have you ever met a GYPSY?

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where/when, describe plz

― Tracer Hand (tracerhand), Friday, 6 February 2004 14:03 (twenty-two years ago)

Yes, she tried to give me some heather, I told her to f@#k off. I am cursed! figures!

― Pinkpanther (Pinkpanther), Friday, 6 February 2004 14:05 (twenty-two years ago)

new cigarettes-and-bangles-and-acoustic-guitars-are-my-most-up-to-date-info-about-them answers!!!!

xpost Pink what do you have against free heather??

― Tracer Hand (tracerhand), Friday, 6 February 2004 14:07 (twenty-two years ago)

It's never free my boy!

― Pinkpanther (Pinkpanther), Friday, 6 February 2004 14:10 (twenty-two years ago)

i.e. more of a skanky traveller sort. (like the ones who nicked my bike & broke into my car!)

― Pinkpanther (Pinkpanther), Friday, 6 February 2004 14:10 (twenty-two years ago)

Cordoba, Spain two years ago.

Sitting in a park with my girlfriend. Gypsy runs up, steals her bag. I run after him shouting "POLICE! THIEF!" and the such like until he hides by a tree. I square up to him, he pulls a knife. I yell "POLICE!" again. He empties bag on floor and takes phone and some change, but misses credit cards. We report it to the police who find him on their gypsy thief system. Police go and arest him.

His name was Anton.

― MikeyG (MikeyG), Friday, 6 February 2004 14:13 (twenty-two years ago)

gypsy thief system?

― teeny (teeny), Friday, 6 February 2004 14:15 (twenty-two years ago)

I paraphrase.

― MikeyG (MikeyG), Friday, 6 February 2004 14:15 (twenty-two years ago)

Is it like the gypsy grapevine? *cue dancing*

― Pinkpanther (Pinkpanther), Friday, 6 February 2004 14:16 (twenty-two years ago)

"gypsy thief system"?? do they have one for arabs, too i wonder?

xpost

― Tracer Hand (tracerhand), Friday, 6 February 2004 14:16 (twenty-two years ago)

Roughly every day on a street corner, in the metro or in some disreputable establishment.

― Baaderist (Fabfunk), Friday, 6 February 2004 14:17 (twenty-two years ago)

where are these establishments and can we eat them?? i have this idea (gleaned from movies, no doubt) that they are kind of closed-off and insular; it seems vaguely odd that gypsies would just be hanging out at the bar or something

the lovely Emma B tells me that one of her close friends in France fell in love w/a gypsy girl and eventually her parents demanded that they get married and become "one of them" - he refused, and she had to leave him

also she says had gypsies in her class at school and everyone was seriously afraid of them

― Tracer Hand (tracerhand), Friday, 6 February 2004 14:21 (twenty-two years ago)

This is gypsy food according to google images...
http://www.food104.com/editor/kato/mourning/imagi/bb3.jpg

― Pinkpanther (Pinkpanther), Friday, 6 February 2004 14:22 (twenty-two years ago)

Are "gypsies" the same as "travellers" here, or is this a racial epithet? I'm already a little uncomfortable with this thread.

― Matt DC (Matt DC), Friday, 6 February 2004 14:23 (twenty-two years ago)

I think there is a difference actually. Travellers tend to be the types of ppl that cause trouble where they go & there are genuine gypsies.

― Pinkpanther (Pinkpanther), Friday, 6 February 2004 14:24 (twenty-two years ago)

Tracer, I live in Central Europe (Czech Republic to be precise), where Romas constitute a big demography, (very) slightly more integrated than in Western Europe. They often hang out at all-night gambling bars.

― Baaderist (Fabfunk), Friday, 6 February 2004 14:26 (twenty-two years ago)

i met a quite a few when i was living in prague. a friend of mine did advocacy work for the roma community.

― lauren (laurenp), Friday, 6 February 2004 14:31 (twenty-two years ago)

gypsies is a politically incorrect term. we call them PIKEYS now.

― stevem (blueski), Friday, 6 February 2004 14:37 (twenty-two years ago)

Express tabloid in UK claimed yesterday that its predictions of a "tidal wave" of romani immigrants (as a result of expanded EU membership) was the nudge Blair needed to say on Wednesday that "we will take whatever measures are necessary in order to make sure that the pull factor which might draw people here is closed off"

"roms" will have to stay in UK for at least two years before they can draw benefits, which would be a HUGE CHANGE to existing law. express headline read: "Gypsies: you can't come in"

― Tracer Hand (tracerhand), Friday, 6 February 2004 14:38 (twenty-two years ago)

there are a class of people in spain referred to as gypsies, whether they are roma or not I've no idea. The police (and particularly the guardia civil) have a depressing track record of persecuting them.

― pulpo, Friday, 6 February 2004 14:38 (twenty-two years ago)

Jewel is my favourite gypsy-lite

― stevem (blueski), Friday, 6 February 2004 14:40 (twenty-two years ago)

Lauren, have you ever checked out the Khamoro festival (gypsy culture festival in Prague)?

― Baaderist (Fabfunk), Friday, 6 February 2004 14:40 (twenty-two years ago)

Tracer has just touched on the point that makes me uncomfortable... to what extent are "gypsies" and "asylum seekers" conflated in the minds of the Great British Public.

I want to burn down the offices of the Daily Express. It's becoming worse than the Mail.

― Matt DC (Matt DC), Friday, 6 February 2004 14:41 (twenty-two years ago)

I don't know how it is in other Central European country but for the last three years it's been nearly impossible for any czech gypsy to go to the UK, since UK immigration officers are present at the Prague airport, in order to make 'random' checks on 'random' passengers boarding to the UK (to see if they've got enough money to for their stay, determine the purpose of their visit, etc.).
Outrageous.

― Baaderist (Fabfunk), Friday, 6 February 2004 14:47 (twenty-two years ago)

My friend lives in Portland, and knows a ton. Theyre big in the used car business I guess.

― David Allen (David Allen), Friday, 6 February 2004 15:15 (twenty-two years ago)

I went to a Stevie Nicks concert.

― Huckadelphia (Horace Mann), Friday, 6 February 2004 15:17 (twenty-two years ago)

Yes, in the shop. they came in a few times, stole a lot and left. this was a decade or so ago. apparently one of the *gypsy-kings* was ill (and subsequently died). several families came to our region to pay respect (and steal).

― nathalie (nathalie), Friday, 6 February 2004 15:26 (twenty-two years ago)

When I was only seventeen, I fell in love with a gypsy queen. She told me "hold on".

(AAAAAAHHHHH!!!)

― David "Lord" Byron, Friday, 6 February 2004 15:26 (twenty-two years ago)

why is it outrageous Baaderist? (genuine curiosity)

― stevem (blueski), Friday, 6 February 2004 15:30 (twenty-two years ago)

Blatant discrimination, basically. Several journalists have tested the system and systematically the Roma ones would be checked and required to produce evidence that 'normal' passengers would not.

― Baaderist (Fabfunk), Friday, 6 February 2004 15:39 (twenty-two years ago)

That's unfortunate but then if they DON'T have the right money or a satisfactory purpose for visiting (how this is proven I'm not sure) then what? Why are they going to the UK? I guess it's unfair to judge them on that basis though.

― stevem (blueski), Friday, 6 February 2004 15:44 (twenty-two years ago)

I like the phrase Gypsy Slag Wagon.

I can see how it might be interpreted as derogatory, mind.

― MikeyG (MikeyG), Friday, 6 February 2004 15:53 (twenty-two years ago)

Steve, if interested, check out this article:
http://society.guardian.co.uk/asylumseekers/story/0,7991,529601,00.html

It seems the controls are pretty arbitrary, ie. if they don't believe you're going to the UK for holidays, they won't let you go.

― Baaderist (Fabfunk), Friday, 6 February 2004 16:06 (twenty-two years ago)

Definitely have met Gypsies! I was working in Paris and had been warned months in advance about the roving bands of them, stealing brazenly from "tourists". I was with a group of friends (8) in the Metro station.

A huge fracus happened behind us and we saw 4 grown men throw around and slap two very young kids. Turns out the men were undercover cops for Paris and they had been watching these two kids (8 & 10) steal right off of 4 tourists. While we were watching them empty the kids pockets of digital cameras, wallets, etc., I saw the police take out MY wallet, which is highly distinctive!!! The cops never saw them take out my wallet from INSIDE my security coat pocket; they busted them for the camera from Italian tourists.

I ran over to the police, identified my wallet, and ended up spending 4 hours in the police department of Notre Dame; I.D.ing the perps, my wallet and swearing in a statement. They could only hold the kids for 24 hours because they were minors; it had been their 5 offence.

The cops told me that the "Gypsies" in Paris were a plaque that can't be held back.

― PsychoKitty, Friday, 6 February 2004 16:18 (twenty-two years ago)

why did the word become 'gypsy' become unpalatable incidentally? is it merely because of the derogatory connotation when used by people to attack them i.e. as with 'Paki'?

― stevem (blueski), Friday, 6 February 2004 16:21 (twenty-two years ago)

i feel kinda bad that all my experiences with gypsies have been bad ones. they have a very interesting history. i was gonna pick up a book the other day about their history so i could learn more. but yeah, the ones i knew were the cliche petty thief/fortune teller types who really really really used to piss me off when i worked in various grocery stores in center city philadelphia. mostly nickle and dime stuff, but that just made it worse cuz they came in all the time and would always freak out if you caught them trying something dumb. They would deny everything and it would just go on for months and that kind of stuff just made me feel shitty cuz i am no law and order nut or anything. example: making 300 photocopies on the copy machine in a store i worked at and telling me that you made 3. stuff like that.and then denying it like crazy instead of just paying me and leaving. or just running like a normal crook. i guess i prefer less histrionic thieves.
sorry if this sounds mean. i wanted to post this cuz it's the only case for me where all my contact with a group of people has been neagative and it's a weird feeling. and these weren't 1 or 2 isolated incidents. this is years of this shit. if i look at it as the survival instincts of a displaced people then it doesn't seem so bad. and i love movies about colorful con men on the road who are free from societies rules. but you know what, in real life, it's just a friggin' pain in the ass.

― scott seward (scott seward), Friday, 6 February 2004 16:31 (twenty-two years ago)

I've encountered many gypsies in europe, but the one gypsy i met was in san francisco. She owned a restaurant that specialized in Roma cuisine. She seemed crazy but was really nice. It was my birthday and my sister was just married so the owner kept on giving us special gypsy drinks made with "secret recipes". Her husband was Croatian but was obsessed with Romany culture and gave us all these books on Romany history, poetry, and so on.....The flambe cake was awesome.

― waxyjax (waxyjax), Friday, 6 February 2004 17:00 (twenty-two years ago)

When I was in Paris, our professor took us to a gypsy circus. It was a nice little one ring circus. I can't remember much about it, except they had singing.

― tokyo rosemary (rosemary), Friday, 6 February 2004 17:20 (twenty-two years ago)

Right. This is obviously ill-informed bigotry, but can someone explode the myth that gypsies leave all their rubbish behind them?

― Markelby (Mark C), Friday, 6 February 2004 17:33 (twenty-two years ago)

(possibly UK-specific - I don't know about other countries)

― Markelby (Mark C), Friday, 6 February 2004 17:33 (twenty-two years ago)

I think the important question is: Does lucky heather work?

― MikeyG (MikeyG), Friday, 6 February 2004 17:35 (twenty-two years ago)

maybe once, maybe twice

― gygax! (gygax!), Friday, 6 February 2004 17:49 (twenty-two years ago)

most people in the UK leave their rubbish behind them mark, i speak as a regular user of trains and buses.

― stevem (blueski), Friday, 6 February 2004 17:52 (twenty-two years ago)

I think my sister's boyfriend comes from gypsies, or something similar. He family were itinerant vagabonds who travelled around the US living in cars and under underpasses, and that's about all we can get out of him. He is charming but wrong about things all the time; he has a social security number that turned out to be FAKE; you absolutely cannot nail down what his past is. He's harmless (I suppose) but slippery as an eel.

― akm (akmonday), Friday, 6 February 2004 17:53 (twenty-two years ago)

One night I wandered along the Black Sea beach in the little Bulgarian town of Sozopol. I had a bottle of white wine. There was a family of gypsies camped in a burned-out building. They had a cart with a donkey and a small bear on a chain, and lots of naked kids running around.

I remember thinking: "How sad - they're homeless with little kids." Then I realized, "They're GYPSIES, dumbass. They SUPPOSED to be homeless." Then I didn't feel so bad for them.

― andy, Friday, 6 February 2004 18:22 (twenty-two years ago)

Re: 'Gypsies Terrorise Small Coastal Communities'
there are stories of small gang of pickpockets and thieves which operate throughout europe in the summer months, basically moving from city to city every week or so. Apparently, they work as a team moving the stolen item between them very quickly, making it difficult to catch them. I wonder to what extent this is actually true or actually just another Daily Mail 'Darky Terror' story. Another recent story was the 'beggars earning 2000 pounds a week'...

I went to see Big Fish at warner village yesterday and during the previews/ads there was this pompous and hilariously overstated commerical about 'movie piracy supports drugs, terrorism, and prostitution' *cue: explosion, screams, small blond child falls to ground, small doll bounces from her grasp to be trampled by surging hordes*

Seems like we are importing American fear culture! I personally can't wait for coloured terror alerts, it would allow me to decide each day's wardrobe accurately within the political zeitgeist of the time! champion!

― Chief Boabab (Chief Boabab), Friday, 6 February 2004 18:24 (twenty-two years ago)

I was given a lucky rosemary sprig in Spain and the woman wouldn't leave until I gave her some coins soI did (less than a buck). It didn't bring me any luck, not even once.

My sister's husband once managed an apartment building and he said after some gypsies moved out he discovered they had been using the hall closet as a meat smoker and the inside was completely covered in greasy soot.

And the word "gypsy" comes from the name Egypt, which was a misnomer right from the start, so that may be one reason the Roma don't like it. I believe they trace back to northern India. Also the word "gyp" (defraud) comes from "gypsy."

― nickn (nickn), Friday, 6 February 2004 22:42 (twenty-two years ago)

My Scottish great-grandmother was a gypsy, my great-grandfather's family were uncool with them getting married so they came to Canada hurrah

― Pious Twin (abennett), Saturday, 7 February 2004 00:12 (twenty-two years ago)

Pharoah: "they're Jews, they're SUPPOSED to be homeless"

― Tracer Hand (tracerhand), Saturday, 7 February 2004 20:21 (twenty-two years ago)

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