Further to that irritating holiday and the poison pen letter

The gentleman who sent the nasty screed (mentioned in the previous post) has apologized.

I have accepted his apology, as I know where it came from, and could read how upset he was over the issue between the lines of his angry letter.


I'm not going to take it personally, as A) we all have strange things floating underneath the surface, which while we're calm we would never say, but which pop out when we're furious, though later we're horrified that we said them; and B) everybody has the right to be screaming mad at times.


My main reason for posting about it on my blog is that I am full of awe for pent-up furious eloquence. I've always liked reading angry letters (to the editor, to theatre critics, to political pundits), and, as you may have surmised, I've written a few myself.


Sometimes I get tired of a calm, rational, even-keeled response. I really do like a bit of fury now and then, as it proves that the person is awake, alive, and capable of being deeply involved. And when I've caused that reaction in someone else, I am pleased as punch that they were listening - even if they may not have actually heard what I was trying to say.


I'm not going to identify the writer (I am now embarrassed that to some others I've already done so), and I would prefer the relevant mailing list be left ignorant about the exchange.

As Q from Boston said, it would only create unpleasantness.

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Some excerpts from the correspondence below - Dutch bold and italic, translation regular type in square brackets underneath.

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"Sommigen geloven dat Zwarte Piet krenkend is en bestreden moet worden, velen hebben nog niet begrepen dat Zwarte Piet een problematisch geval is of zelfs zou kunnen zijn."
[Some believe that Black Peter is insulting and must be counter-acted, many have not yet grasped that Black Peter is or could even be a problematic issue.]
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"Men is nu eenmaal niet geneigd zijn eigen traditie en eigen geloven onder de loupe te nemen tenzij het absu moet, en men kan en mag dan zeker defensief reageren, alsook aan anders-zijde aanduwen en insisteren. Maar aan een gemeenschappelijke kultuur moet gesleuteld kunnen worden."
[One is not usually inclined to examine one's own traditions and beliefs unless it absolutely has to be done, and certainly one could and should be allowed to react defensively, as well as on the other side of the issue pushing and insisting. But it must be possible to make adjustments to a common culture.]
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"Hier in overzee zijn er gemeenschappen Nederlanders die elk jaar het Sinte-feest willen vieren, opdat hun kinderen tenminste een beetje vertrouwd raken met hun ouders land van herkomst. Ik verwacht niet van hun dat ze rap zo'n traditie zullen prullebakken. Dat moet, buiten het oude kontrei, wel ietsje langzamer."[There are Dutch communities over here which tend to celebrate Sinterklaas, so that their children can at least be familiar with their parents country of origin. I do not expect them to be in a hurry to trash-can a tradition. Outside of the old country, change naturally takes a slower pace.]

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"Het is niet zo lang geleden dat men vreemd keek wanneer iemand zei dat J--- waarschijnlijk niet een mooie blonde Noord-Europeansche uiterlijk had, maar eerder op Anwar ElSadat leek; short and dark. En tijdens de jeugd van onze grootouders zoud ge inmekaar geslagen kunnen worden zo ge zei dat J--- absoluut geen kristen maar een Jood was, of zelfs aan het kerst verhaal twijfelde."
[It isn't that long ago that people would react strangely if someone said that J--- probably didn't have a 'beautiful blond Northern-European appearance, but more likely resembled Anwar Es-Sadat: short and dark. And during the youth of our grandparents you could get the crap kicked out of you if you said that J--- certainly wasn't a christian but a Jew, or if you even doubted the christmas story.]
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