Photos and video from the Brazil vs. Venezuela soccer match at Gillette Stadium.
Ms. Bart, however, explains why "I wish the people in charge of stadiums in Massachusetts never again invited foreign soccer teams to play around here."
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Comments
oh, dear
By pom
Sat, 06/07/2008 - 7:44pm
The Brazilian tailgaters outside her complex were blasting "some ethnic music," were they?
Not a pretty picture
By Michael Kerpan
Mon, 06/09/2008 - 4:48pm
Reading this person's other entries, one gets that she is a pretty selfish, self-absorbed individual. Whining about her condo association considering a request to allow another owner to keep a slightly larger dog than the rules permit. Congratulating a town for shutting down public pools (on the grounds that they cost too much and aren't really needed). And this is just on her front page.
high comedy
By Miss M
Sat, 06/07/2008 - 8:07pm
Oh man, it started with, "This was a nice neighborhood until the BROWN PEOPLE got here," and went downhill from there. I can't even get mad at that kind of obnoxiousness; I just have to laugh.
Geesh
By SwirlyGrrl
Sat, 06/07/2008 - 9:00pm
And here I used to get pissed off at white people who were born in this country being obnoxious arseholes, playing loud music that I didn't like and leaving trash around.
More of "them" taking jobs that Americans used to do. What is this world coming to?
[/snark]
woweewowow
By pom
Sat, 06/07/2008 - 9:53pm
I completely skipped the preamble. Sadly, ethnic music is the least of her problems.
so for ONE HOUR from 5-6 PM
By anon
Sat, 06/07/2008 - 11:48pm
so for ONE HOUR from 5-6 PM you could hear someone's music and so you called th epolice and your mom thinks they're going to come back an slash your tires.
That's pretty funny.
They were hanging out at a decent hour, not 5-6 AM, and you were fascinated enough to watch them and know what they were drinking.
How do you know that they were new to this country?
Other than setting off your internal bigot-alarm, do you know that they weren't American?
I wonder if your ancestors have been represented in Boston with dance, music, sports, performances or anything that would attract an attendance that would cause people to drive through a residential neighborhood that wasn't their own?
alerting the authorities
By pom
Sun, 06/08/2008 - 9:42am
seems to be a favorite pastime.
your lifestyle does not conform to my specifications
By Lissa Harris
Sun, 06/08/2008 - 10:48am
What offends passive-aggressive condo types more: brown people and their ethnic music, or yellow rocking chairs? PATIO FURNITURE ONLY PLZ.
I thank God every day I don't live in a neighborhood where your neighbors serve legal papers on you for hanging your laundry in the yard. These folks are going to be seriously up the creek when the Apocalypse comes.
she totally hates brazilians
By anon
Sun, 06/08/2008 - 9:00pm
from an earlier rant:
I more loudly said that cell phones aren't allowed in the gym, pointed to the rule sheet that is laminated and posted in 8 different locations, as well as every owner's dossier. The jackass gives me the this is important and will only take a few seconds gesture. He then sits down, continues to loudly speak in Portuguese and stare at my bum. I've cranked up the volume on the television as loudly as I can, but I can still hear his conversation. (Anyone knew Portuguese for 'shrew'?) I hop off the treadmill and loudly yell, "Take the call outside or hang up now." He did leave, but not after an obscene gesture....I suspect the call was to a girlfriend who his wife/ baby mama isn't aware of.
http://mrsbart.blogspot.com/2008/05/hang-up.html
REALLY hates Brazilians!
By anon
Sun, 06/08/2008 - 9:28pm
Well, I've updated the photos on my online dating sites. This means more traffic to my ad. That's both good and bad. The sites I use ask me to specificy my ideal date. I'm pretty open minded about some things, but I'm getting tired of obvious NOs sending me mail. My age bracket is set from 34 to 49. Why am I getting notes from 26 year olds and 58 year olds? I prefer to date men of European or Native American descent. Who is writing to me: Brazilians and Indians. I prefer men to be unattached: never married, divorced or widowered. Of course, I've gotten a run of notes from guys who are 'separated'. Write when the divorce is final.
http://mrsbart.blogspot.com/2007_09_01_archive.html
Jeez
By Miss M
Mon, 06/09/2008 - 5:58am
Well, I can't imagine why she can't get a date with that sunshiny, racist attitude.
I believe the term is
By pom
Sun, 06/08/2008 - 10:17pm
jararaca.
jararacas!
By Lissa Harris
Mon, 06/09/2008 - 7:59am
I thought St. Pat threw them all out of Ireland. Looks like he missed one.
Culture Clash
By Gareth
Mon, 06/09/2008 - 10:58am
It strikes me as a little mean to pick on Ms. Bart so much. I'd imagine she's about as racist as the rest of us. Most people are at least a little racist. Except she has a blog. One of the reasons I don't keep a blog is that I really don't want to look online and see some anonymous deconstructing something asinine I said two years ago. I'd rather share my asinine comments verbally with friends and family.
I just wanted to bring to this conversation some experience of the same culture clash that got Ms. Bart all riled up, but from the other side. I lived in Brazil for years, and I can testify to the fact that public space is treated differently. The street in front of my condo would get closed down about every other week for some street party or another, with a big sound truck carrying speakers, and music until 10 or 1 (depending upon the importance of the festival) or sometimes all night long (Carnaval). It is my humble observations that Brazilians really like to party, in public, and at high volume. (Me, not quite so much... I had to go to work in the morning whether or not my neighbors were partying.)
So when she says that a bunch of Brazilians were partying hearty at high volume in her condo's parking lot, I tend to believe her, and when she says that these sort of public space conflicts occur repeatedly in her building, where numerous Brazilians have recently moved in, and this annoys her, I believe her. It's not just something we can fob off as "Ms. Bart is a bad nasty racist (but I am pure of all sin)." It's a culture clash. Brazilian culture is different from American culture, and this can cause conflict.
I'd guess one big difference between her and me is that I'm more on the if you can't beat 'em, join 'em side. I think it would probably be healthy for Ms. Bart to relax a little bit and talk to some of these peculiar foreigners. Brazilians, in my experience, tend to be very, very friendly. If instead of fulminating in front of her window, she walked down and talked to them, they'd probably 1. offer her a beer and 2. accomodate her somewhat.
It's a question of how one responds to one's conflicts. Calling the police is probably not a very effective or satisfying solution. Nor is just lumping it. Reaching out a little bit, trying to understand other people's point of view, and finding a compromise, is probably a more productive approach.
if you can't beat 'em, call the condo board/manager/cops
By pom
Mon, 06/09/2008 - 11:56am
No attempt here to deny that there are differences among cultures. The point isn't that the OP acknowledges them or even that the Brazilian culture rubs her the wrong way.
The point to me is that she seems to be on a gleeful one-person campaign to stamp out the influence of that culture wherever she finds it. Using the biggest pair of boots she has at hand. And to be expecting to win the sympathy--nay, the admiration--of her readers via her exploits.
We've become her readers. I'm inclined to give her a little pushback.
Big boots
By Gareth
Mon, 06/09/2008 - 12:24pm
I don't think her boots are big enough for the task. And I think it's going to make her unhappy, repeatedly, as she learns that lesson again and again.
But, then again, this is a woman whose idea of how to get the down payment for a house is playing the lottery, so maybe her effectiveness analysis isn't so good.
It just kind of bugged me how facile it is to jump on the bandwagon and call her a racist. That's not even the right word; what she expressed wasn't racism but xenophobia.
racism, xenophobia, lottery
By pom
Mon, 06/09/2008 - 12:42pm
Agreed--"racism" here strikes me as more imprecise than actionable, but it is surely imprecise.
As for the lottery plan--I missed that one. I find that kind of charming.
On the other hand ...
By SwirlyGrrl
Mon, 06/09/2008 - 12:45pm
When you were in Brazil, there was some expectation that you would not throw fits about the noise and partying because it wasn't your culture.
I think there has to be some expectation that people who move from another country to the US, or from one area of the US to another, or from a college party zone to a residential neighborhood, etc. all have to recognize that the expectations around behavior have changed as well. (although I can see where the leaving trash around might be considered to be assimilation in this part of the country ...)
I think this is part of why The Netherlands put together a "don't like it? don't come" video that spelled out the cultural differences.
Americans abroad
By Gareth
Mon, 06/09/2008 - 1:13pm
I think it's a pretty accurate generalization to say that Americans, when abroad, continue to act as if they're in America. So I don't think that's a very good argument.
I don't know if I would say there was an expectation I would not throw fits; I'd say the contrary was more likely true (Americans are almost as famous as Germans for throwing fits). I assure you I threw at least one. But it didn't do any good, so I stopped. Whether I threw a fit or not, I'd still wake up the next day and have to get along with the people around me. I don't think anybody there would tell you I assimilated, but I did learn. (One thing I learned is that an awful lot of people leave town during Carnaval because they can't stand the noise).
There should be some expectation. But this expectation isn't going to materialize out of thin air. Social norms are constructed and maintained through personal interaction, not through anonymous flyers or signs (and not through Americans throwing fits). They emerge through people talking to each other socially, freely, and civilly.
the OP seems to function as a heat-seeking missile
By pom
Mon, 06/09/2008 - 1:51pm
--on the hunt for aberrant behavior that she can subsequently throw herself into rooting out. A little pathological. Intolerant, by definition.
I'm actually not sure what you are getting at here, Dr. SG. When an individual/small group moves onto a bigger group's turf, its choices amount to assimilating or standing/hunkering down in opposition. The majority culture has every tool on its side, down to the most subtle social pressure (which is not exactly what we are dealing with here).
Not saying it's wrong. Just saying there's no real need for a citizen's army to speed the process along.
at least not one made up of
By pom
Mon, 06/09/2008 - 2:11pm
curtain-peeking killjoys.
for one hour
By anon
Mon, 06/09/2008 - 2:41pm
they were partying hearty for one hour. from 5-6pm. it wasn't all night. it wasn't for 2 hours. it wasn't at an obscene hour. AND they were blasting "ethnic" music.
we're not making fun of her for being on internet dating pages, but for being a killjoy and a bit of a bigot.
and for calling the police
By anon
Mon, 06/09/2008 - 3:42pm
is that really an emergency?
would they really come back & slash her tires?
brazilians
By bostnkid
Mon, 06/09/2008 - 11:17am
i used to live in allston and i would party with the brazilians during the world cup.those guys know how to party.oh yeah, the women are as hot as it gets! they can dance in front of my house anytime.
Wow -- I do whine!
By MsBart
Mon, 06/09/2008 - 9:52pm
Hi all,
Thanks for the different perspective. I admit that I love the anonymity of whining on my blog.
The main reason I called the cops was because the tailgaters were pretty intoxicated when they hit the roads. I live in a pretty residential area and would prefer that the children of the neighborhood not get mowed down by drunk drivers.
And if anyone wants to have the soccer parties at their house next time, please be my guest!
MsB.
our job here is done
By pom
Tue, 06/10/2008 - 8:39am
The scales have fallen from her eyes!
I'm getting chills.