sable1066

I was tagged on Facebook recently by someone who was a friend of a friend of mine. I was flattered that she would write, but I did have a hard time understanding her message. A part of it being:

"I GET ALONE WITH EVERYBODY GOT A GUD MIND AND GUD LUKS DONT USE THEM FOR EVERYTHING ELSE. IM OUT HERE. GET AT ME HOLLA AT YA!!!!!

I know that I am half Black but I am also half Puerto Rican, does that make everyone assume that I am fluent in Spanish? I was always told to speak proper English growing up, and not to fall into what has now become known as Ebonics. In the passing years I have discovered this to be good advice, especially if you want to progress in the business world. I have run into many people who have given me crap in the past for my manner of speaking, but I don't really care about that. If that is what you want then more power to you. I only ask that if you want to talk, then lets talk, I love a good conversation with a person who can express themselves clearly. I know that slang; Ebonics, etc. will always exist, but try speaking plain English first! A long time ago a female friend told me that the best line she ever heard from a guy was ' hello, my name is... Any idiot can come up with or find on the internet some useless and often insulting line to try and break the ice. I feel the same way about the slang issue. Do not assume from my picture or any other superficial characteristic that I will be a walking stereotype. Give me the same respect that you would want in return, is that too much to ask? Yes I did write back to her and let her know how I felt about the issue, and strangely enough her reply was quite cogent. Why oh why do we have to assume and play games?!