What do you say when you find yourself standing next to a Laotian Buddhist

[patrice]

monk in a long post office line . . . . ?

"Shit! We're sorry about Nixon!!!" Sorry that America has bomed them, and weren't there some indigenous warriors, the Mung?

Or does one just pretend he isn't there?

[BurtWorm]

1. The Hmong?

How do you know he was Laotian, out of curiosity?

[patrice]

10. I started chatting with him.

I like Buddhists.

[rzemanfl]

2. Where the hell am I? n/t

[MrScorpio]

3. How's about them Red Sox?

Are they going to do it again next year?

[Richard Steele]

4. "So, are you Chinese, or Japanese?"

Or maybe just say "hello"?

Try pretending he's a human being, and behave accordingly.

[porphyrian]

9. "He said he's from the ocean..." - n/t

[Bridget Burke]

5. Ask for some advice on meditation!

It helps deal with the wait.... Maybe both of you can get a good chant going.

[patrice]

11. I've meditated for years.

A Rimpoche (sp?) prayed for someone in my family once.

[Deep13]

6. Welcome to America,...

... don't eat the Circus Peanuts.

If he is here, now, he is probably over it.

Several years ago, I went to the dental school for some work because it is cheaper than a regular dentist. My student doctor was from Vietnam. She was too young to have experienced the war, but still I had to wonder what she thought.

[patrice]

12. Yeah, he was young, so he probably didn't get bombed.

He said he likes Kansas a lot. He probably wasn't lying or flattering. He is a student at the local Nazarene college.

[no name no slogan]

7. I suppose "Hi, my name is Patrice" is a good start

The US war in SE Asia ended almost 30 years ago-- there's a very good chance that this man was not even born (or living in Laos) when any of those things took place.

Never assume ANYTHING based on appearances. Chances are, you're assumptions are wrong.

[patrice]

13. They were wrong.

I thought he was Chinese . . . dumb, huh? I wanted to chat about China.

[Bluebear]

8. 'Sure looks like snow, doesn't it?"

[patrice]

14. Actually the weather is glorious today, a little chold, but real nice.

He said he really likes it here. So do I.

[mainer]

15. We have Tibetan Buddhist monks here

They're really sweet and friendly. And they love Burger King hamburgers and pizza, believe it or not. They just like it if people talk to them, and they're so serene that nothing seems to bother them.

[POAS]

16. Got sand? n/t

[saltpoint]

17. The Buddhists in the West generally aren't as --

-- spastic, as hysterical, or as manipulative or judgmental as the Christian fundies, and of course the fundies don't trust the "Eastern religions," because they are "occultist distractions that lead otherwise decent folk away from JEEEsus."

Go, Buddhists.

[Chicago Democrat]

18. "Namaste"

Pronounced Na-Ma-Stay and smile perhaps bow with praying hands because namaste means 'the god in me recognises the god in you'

[probuddha]

19. I thought was what you say to Hindus not buddhists n/t

[Chicago Democrat]

20. Tibetan Buddhism came from India and the Sutras are in Sanskrit

Namaste is sanskrit.

[DemoTex]

21. Have you ever been to Laos? I have.

Time and time again, over the Ho Chi Mihn Trail. Over 250 missions. I find your post very wierd. Sorry, Patrice, I was there. Were you? If not, mind your strange words.

[Deep13]

22. The lack of first hand experience...

... doesn't mean he has no right to comment on what he does know.

The Vietnam War was a major event in our history and part of our identity as Americans. While I fully appreciate the sacrifices made by veterans and the suffering many still endure, it is nor reasonable to ask people to shut up about it because it might rub them the wrong way.