"Jay Honeck" wrote:
Your hypersensitivity aside, I'm trying to explain to you WHY the
French are the butt of jokes in America.
But they aren't the butt of jokes in America. At least not where I
live.

They have been both places I've lived.

I've lived in two states

So? I've lived in four states: Minnesota (37 years), North Carolina (1
year), California (12 years), and Oregon (3 years and counting). And I've
actually had a boss who was from France, for what that is worth.

In every locale, in every position, the French are AT BEST chuckled
at. Maybe it's a Midwestern thing, maybe it's a generational thing --
I don't know -- but it's pretty much universal, and was especially
prevalent with my dad's (WWII) generation.

I'm from the midwest too. When I was growing up it wasn't the French who
were the butt of jokes, it was Polish jokes. One of my uncles was of Polish
descent and he heard 'em all - and turned them around and changed the
nationality to that of the listener's. So this:

Q: Did you hear about the Polish Helicopter crash?
A: The pilot got cold, so he turned off the fan.

became this:

Q: Did you hear about the Romanian Helicopter crash?
A: The pilot got cold, so he turned off the fan.

(My last name is Romanian or some corruption of it, so we heard a lot of
Romanian jokes from him. :-))