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[Closed] Ice Breakers - What's the most interesting fact you've ever had to share?

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You know the usual ice breaker bollocks, where you pair up and find out an "interesting" fact about the person you've been paired with then tell the rest of the people in the room that fact - what's the most interesting or bizarre fact you've had to share with folk?

Missus had the misfortune to do one of those things today - the other person's "interesting" fact was that he/she/it was transgender.

As a second question - would you share that "fact" about the other person?


 
Posted : 19/11/2011 9:18 pm
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Are you saying that you find something that someone else thinks is perfectly normal is strange and worthy of comment?


 
Posted : 19/11/2011 9:22 pm
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I have a birth sibling who is the same age as me but not my twin.
My PhD subject was featured in an episode of Star Trek 8)

And I'd ask them first, but the person was happy to share with one, so I'd expect they felt pretty comfortable about it.


 
Posted : 19/11/2011 9:23 pm
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Oh, that was your wife?


 
Posted : 19/11/2011 9:23 pm
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The question my wife asked went along the lines of "if you were so keen to become a woman and be seen as a woman, why do you want to change the view that people in this room have of you being born a woman?" Wife refused to share it as she saw it as purely attention seeking behaviour.


 
Posted : 19/11/2011 9:38 pm
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Im a European Champion - have been since 2003. Thats because the event was never reran. I could argue that means reigning Euro Champ IMO.

๐Ÿ™‚


 
Posted : 19/11/2011 9:39 pm
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Wife refused to share it as she saw it as purely attention seeking behaviour.

cant think why she would be good at spotting that any insights?
๐Ÿ˜›


 
Posted : 19/11/2011 9:44 pm
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Missus had the misfortune to do one of those things today - the other person's "interesting" fact was that [b]he/she/it[/b] was transgender

What a sad comment calling somebody who had an operation to change gender an IT,that person must have gone through hell while realising they where born into the wrong body form, and finally plucked up the courage to go to the sometimes hostile GP, to get first of all councelling and then the operation which is non changeable.

I hardly think she/he was being attention seeking.


 
Posted : 19/11/2011 9:45 pm
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project - did you read the rest of the question?


 
Posted : 19/11/2011 9:46 pm
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as he answered the second question [ your last sentence] I will go out on a limb here and say yes


 
Posted : 19/11/2011 9:49 pm
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Yes i did, and obviously your wife felt she couldnt share the comment, that was made openly by the trans gender person,not for attention seeking but to show the peeps around her/him that she now felt at ease in her new redefined body.


 
Posted : 19/11/2011 9:49 pm
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Obviously not totally at ease if she felt the need to broadcast it.


 
Posted : 19/11/2011 9:51 pm
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Most straight men seem to broadcast that theyre married, as if to prove theyre straight or hetro sexual, nobody really cares.


 
Posted : 19/11/2011 9:53 pm
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Jesus.

It sounds like everything I hate about every training session I've ever been on.

We had one about 'Conflict' where we we paired up and asked to approach each other from opposite sides of the room and to stop when we felt uncomfortable. This is a group of people who spend 12 hour shifts together, who work in close physical contact, who share secrets, who know more about each other than our spouses, who trust each other.

I explained this to the person running the session, and told her that it wouldn't give the result she was expecting, but we had to do it anyway, so we all walked up to one another and hugged.

The rest of the session went downhill, and you guys are paying for me to attend this rubbish.

As for sharing it, I'd ask the person if they wanted it sharing.


 
Posted : 19/11/2011 9:54 pm
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Surrounded By Zulus - Member
Obviously not totally at ease if she felt the need to broadcast it.

Are you suggesting it would be a better plan to keep it a secret, then when somebody inevitably finds out it becomes a big "scandal" around the office (or whatever the setting is) ???


 
Posted : 19/11/2011 9:58 pm
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I'm suggesting that it's no suitable to be shared in such a way. That's the kind of information that needs to be past on by the person it concerns, if they want it passed on at all.

Setting was a doctorate level psychology course.


 
Posted : 19/11/2011 10:01 pm
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he/she/it was transgender

Which is not an accepted technical or scientific term then.


 
Posted : 19/11/2011 10:03 pm
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perhaps he just thinks it is not interesting?
Oh hold on he posted on the interwebz scrub that one.


 
Posted : 19/11/2011 10:04 pm
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Are you from Edinburgh, SBZ?


 
Posted : 19/11/2011 10:06 pm
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No. I'm not from Edinburgh, I merely live there.

Course was in Glasgow.


 
Posted : 19/11/2011 10:07 pm
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That's the kind of information that needs to be past on by the person it concerns, if they want it passed on at all.

where you pair up and find out an "interesting" fact about the person you've been paired with then tell the rest of the people in the room that fact

seems to have achieved this given they new the rules. passed to your wife freely in the knowledge it would then be passed to the rest of the room. are yu suggesting " he/she/it" did nto realise this

That phrase is awful I did a course with a transgender person and given the abuse they took they are without doubt the bravest human being I ever met. I have nothing but respect and admiration for her.


 
Posted : 19/11/2011 10:08 pm
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In all, ten civilian nuclear powered vessels have been built in Russia. Nine of these are icebreakers, and one is a container ship with an ice-breaking bow. All six nuclear-powered icebreakers of the NS Arktika design have been built at the Admiralty Shipyard in St. Petersburg. The NS Vaigach and NS Taimyr were built at the Helsinki New Shipyard in Finland and then brought to Russia for installation of the reactors and steam propulsion systems.

Interesting fact about Ice Breakers; there are nine [i]nuclear powered[/i] ones out there. Blimey.


 
Posted : 19/11/2011 10:13 pm
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That phrase is awful I did a course with a transgender person and given the abuse they took they are without doubt the bravest human being I ever met. I have nothing but respect and admiration for her.

Well said, that man, sadly there are still neaderthals around , but let us not forget Lilly Savage and before her, Danny la Rue, who became very rich working as female impersonators, and hopefully gave men the courage to get the required treatment,which can be very traumatic for them and their families and some of their freinds who decide they cant be freinds any longer.


 
Posted : 19/11/2011 10:13 pm
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It's a fair phrase to use though. No matter what operations they've had, or what medication they've taken they'll never be truly female. Bone, muscle structure and various other internal anatomic differences between the sexes will see to that.


 
Posted : 19/11/2011 10:14 pm
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Theyre still not an IT, theyre a human the same as you or me, or a roadie.


 
Posted : 19/11/2011 10:16 pm
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You know the usual ice breaker bollocks

Nope, never heard of it before. And that's the sort of stuff that goes on in a doctorate level psychology course ?

Well I've learnt something today.


 
Posted : 19/11/2011 10:16 pm
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shakes head and just walks away from troll


 
Posted : 19/11/2011 10:17 pm
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I admit to raising an eyebrow or two at the idea that Danny La Rue and Lily Savage are considered champions of the transgender movement. Female impersonators, yes, Drag artistes, assuredly, but transgender heroes?...


 
Posted : 19/11/2011 10:19 pm
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Project - you're reading too much into it.


 
Posted : 19/11/2011 10:19 pm
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Psychology is the scientific study of people, the mind and behaviour.

From the BPS.

Surely they're going to go on and discuss this and your wife's reaction to it on the course?

Anyway, have a video...


 
Posted : 19/11/2011 10:32 pm
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Doesnt everyone on here, its not personel, DLR AND LS but they have brought cross dressing out of the so called closet, and allowed some people to have open non judmental discussions about cross dressing or gender realignmnet surgery.

Liked the vid, and the sign at the end of it.


 
Posted : 19/11/2011 10:35 pm
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Transgender and cross-dressing are not the same thing.

For instance - Grayson Perry and Eddie Izzard are not transgender.

It is both interesting and courageous for someone to disclose they are transgender in that setting. But the recipient of this info seems to have been made uncomfortable or been judgmental about their motivation. Surely a topic for reflaction?

Common courtesy dictates that one respects the sex people self-identify as. "it" is just insulting.


 
Posted : 19/11/2011 10:54 pm
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just a thought..
I imagine that transgender people probably have a self image and sexual identity which is quite unlike any life experience or psychological model that an opportunistic troll can possibly imagine.. let alone judge to be accurate or correct..

as for the trolls wife..?

pfffffffffft..


 
Posted : 19/11/2011 11:04 pm
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I was doing so well, resisting the temptation to post... ๐Ÿ™‚

Oh but it's soooo much more complicated than that, stoatsbrother: the "general public" assume that the world is bi-gendered but there are quite a surprising number of people out there that identify very much away from either end of the scale from male to female. Some go very much out of their way to appear of indeterminate gender.

All anyone wants is people to use pronouns that they either present as. If you're corrected, then just try to reliably use what is requested.

I would say this is easy but it isn't. Even I get it wrong sometimes, much to my annoyance at myself.

Rachel


 
Posted : 19/11/2011 11:05 pm
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Thought you might be along ๐Ÿ˜‰

I've never met someone transgender who wanted to be called "he/she/it" though...


 
Posted : 19/11/2011 11:17 pm
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To be fair, I don't know many that like the term 'transgender' ๐Ÿ˜‰

For example, I am A mountain biker, I am A web developer, I am A woman (admittedly with an unusual history). I might be transsexual but that's a condition, not a 'thing'. It also doesn't define my being - it's just a (minor) aspect of it. Make sense?

There's a doc running on Ch4 at the moment that seems almost reasonable - smattering of sensationalism but far less than usually goes with these things. Worth watching - Tuesdays, 10pm for November.

And yes, I do like to see what people have to say on the subject. Having said that, I hope I don't put people off posting things... ๐Ÿ™‚

Rachel


 
Posted : 19/11/2011 11:31 pm
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Rach - I've been watching that, raised some questions that I don't think suitable for STW, but... loved the bit when they went to the local pub... some of the old guys were priceless and seemed very accepting?


 
Posted : 19/11/2011 11:36 pm
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I'm just trying to think now what was on there that wasn't suitable for STW??? Mind you, I closed my eyes for the surgery bits - there are some things I just don't want to have stuck in my mind!! ๐Ÿ˜ฏ

Rachel


 
Posted : 19/11/2011 11:43 pm
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LOL... I bet you don't.

It's more the human interest side of things. Like when some of them were getting close in the house... I love a love story, but ended up getting my simple mind all confused.


 
Posted : 19/11/2011 11:47 pm
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Allthegear > the other shoe's just fallen, have we spoken on Twitter?


 
Posted : 19/11/2011 11:49 pm
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whooooah - what getting close??? Did I miss something?? ( I was only half watching ep2... )

Yes Cougar - we did!!

Rachel


 
Posted : 19/11/2011 11:55 pm
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I've never met someone transgender who wanted to be called "he/she/it" though...

The problem with generalisations is that they're generalisations. I've a friend who is, let's say "gender confused"; for them, 'it' is perfectly acceptable, even preferable. Personally it makes me uncomfortable, as per Project, but hey.


 
Posted : 19/11/2011 11:57 pm
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Cougar - thanks - interesting.


 
Posted : 19/11/2011 11:59 pm
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I appreciate that may be a fringe case; point is, people are different.


 
Posted : 20/11/2011 12:06 am
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My old boss was TG - used to be in the Army and called Gary.
Now in heels and called Amanda.
Had all her tattoos removed apart from the Parachute Regiment one. ๐Ÿ™‚

Very interesting and brave individual, as was her husband (they were able to get married in Holland, IIRK).

Wicked sense of humour and very handy in a fight.
No one expects the blonde girl to be the one to try and unscrew their head from their shoulders. ๐Ÿ˜€

People are usually very interesting indeed, just that some are more complicated than others.


 
Posted : 20/11/2011 12:11 am
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