March 16, 2013

Tourist with a Buddha tattoo barred from Sri Lanka.

Some Brit was deemed too disrespectful, not just because of the tattoo, but because when he was asked about it, he spoke "very disrespectfully."

Irrelevant factoid: As I typed the word "Buddha" just now, the word "Buddha" came up in the song I was listening to. There's Judy Garland taking Buddha by the hand.... Feel free to get a tattoo of that.

ADDED: More detail here.
"As soon as he saw it the chief officer went crazy. You could see it on his face, he looked really angry and said I would have to go back to London," [Antony] Ratcliffe told the BBC....

"I like the artwork in tattoos obviously and, due to my belief in Buddhist philosophy which I have followed for many years, I thought a quality tattoo of the Buddha was rather apt.... The whole experience has been a shock - it has been upsetting and a waste of my time. I'm not taking it further, but when I saw they had accused me of speaking disrespectfully about Buddhism, I had to put my side of the story"....

11 comments:

YoungHegelian said...

Wow, it's news that some yob shows up at the borders of a foreign country, proceeds to piss in the face of the local constabulary, and then is surprised when he's shown the door?

Sometimes, first-world entitlement really is gag-inducing.

lubertdas said...

I'd prefer to hear, "Gunning for the Buddha" by Shriekback.

http://youtu.be/E1yiQE_aOjM

sakredkow said...

By the hand hand, take me by the hand pretty daddy, wanna dance with ya Buddha all night long.

edutcher said...

Most people take their religion a lot more seriously than the Canterbury crowd.

Anonymous said...

Every time I've been around Brits abroad, they've behaved with the utmost courtesy, humility, and respect. Especially while drinking 'on holiday.'

Unknown said...

It really sounds like both the Brit and Sri Lanka came out about even.

Nini said...

That is an example of the difference between western democracy and "eastern democracy".

kentuckyliz said...

Torremolinas!
Torremolinas!

There's a Monty Python bit for everything.

Douglas B. Levene said...

The flip side of the Hoagy Carmichael 78 for "Stardust" was a song called "Hong Kong Blues." It's about a man in Hong Kong who received a 20-year sentence after he "kicked old Buddha's gong." That was, apparently, 30s slang for smoking opium.

For those who don't remember, Hoagy Carmichael was the piano player in "Casablanca."

Emil Blatz said...

You! Yeah, you, wise-guy! Yer outta here!

rcocean said...

He thought Sri Lanka was just like England - where an atheist Yob can piss in the face of the local Vicar without results.