pubic_assistance

Yes There is a strip down the middle that is livable. The majority of the North is a mess/ The majority of the South is a mess. All the REAL money is in the surrounding suburbs and adjacent towns. Unlike NYC which has multiple neighborhoods right in Manhattan ( and Brooklyn & Queens ) where there are very wealthy residents, who make sure their neighborhoods are clean and relatively safe. ( My neighborhood hires private security to keep an eye on things ).

Thank you @Rand I find it VERY strange that anyone would take offense at the word "exotic", since personally I find that many of the people who's parents were from two very separate parts of the globe are some of the most beautiful. Hardly a comment meant to disparage anyone. More often I am celebrating the beauty in cross-cultural pairings.

What exactly to they "resent" about the gay community ??

Wokeism finds fault at every turn. "Exotic" in humans merely refers to a blending of blood lines where you can't clearly distinguish a person's ethnic origin. I have a good friend who's Jamaican of African/European descent who's married to a Japanese woman. Their son is stunning, and yes "EXOTIC" because you can't quite peg what ethnicity he is. He's had a very good start to a modeling career since 2022 and I'm sure he represents the way the world is turning as we all mix together (while certain players try to pry us apart.)

Philadelphia WAS a blue collar city. Sadly, large swaths of the inner city are now ghettos of poverty and lifetime welfare families and crime. The money left for the suburbs years ago. The area AROUND Philadelphia is some of the wealthiest in the country. Rittenhouse Square, Society Hill and the old colonial town around Franklin Square are really the only significantly upscale neighborhoods within the city limits anymore. But those exist as little islands of money in a landscape of run down row houses that have long lost their blue-collar European immigrant families who kept them clean.

Back when Barton was there the first time, it was like a gay bathhouse. Everyone was hooking up. The steam room floor needed to be cleaned frequently because of all the ejaculate on the floor, making it slippery. Good times.

A powder-keg of butt-hurt used to manipulate groups of people. Beware. I agree with @Jamie21's approach.

Actually, in MY case it's the opposite. I have ethnic roots to Native American tribes-people on both my mother's and father's side of the family making me MORE "from here" than many Americans. All in all it's just an interesting bit of conversation about how early Quaker settlers would freely mix with the Iroquois and intermarriage was fairly common at a time when most Europeans wouldn't even marry outside their own language group.

If we are all going to "play nice" here any political topic needs to be presented as FREE from left/right commentary.

Sorry @José Soplanucasbut YES. I do think people who were stolen from their homeland deserve a pass. The rest are just playing victim and associating racism with every conversation.

Might be true, but as I stated, I realize the origins of heritage is a touchy subject so I avoid it with African-Americans. Conversely Africans themselves love being asked and gleefully discuss which tribe their family descended from. I have one very handsome friend who looks typically African but is quite light skinned. His parents look white-European His brother and sister look white-European. He loves to explain that this happened because one of his great-great-great grandparents were French slave traders, and the African gene got mixed in generations ago.

You're minimizing my point with this sentence. While my statement was made to maximize the reasons why some black Americans may find offense about being asked the same question. They were STOLEN from their homeland, so it's obviously a touchy subject for them. That's why I stated I rarely discuss it with black people, and agree that is this situation it's inappropriate for obvious reasons.

Not the same thing. Sorry. I disagree, because I would never have this conversation with someone.

I couldn't agree more.

I'm guessing the issue is a regional one. I grew up in the Northeast, lived in LA and NYC and everywhere I've lived there are a variety of ethnic backgrounds that people always discuss freely. As I stated, the only "touchy" group I've ever encountered in all my years are the descendants of early Africans who arrived as cargo, not immigrants. I have never lived in the South, so given your screen name this may be a Southerner's issue since you seem to find it so inappropriate and I completely disagree given MY experiences.

Lots of repeats of names. Can't imagine there's an argument to be made unless you're simultaneously using the celebrity's images too.

....one more step towards normalcy I'd say this fellow and his partner are more EXCEPTIONAL than "normal". (Who wants to be normal anyway ??)😉

Yes. You are implying something that is violating the rules We can't be discussing "right-leaning" anything outside the politics forum and that's closed for the foreseeable future.

"White people" are asked about their heritage, not their "ethnicity". You'd be surprised now many so-called "white people" aren't so white when you ask. Especially where I grew up. Many seemingly "white" families were intermarried with Iroquois tribes people. But over several generations there is a blending of genes that doesn't make it as obvious.

I ask everybody if they know about their heritage. They don't need to "look exotic". The US is a complete mish-mash of people. It's interesting to hear about people's cultural experiences.

I like the Hôtel Monville. Reasonable rates for a fashionable hotel. Centrally located downtown. Walking distance from the old-town Young, stylish/attractive crowd. Rooms are on the small side but beautifully appointed to compensate. (After all you spend most of your time in bed anyway..so who needs lots of floorspace). Nice breakfast bar / and roof top lounge and a cute room-service-robot you can ask to bring you stuff 24/7 via an app on your phone. https://www.hotelmonville.com/en/?utm_source=google-local&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=gmb

I haven't run into a problem ( yet ). I aak people about their ancestry all the time. NYC is full of people from all over the world so it's a natural conversation starter. I just avoid asking black people because the majority of American blacks would find that question to be insensitive for obvious reasons. But people who are more recently from Africa will proudly discuss the tribes they descended from. I think that would be very sad if wokeism made that impossible to ask. I find these conversations fascinating, especially when you meet people with unusual combinations of ethnicity.

They are more the brunt of jokes than they are respected for any social justice messages they may promote.

Facebook / Instagram links everyone's multiple contacts together. I get friend suggestions about people I haven't seen in decades but somehow they know I called this person or emailed 12 years ago.