Have you ever suddenly felt like an alien?
By gardengrrl
@gardengrrl (1445)
United States
June 19, 2007 3:57pm CST
Have you ever had the experience of being in a roomful of people and suddenly feeling like you're an alien, someone who doesn't speak the language or know the customs or share the values of the group? It usually happens to me when I go to Legislative Hall in my state capitol to lobby about housing. It also happens sometimes when I go to town hall meetings with politicians and developers. I'm curious if and where it happens to you?
1 person likes this
5 responses
@whiteheather39 (24403)
• United States
20 Jun 07
No I have never felt like one. However I had to suffer being called a "legal alien" by the American government until I got my citizenship. I could never understand why they called me that...I was not green, I did not arrive in a spaceship I came here on a plane and did not sneak across any borders.
2 people like this
@gardengrrl (1445)
• United States
20 Jun 07
What an excellent point, Heather! It's always struck me as a little odd that we call prospective citizens aliens. How alien can someone be, if they're willing to go through the arduous citizenship process to become part of our society? Weird how xenophobia crops up in everyday English!
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@RosieS57 (889)
• United States
20 Jun 07
Welcome to my world. I was born in Kansas and raised in RI and on LI. Landed in Miami, which wasn't bad at all. Got fluent in Spanish and it is quite nice living in a Carribbean capital city. :-)
But Hurricane Andrew blew me up here into the middle of Florida that is the nether land below the Bible Belt. I've been a ma'am from the age of 30, people have orange helmets for mailboxes and the cowboys and really really rich folks (casino owners) are Indians.
Where is the real world? I'm soooooooo LOST!
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@gardengrrl (1445)
• United States
21 Jun 07
LOL! Rosie, you REALLY aren't in Kansas anymore!
Carribbean capital city - wow, what a nice phrase! brings to mind all sorts of pleasant ideas.
The middle of FL is a very strange place, once you venture outside the Disney complex! It isn't boring, that's for sure!
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@webeishere (36313)
• United States
19 Jun 07
Years ago I was Persident of the Board of Directors at the Government assisted Coop housing complex we lived in. I was invited to go to Philidelphia to speak at an orginization there on the concepts, ideas, and benefits of cooperative housing subisdized by HUD. I loved it but let me tell you the stage fright that set in was unreal. Talk about an alien landing on a strage planet. I had never dealt with such a large group of government people at once. When I did speaking in Minnesota it was maybe 5 or so officials from DC etc only. But in Philly there had to be a couple hundred senetors, governors,mayors, etc etc.
HAPPY POSTINGS FROM GRANDPA BOB !!~
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@raychill (6525)
• United States
19 Jun 07
I visited Australia a few years ago and I definitely felt odd there. I mean... not so much. It was little things. Someone got in the front seat of a taxi...You don't do that! The room I stayed in was the living room but it was called something else. I had to get my friends Step-mom who was from America to translate things for me sometimes! it was so fun but a little odd...and I was quite happy to come back home.
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@galvernize (23)
•
20 Jun 07
I think you might be an alien from another planet
if you are, just except it everyone else does
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