I don't know about most of your rant, but I felt I would share what I see and hear every day.
I work at a very multicultural place. In fact, I am trying to think of anyone else in my section that was born in Canada, and I can't think of any. My section consists of Indians, Polish, Portuguese, Filipino, Chinese, Vietnamese, Jamaican, Dominican, and possibly a few others. I am Canadian born, but parents are immigrants (European).
For the most part I appreciate multiculturalism. I think it enriches life with different styles, sights, and sounds, and all of these people I get along with.
Now for the politically incorrect part:
With differences there are going to be some tension, but lately (perhaps due to my proximity to Brampton) I cannot get over the amount of bitching and moaning I hear about Indians and Pakistanis, these complaints include:
1) A large percentage of the Indians and Pakistanis that work where we work seem to try harder to not work than the effort they put in.
2) Along with #1 we have a disproportionate number of Indians and Pakistanis on 'modified duties' or on short term disabilities.
3) Along with #2, my workplace has a lot of handicap parking spaces -- over 100 -- yet every day they are completely full and handicap stickered cars are parking with the rest of us. Who is parking in the handicap spaces? You guessed it, Indian and Pakistani. Are the disabilities real? I have no idea.
4) My manager who makes roughly $100k/year is an Indian guy. He goes on and on about how him and his wife continue to live with his parents and brothers and sisters. Other people then complain and say no wonder their kids will never own a house on their own when there are certain people that live 10+ to a house and don't have an issue with high housing costs or property taxes because they divide it by 10+. Maybe they are the ones being smart, but I certainly couldn't live like that.
5) The industry I work in is somewhat related to the trucking industry. There is always lots of talk about how trucking used to be a decent career. Now the Sikhs have undercut to the point where truckers barely make over minimum wage because Sikhs do it for less, then don't bother to maintain their trucks. I don't know too much about that, but I do see truckers every day that can barely speak English and can barely drive a truck, and I cannot help but wonder how they got their license. I also see a lot of local trucks (i.e. don't pass through weigh scales) that are literally falling apart. Holes in the floor, doors that barely open or close, lift-gates that are held up by wire -- truly horrendous mechanical conditions. Every day I have certain trucks that I tell the driver if they want to be offloaded they are doing it themselves, because my forklift drivers are not going on their trucks.
6) Finally, I hear talk about if there is a scam in play, there is an Indian or Pakistani behind it. From car insurance fraud to real estate fraud, you name it. I've spoken to real estate agents that say if an Indian or Pakistani is involved, they try to avoid the deal as it isn't worth the hassle.
Now this is just some of what I keep hearing coming out of the mouths of many different ethnicities -- and as I said none of them are Canadian born, very few are white, but they all share one common complaint. I wonder if all of this is just due to my proximity to Brampton and due to the number of Indian and Pakistani immigrants there we are bound to run into the 'bad apples', or is there something in those cultures that perpetuates lying, cheating, and laziness?
Now, I'd better put on my flame suit, as I have a feeling I am going to take some heat over this one!
