Shoe by Gary Brookins and Susie MacNelly for February 20, 2010

They need tpo be made right.

It’s sure a good thing we won WWII. Otherwise we’d be driving German cars and looking at Japanese television sets now!!!

Wo ist das Typo?

By the way, that ‘59 DeSoto didn’t have any German parts OR @#$%^ metric threads!! And I’ve NEVER seen a Chrysler product manifold of that era give a bit of trouble.

As a mechanic it’s best to stick to English around these parts when describing needed repairs. I know from experience!

But the point is, that DeSoto doesn’t have German parts - only the mechanic’s working vocabulary does. And it’s a safe bet that Perfessor Fishbeak could own any car of any era and have problems with it (First Law of Cartoon Physics: “Only When It’s Funny”).

No German parts just a German mechanic

He meant to say kaputt auf wiedersehen

broken and gone (goodbye)

Takes two Viagra…one to get the arm up.

I agree with Lonewolf: Find a mechanic who speaks englsih - particularly when describing ypur car problems. Sometimes it’s all Greek to me.

Chrysler was eventually bought by Daimler-Benz but I don’t believe there were any retroactive parts swaps.

Actually, a German car is one of the leading cars in the U.S. and most of us are watching TV on Japanese made sets. A lot of good WW II did so far as commerce is concerned. And so far as language and culture is concerned we Americans are about to become a minority in our own country. Now we know how the native Americans felt when we moved in.

i love it when Click and Clack ask a caller to describe the “noise” by making the sound.

mechanics are true linguists.

with the way you spell bc, it looks like that’s not the only thing that’s greek to you. jrbj, yeah but they’re not pushing us off our land or killing our women and childern. I don’t think you have a grip on what really happened to the native americans. they’re still gettin’ screwed, but i digress.

probably because he cant speak chineese… thats where the replacement will come from…

Most of the German car makes have had big problems, too. They just have not been up-front about telling you.

“And so far as language and culture is concerned we Americans are about to become a minority in our own country.”

Language? Most immigrants from non-English speaking countries generally DO learn English, at least by the second generation. There are pockets where more day-to-day business in conducted in Spanish or Cantonese than in English, but we’re hardly in danger of English language being the exception rather than the rule.

Culture? American culture has always responded to immigrant influences; that’s partially why “American” culture is so different from “English” culture. And the largest contributor to our heritage after the English were the Germans. But is pizza a threat to American culture? Burritos? Pad Thai? Do you party on St. Patrick’s Day? Why not Cinco de Mayo, as well? Heck, why not Eid?

And as far as “Americans” being a minority in “our own” country, immigrants are Americans too. This country is “their own” country as much as yours or mine. The English, Dutch, and Germans who were here in the 1700’s resented the Irish, Italians, and Slavs who came in waves in the 1800’s. Then the recently-assimilated joined in the resentment against the Jews, Mexicans, and Asians who came after them. Now they all resent the Africans and Arabs coming after. America in 100 years wil have a different look, sound, and taste than America now, but it’ll still be America. ‘Twas ever thus.

America and American culture are now and always have been “assembled in the USA from foreign components.”

Does that mean I shouldn’t resent having two sets of wrenches for an “American” car?

Susan001 – Good one, but don’t think anyone is paying attention …

What with metric wrenches, bolts with metric threads and so forth, did you hear about the metric screwdriver?

Mix 40 cc vodka and 120 cc orange juice

Frizie: True American’s ARE a minority in their own country. They have to have reservations to stay here. :)

Nice one JohnHerbison! How about the phillips screwdriver – one oz vodka to 3oz milk of magnesia?

How do you define OUR culture, Norman? Is YOUR culture the same as MY culture? Are the cultural waters in which you swim identical to those of the Founding Fathers? And which set of Founding Fathers? The puritanical Roundheads’ descendants in New England, or the free-wheeling Cavaliers’ descendants in Virginia? Jamestown predates Plymouth Colony, after all.

The idea that “American” culture is in any way homogenous or monolithic is a fabrication of fairly recent origin anyway. Not that long ago, regional cultural norms were widely disparate within the United States. A Bostoner visiting someone in Montgomery Alabama might just as well have been in another country, and vice versa. It was only through mass-media such as movies and television (radio having retained more of its regional flavor) that we came to have an image of who “Americans” really are. (These images, by the way, largely having been formulated by Russian Jews).

Nobody is obliged to assimilate before becoming a citizen, and once they’re citizens they have as much claim as an “American” as anyone else. And yet, assimilation generally takes place anyway. But it works both ways. “American” culture is the aggregate culture of all those who have a right to call themselves “Americans”; as the population changes with influxes from outside, so will the aggregate culture.

The cultural diversity that you seem to abhor so much is inevitable, particularly as global travel and communication become faster, easier and cheaper. If you can’t bring yourself to celebrate diversity, you’d better at least learn to tolerate it.

and does the “melting pot” of US culture work any better than the Canadian “cultural mosaic?” people are people, no matter where they come from and no matter where they go. some will adapt to their surroundings, and some will adapt their surroundings to themselves. the important part is that they get along without any great conflict. that’s what society is all about, isn’t it?

yyyguy, I certainly admit that the “mosaic” thing has bugs to work out, but it’s still the wave of the future.

Yes, the important thing is to get along regardless of cultural differences. The best way to do that, I think, is to think of all boundaries as permeable membranes rather than rigid walls.

In San Francisco, Grant Street connects Chinatown and North Beach (the Italian quarter), and I walk though both neighborhoods to get to my favorite Irish pub. :-)

Susan001: I WAS paying attention - GREAT wordplay!

fritzoid: Spot on as usual, old chap…Si, tienes razón.

I seem to recollect that there’s a Nietzsche aphorism that’s appropriate, but I can’t bring it to mind. The closest I can come is “You got chocolate in my peanut butter!”/”You got peanut butter in my chocolate!”, and that works, too…

Oh the Vikings and the Mongols should be friends, The Vikings and the Mongols should be friends. The Viking sails the seven seas, The Mongol rides a horse with ease, But that’s no reason why they can’t be friends!

I didn’t write that, but I have no idea who did…

..the same reason my japanese car is assembled in America..

And if you haven’t read A People’s History Of The United States go get a copy (even at the library - remember libraries?). Now that Howard Zinn’s left us, there won’t be any more.