I am RUssian American, and I just LOVE making you fellows uncomfortable. Us reds are even scarier to listen to. ^^

I have to admit, I kind of wonder what it would be like if I could speak a language with a friend that no one else could understand. But then when my friend and I are in public and we start talking computers, I sometimes get the feeling most people around us don't understand a thing we're saying.

Nice story. I could feel my own frustration bubbling as I heard that old man. Nice come back at the end.

Just out of curiosity, what the hell does "Buenos dias, mi amigo! Goce de su vida del miedo!" mean? Languages aren't exactly my strength.

The direct translation, according to Babelfish, is:

"Good day my friend! Enjoy living with your fear!"

very fitting

Been there and done that in good old Miami... and my best friends are Cuban too. Very well done Wire... as always I enjoyed this very much. I'm glad you are writing again.

*gives him a hug...

V.

Thank you Miss Vixxyfox, ma'am. It was nice to have something to submit again. I need to keep my other projects from eating up all my spare time.

*gives him a hug... you are more than welcome hun.... and deserving I might add...

V.

Nicely done. I think the language issue goes all the way back to a social (tribal) animal's fear/dislike of being excluded, even innocently -- that self-conscious (and therefore, honestly, arrogant) fear that "if those people over there are whispering/laughing/speaking another language, they must be talking about ME." >^_^<

I suspect you are right on the money about that. I've seen that distrust in others when the Mexicans were chatting. Of course there may also be a small amount of envy involved, as well. After all, when you're able to communicate 'in code' like that it gives you a certain amount of 'stealth', if you know what I mean. A way of discussing things right out in the open without fear of the consequences.

And thanks for the fav!

Heh... can't tell you how many people I've met like the old man. People who are afraid of diversity for no readily apparent reason.
Bothering crotchety old xenophobes; reason #4 for learning another language.

I work with some, myself. I get so tired of their close-mindedness. I know I have biases too, but I try not to let them define who I am and how I treat other people.

I've seen speaking another language on purpose to make other people uncomfortable backfire too many times to try it myself.

This was very clearly written, and I can't remember a single error in grammar or spelling. ^^ Usually I have to go back and edit my stuff anywhere from two to nine times after I'm done to get it as clean as this, and I know it's a pain in the butt sometimes to do so. *is happy*

But on to the story itself: I wasn't expecting this to be among one of the results to the prompts, though I admit that if I'd thought about it longer, I might have. I liked this interpretation of it, though, and I _love_ the bit at the very end.

I tend to edit as I write, which slows me wayyyyy down. On top of which, I always copy/paste my work into a real word processor for serious spell check. My grammar-fu is strong, but not always strong enough.

And yeah, that last paragraph was my favorite.

And thanks for the fav, by the way!

Yeah, me editing as I go doesn't work very well - I always get too caught up in the story and forget it, and if I do edit it, then I lose complete track of where the story was going. *grins* That's why I have go go back later and (sometimes heavily) edit everything, XD.

You're welcome.

Rawr! Bigots make me snarl... And when a big, pudgy dragon lady is growling on the bus to work, folks get out of the way... I hear this kind of bull-pucky waaay too often. I can hear their frustration- so I just tell 'em, "did your grandparents emigrate from somewhere outside of the States? Yes? From where?" They'll usually look surprised and stutter something about Eastern Europe, or Italy.

I then grin at them and pipe off- "someone once said the same things you're saying about your grand-da. Dude, get over it, there will always be immigrants. The world would be pretty fucking boring, if we all could only speak one language, or claim one culture." Then I ask them if they enjoy ethnic food...

*chortles* I really enjoyed the SF twist you slipped in there, too. Everything seemed like my usual bus-ride, then the canids got up to leave... heh. Very cool.

I know and work with people like this, although most of them aren't quite this bad. They can make getting through the day quite a.... challenge.

Thanks for the fav!

Hah! Very cute ending there. I can of course get into a story about linguistic bigotry. :3

Thank you. It's always nice to portray someone with more able wit than myself zinging close-minded fools.

Hilarious. I laughed out loud in the end. In way I feel sorry for the 'morphs. If people can't even get along amongst themselves, how they can accept those canine beings as part of their society. Great little piece, I enjoyed reading this.

I have this argument off and on with my own grandmother. I'm a halfbreed, myself, and she and my mother are close as mom and daughter, but she -still- insists everyone should speak english. And I never let her get away with it. She's crotchety, and I'm stubborn, and we have that same argument in so many ironic places - like the time we were in a Mexican restaurant. This made me grin so much!

I'm very happy you liked it. I speak only one language (lazy English). When I hear Mexicans or Koreans talking around me with no clue what's being said, I tend to have one of two reactions: either I tell myself that if I could understand them I'd be bored by their mundane conversation, or I find myself thinking back on the Cantina scene in Star Wars, where you have numerous and wildly different species, cultures and languages all packed into a single building and they're all getting along just fine!