> > > > > Try touch-typing the word "stewardesses."
> > > >
> > > > stewardesses.
> > > >
> > > > >Notice anything?
> > > >
> > > > no.
> > > >
> > > > > Finchplucke
> > > >
> > > > -M"confused"el
> > >
> > > 'S all on the left hand.
> > > I don't touch-type, though I'm getting there with hunt-and-peck (scary), but I've heard it before.
> > >
> > > Chr"you use the home-row more than is proportional to the letters in the alphabet"is
> >
> > The correct term is "flight attendant." But it takes both hands.
> > Howard
>
> Aha! You have stumbled upon the true reason for the term "flight attendant"! You see, it is not only PC, it helps prevent carpal tunnel syndrome!
>
> You're welcome! Always at your service!
> The PC Police.

Well, now, another political correctness-o-philiac. I think political correctness is getting too out of hand. It has major gaping flaws, like what if the person isn't an American? What do you call them then? Latin-Canadian? African-African? I don't know many white people who call themselves Caucasian; I don't know many black people who call themselves African-American.

In fact, this whole thing reminded me of a post I was part of a few months ago. Someone pointed out that there was a Caucasian mountain range. Well, today, I looked in my dictionary for it, and I didn't find it, but it did say that Caucasian came from a term coined by a German anthropologist who mistakenly thought that Indo-European civilization came from the Caucasus region. I looked on a map in the back of my dictionary, and what do I see? A region labeled "Caucasus" in a southern portion of the USSR. Clearly, Caucasus is not part of the USSR anymore, but that region was a part sticking from the main body of the USSR, bordering with Turkey and Iran. On the west of Caucasus is the Black Sea, and on the east is the Caspian sea. I don't know what this area is called nowadays in modern times, but I know I sure didn't come from there. Therefore, I refuse to be called Caucasian. You may call me white, or you may call me Dutch-German-Irish-Hungarian-Scottish-Polish-English-French-American. No "European-American" for me, thank you; it's too general. You may also call me Morris.

Getting back to the main point, I think it's a bad idea to call stewards and stewardesses "flight attendants" or to call actresses "actors". I think the Academy Awards is doing the right thing by saying "Best Actress in a Supporting Role" instead of "Female Actor" or whatever they would say.

-Dr. Morris Cecil "Julia Roberts is not an actor---or an actress; have you seen here in a movie? She's terrible!" Glalet, Th.D.
Mon 5 Dec A.D. 1999