# Celebrating Columbus Day? Read this and think again...



## Ireth (Oct 10, 2013)

Christopher Columbus was awful (but this other guy was not) - The Oatmeal

It's a long read, but don't let that daunt you; it's incredibly informative. Well worth your time!


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## Sparkie (Oct 10, 2013)

I liked this.  Subversive as hell, and mostly true to boot.  Liked that the author referred to the Native Americans 'discovering' the North and South American continents.  Didn't like that the author had to refer to the whole Scandinavian thing.  Eurocentric viewpoints seem to rule our telling of history.

If Columbus were alive today, I think he'd make a good con-artist.  Or maybe a lobbyist in D.C.


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## Legendary Sidekick (Oct 10, 2013)

Well, I'll be celebrating my wedding anniversary that day… and nothing more.


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## Devor (Oct 10, 2013)

Legendary Sidekick said:


> Well, I'll be celebrating my wedding anniversary that day… and nothing more.



Hey Congratulations!  How long has it been?

My 5-year anniversary is this weekend, too.


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## ThinkerX (Oct 11, 2013)

Government Holiday.  Means I can sleep in.


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## Steerpike (Oct 11, 2013)

I don't know. This is probably as much a caricature of Columbus as the conventional history we were all told growing up. Martin Dugard's _The Last Voyage of Columbus_ does a decent job of painting a picture of the guy, good, bad, and otherwise.


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## Legendary Sidekick (Oct 11, 2013)

Devor said:


> Hey Congratulations!  How long has it been?
> 
> My 5-year anniversary is this weekend, too.


7. / Happy 5th!

My wife was telling a coworker what the Chinese say about the 7th year, then her coworker told her western culture has the same thing and calls it the seven-year itch. So until a couple days ago, I never knew what 'seven-year itch' meant... guess I wasn't curious. I knew basically what the itch was, but the seven-year part was what I misunderstood. I thought it had somethng to do with prison life, and without going into detail, I thought it referred to people with a sentence considerably longer than seven years.

My wife said that even if a temptation existed, with three kids who has time to be 'itchy?'



On-topic, I've always been indifferent to Columbus Day, even though 'as an Italian' (half) he's supposed to be a cultural hero. No one in my family pushed that, but I heard that on a_ Sopranos _episode, so someone in my town must've thought that. Well, anyway.......... there's always St. Patrick for my Irish side, right?

(Please wait a few days before posting a link to the essay revealing how St. Patrick actually chased snakes _into England _and the resulting violence makes "Snakes on the Plane" look like a can of peanut brittle... whatever that's supposed to mean.)


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## Reaver (Oct 12, 2013)

Congrats to The Legendary One and The Barbarian.   I had no idea what the seven year itch was either.  I've only known it as a line in a cadence from Full Metal Jacket:

HO CHI MINH IS A SON OF A BITCH 
HE GOT THE BLUEBALL CRABS AND THE SEVEN YEAR ITCH


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## deilaitha (Oct 12, 2013)

Sparkie said:


> If Columbus were alive today, I think he'd make a good con-artist.  Or maybe a lobbyist in D.C.



There's a DIFFERENCE?


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## Lawfire (Oct 12, 2013)

Steerpike said:


> I don't know. This is probably as much a caricature of Columbus as the conventional history we were all told growing up.



It certainly seems that way.


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## Devor (Oct 14, 2013)

I just want to say . . .  I detest Columbus day.  My wife still works, but my son's home from school, and even the daycare centers are closed.  _Grr._


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