Being a white guy is awesome. Let's tell stories about awesome things that happened purely because of our skin color!

[Metaphor]

I'm curious; what does it mean to be 'qualified' to teach at a SAT prep academy?

How was your salary decided? Was it a take it or leave it offer?

What was the wage differential between the tutors? What determined some tutors getting more than others? Did it depend on what areas you taught?

She had a degree in the field she was teaching. I didn't. That's the important part. In every criteria, she beat me.

I was offered a certain amount, did not negotiate but could have if I had chosen to

We weren't tutors, we each had classes of 15-30 students. The area taught didn't matter, especially since STEM stuff like Math tends to command a higher salary than the Humanities, which is what I was teaching. But no, there was no bounty for teaching a different subject. There's only 3 on the SAT, after all.

As for what determined it? Who knows, but somehow the asian women with a more fitting degree teaching the harder subject got paid less than me. I didn't know anyone elses salary. I only know Amy's because I mentioned it offhand to the person who told me to apply for the job and she was livid that I was getting paid more than her sister in law for the reasons I've given

If you have evidence that race was a determinant in the wage differential, then you or Amy should confront the academy.

If you don't have evidence that race was a determinant, I would not use this anecdote as an example of getting paid more because you're white.

 

[Toni]

Uh, the GRE, the graduate version of, SAT has a Psychology discipline test. ...at least it did 55 years ago.

Right. But the anecdote was about an SAT prep academy, not a GRE prep academy. Who knew there were such things as SAT prep academies? Crap, I aced mine with zero prep, after a night out with my boyfriend.

- - - Updated - - -

She had a degree in the field she was teaching. I didn't. That's the important part. In every criteria, she beat me.

I was offered a certain amount, did not negotiate but could have if I had chosen to

We weren't tutors, we each had classes of 15-30 students. The area taught didn't matter, especially since STEM stuff like Math tends to command a higher salary than the Humanities, which is what I was teaching. But no, there was no bounty for teaching a different subject. There's only 3 on the SAT, after all.

As for what determined it? Who knows, but somehow the asian women with a more fitting degree teaching the harder subject got paid less than me. I didn't know anyone elses salary. I only know Amy's because I mentioned it offhand to the person who told me to apply for the job and she was livid that I was getting paid more than her sister in law for the reasons I've given

If you have evidence that race was a determinant in the wage differential, then you or Amy should confront the academy.

If you don't have evidence that race was a determinant, I would not use this anecdote as an example of getting paid more because you're white.

Well of course you wouldn't. We all understand that perfectly well. And exactly why, too.

 

[Don2 (Don1 Revised)]

No one thought I was trying to break into my house with my limo driver the last time I came home from vacation with suitcases.

 

[Metaphor]

To answer the OP: the only thing I know for certain has happened to me purely because of my skin colour is getting sunburned real bad when I was 11. Like gross pus-filled blisters and sleeping upright bad.

But I'd like to know, who's white? My parents came from Eastern Europe and I did not feel white growing up. I felt like, and was called, a wog. The real white people were Anglo people, with their Anglo names and not my cartoonishly Slavic name, and their 'tea' (a meal, not the drink) instead of 'dinner'.

 

[Metaphor]

Right. But the anecdote was about an SAT prep academy, not a GRE prep academy. Who knew there were such things as SAT prep academies? Crap, I aced mine with zero prep, after a night out with my boyfriend.

That's because the SAT people have a photo of you and know you're white, and they therefore gave you a top score.

Well of course you wouldn't. We all understand that perfectly well. And exactly why, too.

I understand why, too. Because I'm a rational human being.

 

[Toni]

That's because the SAT people have a photo of you and know you're white, and they therefore gave you a top score.

Heh. When I took the SAT, we didn't present a photo ID. No one had them.

I understand why, too. Because I'm a rational human being.

Sure. That's it. You and Derec.

 

[Metaphor]

Heh. When I took the SAT, we didn't present a photo ID. No one had them.

Lord, Toni. I know I'm not a professional comedian but most people would have recognised that I made a joke.

 

[crispy]

To answer the OP: the only thing I know for certain has happened to me purely because of my skin colour is getting sunburned real bad when I was 11. Like gross pus-filled blisters and sleeping upright bad.

How many things do you think happened then?

And much more importantly, how many things do you think didn't happen to you? Just to get you started, do you think you would have been confronted by a police officer more often if you were black?

But I'd like to know, who's white? My parents came from Eastern Europe and I did not feel white growing up. I felt like, and was called, a wog. The real white people were Anglo people, with their Anglo names and not my cartoonishly Slavic name, and their 'tea' (a meal, not the drink) instead of 'dinner'.

Racism takes many forms just so you know. Do you think you were treated worse by other when growing up because of this?

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

I don't sign the back of my credit cards (actually bank cards). A decade ago a cashier after apologizing profusely that it was policy asked to see a photo ID with my signature and continued to apologize afterward, too, about the policy. No one since has asked to see such a thing.

If I'm not mistaken, your signature on the card is required by the bank for authorization for YOU to use the card, ie... you agree to transfer your funds to pay for your purchase. Not signing it actually means the card isn't technically authorized for use. It isn't a check for whether a person had the same signature.

 

[Toni]

Heh. When I took the SAT, we didn't present a photo ID. No one had them.

Lord, Toni. I know I'm not a professional comedian but most people would have recognised that I made a joke.

I thought jokes were supposed to be funny?

Also I also thought most people would get that I was attempting to joke around .

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

Being a white guy is awesome.

It's true being me is pretty awesome, but I'm not sure how much of it is from being white.

I'm constantly running into white people who don't seem all that awesome, really.

Trumps supporters.

 

[Metaphor]

To answer the OP: the only thing I know for certain has happened to me purely because of my skin colour is getting sunburned real bad when I was 11. Like gross pus-filled blisters and sleeping upright bad.

But I'd like to know, who's white? My parents came from Eastern Europe and I did not feel white growing up. I felt like, and was called, a wog. The real white people were Anglo people, with their Anglo names and not my cartoonishly Slavic name, and their 'tea' (a meal, not the drink) instead of 'dinner'.

How many things do you think happened then?

And much more importantly, how many things do you think didn't happen to you? Just to get you started, do you think you would have been confronted by a police officer more often if you were black?

I don't know. I'd wager most people's interactions with police are during random breath tests (RBTs) on the road. Since these happen mostly at night and are, in fact, quasi-random (police officers wave cars over until the bay is full, then when spots are vacated officers wave the car that happens to pass next over etc), no, I don't think I'd have had more 'interactions'.

But the question is not about blackness but about whiteness. And I don't know that I am white. If I'm white, then I'd wager that not all white people are equally white.

In Australia, anyone of 'Mediterranean' appearance (certain people of Greek, Italian, Macedonian ethnic descent) wouldn't be white in the same way Anglo white would be.

 

[Metaphor]

Lord, Toni. I know I'm not a professional comedian but most people would have recognised that I made a joke.

I thought jokes were supposed to be funny?

Also I also thought most people would get that I was attempting to joke around .

Yeah, you see, the idea that the SAT is a racial conspiracy meant to elevate white (and Asian) people with scores based solely on race determined by SAT secret squirrel employees scrutinising Polaroids is a funny idea.

Your deadpan response might have been funny if I'd been able to distinguish it from an otherwise genuine response you would have had.

 

[TV and credit cards]

As a teen I worked at the local car wash near the mall. All the police brought their cruisers through. By the way, the button labeled "Trunk" doesn't open the trunk. It unlocks the shotgun. Don't get caught playing with it. Anyways, black guy Norman was the assistant manager at the car wash. Hitting on about sixty years of age, Norman liked to talk about all the pussy he got. And of course all us white teenage boys liked listening to Stormin' Norman.
One evening hanging out with my friends, white cops rolled up on us, sniffed around a bit, and convinced me to hand over my weed and bowl. The cop said to me, "You work with Norman, right?" "Yes", I said. The cop proceeded to toss my weed and bowl in the storm sewer and said, "You owe Norman one. Go on, get out of here."
Next day, relaying the story to Norman, he said, "Ain't that about a bitch. I'll take a Dr. Pepper."

 

[Toni]

I thought jokes were supposed to be funny?

Also I also thought most people would get that I was attempting to joke around .

Yeah, you see, the idea that the SAT is a racial conspiracy meant to elevate white (and Asian) people with scores based solely on race determined by SAT secret squirrel employees scrutinising Polaroids is a funny idea.

Your deadpan response might have been funny if I'd been able to distinguish it from an otherwise genuine response you would have had.

See, your take might be funny if it didn't sound like something that some believe is the actual objection to the weight given the SATs.

If you ever wanted a reason to doubt how good a measure they are of academic or subject ability, chew on this a while. I scored nearly a perfect score on the math portion of the SAT. For real.

 

[Metaphor]

Yeah, you see, the idea that the SAT is a racial conspiracy meant to elevate white (and Asian) people with scores based solely on race determined by SAT secret squirrel employees scrutinising Polaroids is a funny idea.

Your deadpan response might have been funny if I'd been able to distinguish it from an otherwise genuine response you would have had.

See, your take might be funny if it didn't sound like something that some believe is the actual objection to the weight given the SATs.

If you ever wanted a reason to doubt how good a measure they are of academic or subject ability, chew on this a while. I scored nearly a perfect score on the math portion of the SAT. For real.

I believe things based on evidence, and doubt them if there is no evidence or counterevidence.

But since, by your own admission, you did very well academically at university, I'm struggling to understand what you're trying to say. It seems to me your SAT results were indeed a very good predictor of your academic potential and this is a good argument to keep the SAT and possibly increase its weighting.

 

[fast]

Expectations aren't lowered

 

[Keith&Co.]

I don't know. I'd wager most people's interactions with police are during random breath tests (RBTs) on the road.

Really?
I've been driving since I was 14 and haven't been breathalyzed once.
I've been pulled over for speeding, for expired tags and for driving in a lane that wasn't actually a lane but never a random car stop.
Just how frequent are these things?

 

[Toni]

See, your take might be funny if it didn't sound like something that some believe is the actual objection to the weight given the SATs.

If you ever wanted a reason to doubt how good a measure they are of academic or subject ability, chew on this a while. I scored nearly a perfect score on the math portion of the SAT. For real.

I believe things based on evidence, and doubt them if there is no evidence or counterevidence.

But since, by your own admission, you did very well academically at university, I'm struggling to understand what you're trying to say. It seems to me your SAT results were indeed a very good predictor of your academic potential and this is a good argument to keep the SAT and possibly increase its weighting.

I was mostly referring to your opinions of my math ability.

The truth is that I was just good at taking tests. I get bored playing chess but back in the day, taking tests was fun for me. Some people are not good at taking tests. Not reflective of knowledge or intellectual ability. I know enough truly bright people to know that my test scores were.... surprisingly generous. Which is why I am very much aware of the limits of this sort of testing and what they do and do not predict. My math scores were stellar. My interest in math and performance in math was not stellar. In fact, I was in and out of college multiple times, for a variety of reasons. I am extremely aware of pressures facing a lot of students. Pressures that can be cushioned by a firmer foot hold in middle or upper middle class--or higher. My family had no such cushion. And some extremely rough times.

The truth is that high SAT scores are more closely correlated to family income than they are to anything else. This gap has grown, not lessened, in the years since I took the SATs. In part because of things like SAT cram courses, which are easily available to wealthier students and not for students who are poor or whose family does not have a history of attending university.

 

[Metaphor]

I don't know. I'd wager most people's interactions with police are during random breath tests (RBTs) on the road.

Really?
I've been driving since I was 14 and haven't been breathalyzed once.
I've been pulled over for speeding, for expired tags and for driving in a lane that wasn't actually a lane but never a random car stop.
Just how frequent are these things?

In Australia, RBTs are certainly the most common reason I've been pulled over. I've been stopped for speeding once but I've been breathalysed at an RBT probably 8-10 times (this is in about 15 years of driving).