StreetCowboy

I think English is quite easy to learn; the pass mark is very low. Chinese, for example, is much harder. Most native Chinese take a few minutes of learning before they can talk to a stranger, which is one of two, ok, three frustrations when queuing, four frustrations when queuing in McDonalds in Hong Kong. The last is most obvious - the food is dreadful; and the third becomes obvious when you get your food and discover that all the “empty” tables have someone sat there reserving it for their friends in the queue. But before you start looking for a seat, before you start eating the polystyrene containers, first of all the guy in front has to exchange some pleasantries with the server to come to grips with one another’s’ tones. “Aye, they’ve got the hang of it - ‘cheeseburger and fries’” but no! Chinese people are interested in food - “is the same pickles in the cheeseburger as the quarter-pounder? What oil do you use for the fries? Can I have the bacon double cheese burger as a double bacon cheese burger?” Im normally so hungry and grumpy I sit down at any table and wolf it while their mates are still negotiating their sauces and soft drinks. And get up queasily, remembering why I stick to Chinese restaurants - you can get beer there

Some drink to remember, some drink to forget. It’s hard to forget your past, but it’s worse to forget your future.

What doesn't kill you, makes you stronger. You still might not have been strong enough to survive a fourth bullet, though.

I can see why you might want to cut off your own foreskin, but God gave it to me, and He knows best.

You need to get out and live more. If you have that little to complaint about, you have spent too much time in a Gro-More box

I don’t think Soros needs my help.

Back in the day, we could identify with comic characters portraying the poorest members of our society, who were part of a fading way of life. Maybe, back in the day, old people didn't find Steptoe and Son as funny as their children and grandchildren did - not least because they did not have televisions. Top greenness, with the emphasis on reuse and recycling, by the way. Steptoe and Son, and the Wombles.

You dirty old man, you!

A lot of people say God exists only in people’s minds, and then pretend to be atheists.

It sounds like you only gave it one thought. What was your second thought?

I’ve given religion a second thought

That’s probably because he was frugal. I have friends who are frugal, but they’re still willing to push the boat out on a Sunday afternoon.

Farang Gweilos Mat Salehs

I thought most of the Jews in question were Germans. I think you mean “Some Germans persecuted their minority Jewish compatriots”; and Romany, and other minorities. But the most important part of that sentence is “some”. We might criticise the silent majority (or even the silent minority) but I have never been offered the choice of facing a firing squad for my support of a stranger, and I hope I am never given that opportunity.

The best part of great humour is it’s easy familiarity. You might think that 2022 humour is better, and in thirty years’ time there will be no-one that argues with you but know-nowts who have not even been born yet

I'm just saying I like a drink. Back in the day, we could take a drink, without being stigmatised.

This song does not remind me of Hong Kong. It does not even remind me of Redcar

I think it's great that the OP has posted a simple question, and everyone has used that as an opportunity to Virtue Signal by abusing their imaginary racists, without actually constructively considering the question, nor discussing what constitutes racism. Until we understand our own prejudices, we cannot condemn prejudice. We can only complain about it. SC

Another thing that racists and alcoholics have in common is that one does not need to be an alcoholic to enjoy a bit of a drink.

I love a bit of spicey mutton. More flavour than lamb, and just as tender if you treat it properly. My mutton lady has not come back from her holiday in Singapore, and I am on the brink of starvation. I've had nothing to eat but chicken for weeks now.

Maybe that was the best thing, and not realising was the worst thing. Back in the day, according to rumour, and consistent with the evidence, I was stabbed in the back, but it takes more than that to spoil a friendship. Things happen, and you can resent them, or not. Resentment won't rectify them, and rectification may cause you endless conflict. We all live our own lives, and if I'd wanted to be Rambo or David Watts, I'd not have been me SC

Back in the day I suffered a mishap that resulted in a permanent impairment, and I am not sure that was the worst day of my life. It did make me appreciate that the biggest problem that I had was that I did not have wings... We go through life with our limitations, and sometimes as we get older our limitations change. If I was to identify the worst thing that had happened to me, it would be my biggest mistake, and to identify that is a gargantuan challenge that I am not willing to attempt. SC

It's hard to be a teenager nowadays, when you're 50.

I was out the other day, riding briskly to meet up at the start of the ride, and I changed gear by one gear on the road bike, and didn't want to change another. But if the gears had been two teeth apart, instead of one, I don't think I would have changed back. I've been quite enjoying going out on the shopping bike, with the flat handlebars and the basket, although the wider handlebars mean you need to concentrate weaving between the wing mirrors - and also remember the pannier on the back.

I was expecting a story about a young goat. I feel cheated.