Colin writes:
<< As for allegedly saying 'the Irish are pigs', well we were all brought up
to think that so it is hardly earthshattering even if she did say it. >>
I don't know if you're serious, kidding, exaggerating, or just being
provocative, Colin!
I first visited Great Britain when was a teenager in 1971, during the height
of The Troubles with Northern Ireland and the IRA. With my quintessentially
Irish surname, I expected to be badly treated. That never happened. The
British people I met couldn't have been nicer, and that has been my
experience ever since. In fact, I can't remember any British person I've ever
met even bringing up the fact that I am Irish American. (Maybe they were all
calling me a Harp Yank bastard behind my back, but I doubt it.)
Colin also said:
<< However, don't believe everything you read in the papers! Princess
Margeret did not insist on being called ma'am by her friends. Nor was she
shallow. She did much for charity, especially she did much for the abused
children of this country. >>
You've got a point there, Colin, because that's a lesson I never seem to
learn.
For example, I joined the Joni list when she was on her BSN tour a couple of
years ago. One of my first posts to the list was a blurb I found in the New
York Post's Page Six (their gossip page) which had Judy Collins dissing Joni.
It caused a little bit of an uproar on the list, someone contacted Judy to
find out if it was true and she sent this person (I don't remember who it
was) a denial which he or she then posted to the list. I thought at the time
that I would never again believe anything I read or heard in the media, but I
guess I have go back to my old ways!
We do agree on the subject of royalty though, Colin. Just the thought of it
makes my American skin crawl and my Irish blood boil! One of my favorite
media moments with Queen Elizabeth was when she visited Washington about a
decade ago and an American woman was so thrilled to meet her, she gave the
Queen a great big hug! (And no, it wasn't Ashara!) The American media
reported that the incident had become a big issue back in England because *no
one* touches the Queen. I remember thinking, "Well, maybe that's true in your
castle, honey, but anything goes here in the good old U S of A!"
--Bob
