@benroyce@mastodon.socialWe've all been there:
Encountering a comment so mindnumbingly stupid, ignorant or indecent, maybe racist/ homophobic/ sexist/ etc that it's an act of superhuman grace to simply remain silent.
But stoic silence in the face of radioactive brain worms eats at your faith in humanity.
Well there is an alternative approach, to reaffirm your humanity:
Gleeful mocking.
The ignorant racism in question:
"wow #africa has wifi????"
And the delightfully sarcastic over-the-top response:
I love it.
however those ignorant idiots will believe it as true.
Can't fix wilfully stupid, I guess.
The people making this video must have had fun.
Don't feel bad, there aer literally US citizens who think Canada is a frozen wasteland (even though we are experiencing up to humidex temps of 106F) and are shocked to discover we have *microwave ovens* and smart TVs, and *gasp* internet/wifi.
@Snowshadow @benroyce I thought the geese were the the only gov't approved wifi delivery service? ;-)
@pixelpusher220 @benroyce
We moved that to seagulls because they are easier to train.
@Snowshadow @pixelpusher220 @benroyce I read this as "segfaults"
@Snowshadow but you still bathe in maple syrup, right? 
@benroyce
Only on every other Wednesdays on the third week of each month, the rest of the time we dunk our smelly lumber jack coats in whale blubber and hang them on our igloos at night to cover the smell.
@Snowshadow ah, ok, good to know. i trust you and this will now be my understanding
@benroyce
thank you for trusting me. 
I had a summer job with NBPower back in the '80s. We'd stopped for lunch at a park with a company truck.
An RV parked next to us. Dude introduced himself. They were on summer vacation from South Carolina (IIRC). Oh, cool.
Some chitchat, then "Where could we see a moose?"
"Well there is the Magnetic Hill game park."
"No, no a REAL moose."
"I can assure you the moose are quite real."
"No, in the WILD!"
So, I gave direction to a marsh I was familiar with, and explained that there were no guarantees there would be any there.
Dude left grinning. So fine.
We finished up lunch and left to head back to the job site. On the radio: "Travelers are to be advised that a large moose has been spotted along the Riverview causeway. Take precautions if crossing the causeway"
Too bad the advisory wasn't 15 minutes sooner. Could have saved the guy a lot of driving.
@Sir_Osis_of_Liver @benroyce
A real moose. We have only plastic ones in the game parks don't you know.
I hope he didn't encounter one crossing the road while he was driving because that would be the first and last time he saw a "real moose".
I did give him the standard "moose are huge, cranky, blind and hate to be surprised" spiel. Hopefully they listened.
Oh. Later on that same summer, We were clearing brush from around a substation. We had
gas powered weed-wackers and bush saws, but would use a bush hook in built up areas because it was quiet.
I'm knocking down brush with the hook and noticed an engine running behind me. An RV had stopped and they were taking a video of me with the bush hook.
I imagine the narration was something like: "Look kids! This is how they mow the lawns up here!"
@benroyce @Snowshadow No no no it's poutine now. Maple syrup is so old fashioned.
@Snowshadow @benroyce I heard a story once of a couple who came up to Toronto in the middle of July in winter parkas asking where the ski hills were..
@Snowshadow @benroyce Ah likely the same story then. ;)
it doesn't bother me. we all know Canada isn't real
@benroyce @Snowshadow Fine with us actually..
@Snowshadow @Dianora @benroyce
Couldn't resist! 
what is a Toronto?
wait, i know, i think there's basketball team with that name- the Torontoraptors?
is that like a subspecies of velociraptor?
is this happening in the US State called Canada?
@benroyce @Snowshadow "Tronna" pronounce it correctly eh? Kanuckistan...
@Snowshadow @benroyce Aw, c’mon, everyone knows you have microwave ovens: how else are you supposed to make tea?
…did anyone else hear that? Sounded like ten thousand monocles clattering on the ground, but at a distance…
@WhiteCatTamer @benroyce
Don't you know that we don't make tea often because we then need to chop down a tree, make a bonfire outside of the igloo, and hang the tea kettle on an antler hook over the fire. Antler hooks don't last long over an open fire and since the new government regulations limiting the elk kill to only one a year, it's becoming more difficult to replace them. Those darned elk are difficult to wrangle, bring down, hold and saw off the antlers.
@Snowshadow @benroyce Had one seriously ask us if we farmed popsicles in Saskatchewan 
#educationfails
@Snowshadow @benroyce Couldn't help what hubs answered. #headshake
Yep we specialize in the blue ones.
@benroyce I’ve been in towns next to Tribal Reservations and people are surprised we were buying blinds. “How do you get those to work in Teepees?” Even stupider were people doubting anyone in our group was 1st Nations because “Indians don’t exist any more because we won the war.” I asked the family I was staying with how common that was. “Just about every time we go to town. If we’re not wearing pow-wow regalia, they think we aren’t ‘real’.” Racism is a form of stupidity that runs deep.
@Catawu @benroyce they should’ve watched more Sesame Street! https://youtu.be/ynxloTiv4rw?si=EBnJGZA2mc7hPegA
@benroyce My favorite part is her specifying it has to be the tallest tree and she’s like 5 steps from the ground.
and she's using the binoculars backwards
@benroyce The true hunter knows you must first uncover yourself before you uncover prey. u.u
@benroyce I laughed out loud! Fantastic
(He/Him) @benroyce @lisamelton their videos are always a delight to watch!
@benroyce OMG that's so perfect
I went on a trip with a group to Kenya & Uganda to visit with artisan crafters, I swear my entire family thought I was going to stay in a grass hut the entire 3 weeks 
(we were in Nairobi, Mombasa, & Kampala)
@benroyce Whhaaa? They have humour in Africa?
@benroyce There's this documentary created by a Nigerian where he says (rough recollection), "Nowadays, you see two kinds of people in Lagos' posh hotels. The white people like missionaries who come here to 'save' our people and feel good about themselves. And there are the Chinese who come to do business.".
That said a lot.
@benroyce bless them and their humor and resilient spirits
@benroyce
Aw man, they get the organic, free-range WiFi? All the WiFi around here is factory farmed and full of pesticides!
@KydiaMusic and our wifi is a monoculture, so the wifi blight that started in cupertino california and is spreading rapidly across north america might take out all of our wifi
@benroyce she's too funny I love her stuff
@benroyce now they should do one pointing out that Africa is a continent not a country. And it comprises 40+ countries.
US citizens seem to have trouble with that concept too.
@benroyce Ok, not Africa, but still a story to tell: When I visited Jordan in 2006, I wanted to climb mountain Haroun with some friends. We hired a local bedouin guide who rode a donkey all the way up the mountain. While he did this, he was constantly on his mobile phone talking with people - somewhere in the desert! I just thought: Wow, this should be a mobile phone spot - back then, Germany had a very spotty mobile connectivity in the countryside - much worse than Jordan apparently!
@benroyce Ohio my god that video made me laugh. Fight racism and stupidity with humor!! Thank you for sharing!!
@benroyce I love this TikTok account, she has some wonderfully sarcastic replies to “you can do this in Africa?!”
@benroyce I recently saw a video by a Latin american (can't remember which country) that was also asked "Do you have internet there?". Their response was something along the lines of "We have a generator with a monkey, and we bribe him with a coconut to run and generate internet".
Love when people are able to face this sort of ignorance with humour, and it's the type of energy I strive to have.