie Auction? I'm assuming that there's some distinction between a Chinese auction and a regular auction. That is, other than auctioning off Chinese. But there are more than 1.3b of them in China alone, so I imagine that a few won't be missed one way or another.

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  3. AnonymousJanuary 21, 2010 at 12:08 PM

    get over it!

    ReplyDelete
  4. AnonymousJanuary 21, 2010 at 12:36 PM

    Oy. A Chinese auction is basically just like a raffle, except that each item has its own set of entries. I was told by someone that these were called "Chinese" because it is more like the style of auctions in China (where auctions are silent). There's nothing derogatory about it.

    Or are Dutch auctions offensive as well?

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  5. AnonymousJanuary 21, 2010 at 12:38 PM

    what about Dutch ovens ?

    ReplyDelete
  6. AnonymousJanuary 21, 2010 at 12:51 PM

    or French fries?

    ReplyDelete
  7. Rod's Sharpening Service or Sharpening in RestonJanuary 21, 2010 at 2:37 PM

    This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  8. AnonymousJanuary 21, 2010 at 2:47 PM

    Grow up you guys, the fundraiser (chinese or not) goes to help out charities in Reston. Do you have a better idea.?

    ReplyDelete
  9. Rod's Sharpening Service or Sharpening in RestonJanuary 21, 2010 at 3:14 PM

    I'm glad to see you mention Herndon's interest in these useful and friendly pastoral creatures. I have long advocated acceptance of them as possible alternative to dogs and cats. Dogs and cats are fine but, there's just entirely too many of them. Yet it's just ingrained in us to care for something. Other municipalities are actually changing their laws so suburbanites can actually keep chickens. Not a barnyard full of them but just a few hens.

    If we can't keep chickens of goats how about one goat symbolizing our rural past and our devotion to the environment. Perhaps it could live near or actually inside our new Nature House. Restonians could visit, look inside and there would be our goat looking out at nature and maybe eating invasive weeds that children could bring to it.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Peasant From Less Sought After South RestonJanuary 21, 2010 at 5:00 PM

    Re the Chinese auction:

    Some people, like oh so politically correct Arielle, seriously need to get a life. As it turns out, Mrs. Peasant is a member of Reston Newcomers and informed me that the auction raised $550, all of which will go to local charities such as Reston Interfaith at year's end.

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  11. Le PigeonJanuary 21, 2010 at 11:08 PM

    I'll have no Chinese goats in my town, thank you very much. Besides, we can always outsource our pets to India.

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  12. HCKDJanuary 23, 2010 at 5:29 PM

    Le Pigeon your idea is so crazy that it just might work.

    Who needs to deal with walking and feeding or even petting or seeing your dog when someone in Bngalore can do it for less?!

    "Yes I'm an animal lover, I have 5 cats and 6 dogs!"

    "Really?! I thought you were alergic to cats and afraid of dogs, besides where are these pets of yours? Your house is immaculate and does not have that 'pet smell'"

    "I've outsourced them. Did you know that for the price of one purebreed dog in the States you can get around a 100 in India and that includes lifetime dogwalking and food. Vet bills are extra but since I outsourced my vet to India s well, I can afford to keep all those cats and dogs. IT's awesome!"

    ReplyDelete
  13. Le PigeonJanuary 23, 2010 at 6:56 PM

    It fills me with joy to see that someone understands the genius of my vision. Just for you, HCKD, I've hired a 9-year-old boy in Mumbai named Sanjay to host your very own set of three adult Rottweilers.

    Oops, I guess Sanjay isn't with us anymore. That's okay, log on to www.indiaffection.com and get three free Virtual Snuggles(TM) with your new loyal ePets(TM) who eLove(TM) you very much.

    Bom Shankar.

    ReplyDelete
  14. AnonymousJanuary 23, 2010 at 8:45 PM

    I have it on good authority (NONE) that when the Chinese are raising money for charities they call them "American Auctions" . . .

    Actually, there are many people in China at this very moment making a living making plastic crap for us as the factory owners laugh all the way to the auction house...

    In short, I don't think they're offended by our auction names.

    ReplyDelete
  15. AnonymousJanuary 23, 2010 at 9:29 PM

    Anon 8:45

    That's lead crap, not plastic crap.

    BTW, if you want to buy good American-made (in Middlebury, Vermont) wooden toys and not have to worry about your kid getting lead poisoning from made-in-China crap, check out the firm Maple Landmark

    http://www.maplelandmark.com/

    ReplyDelete

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