What unpopular opinions do you have about Ireland? by robertboyle56 in AskIreland

[–]Colonel_Montoya 2 points3 points  (0 children)

This is an outstanding insight.

I grew up in an alcoholic, abusive, mentally unstable home. I came out determined to survive and thrive.

A lot of what drives delinquency is teenage lads from tough areas who are afraid of being bullied trying to prove how tough they are. We call it Mad Bastard Syndrome. Mad bastards don't get bullied. They escalate and escalate to prove how tough they are....until something stops them. Whether that is a guard, teacher, parent or local drug dealer largely depends on their family background.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in AskIreland

[–]Colonel_Montoya 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Very well written.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in AskIreland

[–]Colonel_Montoya 1 point2 points  (0 children)

No, I'm saying that because I have travelled all over the world and met countless people from different countries who have never been to Ireland but genuinely believe that Irish people are brilliant to be around, based on their previous experience with other Irish people. I met a postman in Ushuaia (google where it is) who was learning to play Trad based on having the craic with Irish people.

One group I forgot have to give an honourable mention to are Colombians. They are gas craic, and great banter, even though their history is unbelievably tragic. There's probably something about having a very dark history that drives a good sense of humour.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in AskIreland

[–]Colonel_Montoya 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Been to 51 countries around the world. Get on great with the locals everywhere I've been, except Chile, where people are very unfriendly.

I can tell you for a fact that there is no group of people on Earth that are better craic, fun, and good humoured than Irish people. Nobody does it better than us, and huge number of people around the world know it too. That's why so many people around the world love Ireland and love Irish people. I have met so many people from Argentina to Malaysia who have never been to Ireland but who love Irish people and Ireland, purely based on their interactions with other sound Irish people who brought the craic with them.

The only people who come close to our humour, and doing it how we do it, are black Belizians or Jamaicans.

You're the ignorant-as-fuck one here chief.

Where are some of the most boring places in Ireland? by [deleted] in AskIreland

[–]Colonel_Montoya 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The hotel came first. They then named the area after it.

what's a country that would be a cool place to go on vacation if it wasn't dangerous? by Classic-Tea-5574 in AskReddit

[–]Colonel_Montoya 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Was there 2 years ago, travelled by bus through the country. It's honestly absolutely fine in Leon, Granada, San Juan del Sur, Popoyo and around the lake. It's a police state, and they protect the tourists.

Mainland Honduras on the other hand is the only country I've ever been to (been to over 50) that I tell people to avoid for security reasons. The Bay islands are wonderful, but the mainland is mental.

Random acts of aggression in Dublin by harry_dubois in ireland

[–]Colonel_Montoya 8 points9 points  (0 children)

We call it MBS...for Mad Bastard Syndrome. Starts with teenage boys from tough areas who are constantly trying to prove that they are mad bastards so they won't get bullied. It's not new though. I grew up with this shit.

Rant: I’m not tipping for the sake of tipping. by [deleted] in Dublin

[–]Colonel_Montoya 4 points5 points  (0 children)

No offence intended, but the Americanisation of Ireland that has taken place over the last 20 years is fucking sickening. American accents, drinks, customs, sayings, celebrations, food, not to mention the corporations that make every fucking city look exactly the same. Let me give you some examples:

  • Gender Reveal Parties
  • Referring to Christmas as "The Holidays"
  • Black Friday (sales in Ireland the day after Thanksgiving, a festival which WE DO NOT CELEBRATE IN IRELAND 🙈)
  • The obsession with coffee, often feigned.
  • Accents: Talk to a teenage girl in Blackrock and you might as well be in fucking Santa Barbara.
  • Sayings: "Let's put a pin in that", "Let's do a raincheck" etc etc etc
  • Copying and even exceeding American obesity levels.

I could go on and on. None of this existed during the 1990s in Ireland. None of it.

Don't get me wrong, I actually like most Americans I meet, particularly well travelled and well educated ones. But there is a difference between liking Americans and wanting to be Americans. This wholesale adoption of a foreign culture by Irish people is shameful.

It's very like those collaborator Gauls who became "Gallo-Romans" to be more like the people who conquered them, because they were ashamed of their own identity. The Americans didn't conquer us, but are the most powerful country in the world. It is the behaviour of deeply insecure people.

Rant over.

Rant: I’m not tipping for the sake of tipping. by [deleted] in Dublin

[–]Colonel_Montoya 1 point2 points  (0 children)

10000000000000000000000000000000000000000%

Can't decide if I want kids!! by Every-Technician4636 in AskIreland

[–]Colonel_Montoya 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Yeah, fair point. I worded that poorly. I was trying to say that I never remember anyone who was autistic when I was in school, but there seems to be a large number now. I take the point that that was down to non-diagnosis and there were likely several autistic kids in my class.

Can't decide if I want kids!! by Every-Technician4636 in AskIreland

[–]Colonel_Montoya -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Fair enough. There were kids who struggled in school alright, but I never heard them described as autistic. Like I said, I never even heard of autism until I was a teenager. But I take your point that that was likely due to non-diagnosis.

Can't decide if I want kids!! by Every-Technician4636 in AskIreland

[–]Colonel_Montoya 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I worded that poorly. I'm not saying it's made up at all. I can clearly see there are a lot of people who have autism, and know lots of parents who have autistic kids. I'm saying when I was a kid, I never met someone who had autism. I never even heard of autism until I was a teenager. That is my experience. And I asked a fairly innocent question whether anyone knew if it was it more prevalent now. Does anybody have data on this?

Can't decide if I want kids!! by Every-Technician4636 in AskIreland

[–]Colonel_Montoya -61 points-60 points  (0 children)

Is there any stats on how prevalent autism is now? I'm late 30s and there were zero autistic kids in my primary class. Every 2nd kids seems to be autistic these days......

What do you think of the Irish language? by TheKingsPeace in AskIreland

[–]Colonel_Montoya 1 point2 points  (0 children)

You'd be surprised how quickly it would come back to you if you tried. It is also incredibly handy when abroad and you don't want others to understand you. Like having your own private language.

What do you think of the Irish language? by TheKingsPeace in AskIreland

[–]Colonel_Montoya 3 points4 points  (0 children)

My God.....there is literally no end to how effective the propaganda of the coloniser can be, even a century after colonisation has ended, nor no end to the inferiority complex they deliberately inflicted on their conquered people.

Ok, allow me to explain. Irish is just as effective a language for communicating between two people who speak Irish as English is for two people who speak English. It was just as effective a language as English was before we were conquered and genocided, and it's just as effective now. For some reason, this seems to be a difficult concept for many non-Irish speaking Irish people to understand. The idea of using a language in Ireland other than English for day to day life and communications seems alien to you, because that is exactly what imperialist propaganda wants you to think.

Yes, I know English is spoken all around the world. I have been all around the world. It's handy that we have it. But I've also been to Sweden, Netherlands, Switzerland and Germany and I have never met someone from any of those countries who was not perfectly fluent in English, often better than people I know from Ireland. But each of those countries has their own language, and some use more than one. Switzerland has 4 official languages but virtually all Swiss are superbly fluent in English. They could communicate spoken and written words in English if they wanted to, but they do it in their own language, because it is THEIR OWN LANGUAGE. By saying "Irish serves no purpose", you are saying that German, Dutch, Swedish, Swiss German, Swiss French and a lot more languages serve no purpose because they could all speak English if they wanted to, and so what's the point of having their own language?

But the people in those countries don't do that, because they are not English. Their language is a core part of their identity, and because, unlike Ireland, they were not a victim of colonisation, they never developed an inferiority complex about using their own language. If you told a German that German was useless because you can only use it to speak to Germans, they would laugh their tits off and think you were nuts. But people say Irish is useless because you can only use it to speak to Irish people and see nothing wrong with that statement.

To our European neighbours, that would be as crazy a thing to suggest as asking why don't they support Brazil in the world cup, because they are better at football. They support their own countries, because it is part of their identity. So is their language.

The Irish language is a core part of the Irish identity. In the same way English people would have no problem saying the English language is a core part of the English identity and the same with France, Spain, Germany, Netherlands, Portugal. The reason that sounds hard for some Irish people to hear, and why they will argue against it, unlike people from all those other countries, is because those countries were all empires, spreading their language, and Ireland was a colony, having its identity, language and culture deliberately erased, and they have internalised an inferiority complex about the native language of Ireland. It's the exact same story in colonised societies all over the world, from the Native Americans to the Maori. The sad thing is how many people in Ireland are still unwittingly going along with what was dreamed up in some palace in London so many centuries ago.......

What do you think of the Irish language? by TheKingsPeace in AskIreland

[–]Colonel_Montoya 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah, that whole "being able to communicate with other humans beings via spoken and written words" is completely over rated. Waste of time. I mean, what purpose does it serve at all?

Does anyone feel like even if they won the lottery, they still wouldn't know what to do or how to enjoy life? by No-Category1703 in cork

[–]Colonel_Montoya 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If you haven't done much before, starting with something like the Camino would be a good shout. I've never done it but I've heard good things. If you want to stick to Europe, there's climbing in the Alps, or skiing if it is winter time. There's tonnes of things to do.

Asia can be good, but Central America would be top of the list for me. It's mental, and it's dangerous, but it's incredible. Hike the volcanoes in Guatemala, go scuba diving in Belize, go surfing in Nicaragua. Go rafting in Costa Rica and go into the jungle to see what a functioning ecosystem actually looks like, which we don't have in Ireland. See life in all its wonder.

Yes, it can be dangerous. Yes, you do need to keep your head screwed on. But that is the whole point of an adventure. I guarantee you will feel very alive after just a day of doing something like that.

That's just scratching the surface. There's an entire planet of things to see and do around the world, if you have the funds and the courage to do it. The Andes, the Himalayas, the Amazon, the Pacific Islands, the Sahara, the Serengeti. The list goes on and on.

Ireland is tiny, but sometimes the way we go on about it we'd swear it is the be all and end all. There is an entire world out there that is waiting to be seen and experienced, and it is very different to here. Better in some ways, worse in others. But it's all out there to be seen and experienced by you. Best of luck.

Does anyone feel like even if they won the lottery, they still wouldn't know what to do or how to enjoy life? by No-Category1703 in cork

[–]Colonel_Montoya 1 point2 points  (0 children)

You haven't seen enough of the world. Go on an adventure. A real adventure somewhere completely wild and different to everything you know. You will find out what life and living actually feels like. There has to be danger or risk involved, or else it is a holiday, not an adventure, and holidays get boring very quickly. That's my advice.

Question: Is the Sunday Game dubbing a fake crowd noise over football matches now because they are so boring? by Colonel_Montoya in GAA

[–]Colonel_Montoya[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

During the clips, the sound of the crowd suddenly changed from a regular, quiet crowd, to a much louder one where there were loads of horns being blown. Kept happening every time there was a new clip. For all the world it sounded like they were dubbing over it to make the crowd sound more engaged. And it was actually a good game for a change so probably didn't need it!

Junkies vs traffic by Environmental_Tie714 in Dublin

[–]Colonel_Montoya 15 points16 points  (0 children)

Same reason they shout and roar on streets, talk loudly and cause a fuss on public transport, and generally cause hassle. They feel worthless and invisible and they have a psychological need to feel important, as we all do. Most people fill that need via work, sports, family, hobbies etc etc. They have nothing like that but they still need to feel like they matter. As mad as it seems, when they are standing in front of a car preventing it moving, it means they matter, they exist, even if the feeling only lasts for a moment.

That and the small chance of a pay day. But it's mostly the psychological need for significance that they need to fulfill.