Tap

@dessa, I'm sorry you have been exposed to this type of bigotry. I still can't quite believe those words came from an Irish person, I'm very disappointed and can only assume BMurphy has some deep rooted issues that he really needs to deal with.

  I'm not sure I would agree with this, most of the people I communicate with on here, do have children.  However, I notice a new generation coming on that probably don't, yet.   I feel the question about having children was a valid one, considering the discussion. Having children changes your view on many things and makes you more cautions, on their behalf.

Sorry to hear that, it's not easy feeling trapped somewhere you don't want to be.   

You seem quite dissatisfied with the way German society functions, so why stay here?  Ireland has, apparently, a booming economy and is encouraging people to come back. Wouldn’t that be a better fit for you? There’s nothing worse than being unhappy where you are, that just leads to bigger issues.

You've got to bring them up confident in themselves. It's hard, but so worth it

I have had this discussion with many people, students, colleagues and friends, but change takes time.  I can remember, as a child and a teenager, we were expected to be covered from neck to knees. My Mother was here one summer and my daughter, who was about 14, was wearing a V-neck t-shirt.  It wasn’t low cut, but lower than anything I would have worn. My Mother turned to me and said, “You can tell she hasn’t been educated by the nuns!”   It’s taken about 40 years for things to change where today, my daughters can feel free to wear what they want.  Most of us haven’t been trying to emasculate men, we just want equality. Give Muslims a chance, they need time and education, just like we did. 

  BMurphy says this guy is "highly intelligent" and "a true philosopher", but he sits at home blaming other people for his inability in finding a mate?  Sounds to me like someone needs to grow up and take responsibility for his own shortcomings.  

  Not wishing to sound morbid here, because I remember those times with extended family and it wasn't always easy, but now, parents-in-law are gone, parents also gone, children have grown up and left home and, although I enjoy my own company, sometimes it gets just a little too quiet around here, and I miss them.

Because society needs to change.   Here's our story, when my daughter decided to study IT, she began with a Duales studium, working in a large company in Frankfurt and studying at a local college sponsored by the company.  It started well, but some weeks in, she started to feel pressure to change her focus.  The sales manager decided that he wanted her in his department, and not in IT.    She fought against it, but eventually, a professor came to her and said, “pretty girls don’t belong in IT, they belong in sales, and the money is better there!”  My daughter came to me and told me that she couldn’t do it anymore, she wanted to leave, I agreed as I could see she wasn’t happy.  She applied to Darmstadt Hochschule for a full-time study, which she got.  Darmstadt were fantastic and it turns out that she’s a bit of a whiz kid at programming and is one of the happiest young people I know.  She’s just finishing up and has had a couple of good job offers, doing something she loves.   What I’m trying to get across here is that there is pressure on young women to do what other people expect of them, and sometimes it’s difficult to stand up to that pressure.  I’m so very proud of my daughters, both of whom are living the lives they choose and not what other people expect of them.  

I don't think a lot of women choose to do these things, they do it because that's what society expects of them and they would often suffer terrible guilt if they didn't do it. 

That has a completely different meaning to an Irish person

  No, but I think he thinks that women are just that stupid!

First lesson yesterday morning at 07:30, student came in saying she’d had a terrible week, she had a pain in her beans.  I looked at her as she put her hand around to her back and I realised she meant her kidneys!  It was a brilliant start to an otherwise long day.

We were all brought up watching him on the Late Late and listening to him on the radio.  I used to work in a newsagents on the coast road at Dollymount and he used to sometimes call in for his newspaper on his way home to Howth, a kind man, I was so sorry to read this today. RIP

I remember it too. It wasn't that bad for you because you're a man.   It wasn't a fair society, but it's getting better.