Don't talk to me...I'm busy being offended.
When did this whole idea of never uttering a single word that may, in any way, potentially offend a single other living person on the planet, come into play? I used to think it was an entirely American phenomenon but it appears other countries are also having issues. Don't get me wrong, I understand the concept of not intentionally offending someone, but how did this concept get so far out of hand? It's one thing to enact anti discrimination law, anti hate laws, and require workplaces to be devoid of harrassment, but man do we have a snowball rolling out of control now!
We have bred a generation of people who seem to think it is their inalienable right to never encounter anything they find even vaguely disagreeable. It is to these people, those living in a constant state of offense, that I direct the following rant.
Shut the hell up! The clerk at the store wasn't trying to strip you of your Jewish heritage by wishing you a Merry Christmas. Maybe if you walked around with a sign around your neck that reads "I'm Jewish. Oh, and I have the reasoning capacity of your average two year old" it would clear up any future confusion, because obviously you are incapable of either giving a polite response such as "and a Happy Hannukah to you" or simply nodding your air-filled head and going on with your day. I don't believe in religion at all, but you don't see me flying off the handle and demanding compensation every time someone blesses me for sneezing. Why? Because I'm pretty sure they weren't trying to strip me of my right to freedom of religion with their sly niceness. Here's another news flash for you.
Black people are NOT African-American. Not unless they JUST FRIGGIN GOT HERE! Having ancestors that were dragged here unwillingly on a slave ship multiple generations ago does NOT make you an African-American. Your nationality is American, period, and I hate to be the one to give you such shocking information, but until we list 15 different shades of brown for you to choose from, your skin color is black. Do you see me listing my skin color as Irish/Italian/German-American? No. Why not? Because it's friggin stupid. Answering "What race are you?" with where your great great great grandparents came from makes about as much sense as giving your age as "Yellow"
If you deliver my mail you are a mailman, and I don't care what genitalia you're sporting. If you seat me on the airplane you're a damn stewardess or a steward. If that offends you, you should have taken a different job. You are mentally retarded, not mentally challenged. The offense there comes from the stigma of being retarded, not from the word. We need to work on the social stigmas we attach to things that are out of our control, such as mental disorders, not change the words we use to describe them. You're fat not big boned, or chubby, or plump. If the term offends you, tough. And before the whines start, I'm 200+ pounds myself, way over the line for fat. The truth hurts sometimes, that doesn't mean you can magically make it not true by using different words. Not everyone finds every joke funny...but guess what? You don't need a court, 3 lawyers, and 10 million dollars to deal with it. I'll leave you with another phrase I say to my kids at least once a day "Why don't you worry about what you're doing, and let other people worry about what they're doing" Seriously people, grow up.
No one can offend you if you don't let them. It's a choice, and I feel nothing but pity for people who choose to take offense at everything they encounter. It must, truly, be a miserable existance.
We have bred a generation of people who seem to think it is their inalienable right to never encounter anything they find even vaguely disagreeable. It is to these people, those living in a constant state of offense, that I direct the following rant.
Shut the hell up! The clerk at the store wasn't trying to strip you of your Jewish heritage by wishing you a Merry Christmas. Maybe if you walked around with a sign around your neck that reads "I'm Jewish. Oh, and I have the reasoning capacity of your average two year old" it would clear up any future confusion, because obviously you are incapable of either giving a polite response such as "and a Happy Hannukah to you" or simply nodding your air-filled head and going on with your day. I don't believe in religion at all, but you don't see me flying off the handle and demanding compensation every time someone blesses me for sneezing. Why? Because I'm pretty sure they weren't trying to strip me of my right to freedom of religion with their sly niceness. Here's another news flash for you.
Black people are NOT African-American. Not unless they JUST FRIGGIN GOT HERE! Having ancestors that were dragged here unwillingly on a slave ship multiple generations ago does NOT make you an African-American. Your nationality is American, period, and I hate to be the one to give you such shocking information, but until we list 15 different shades of brown for you to choose from, your skin color is black. Do you see me listing my skin color as Irish/Italian/German-American? No. Why not? Because it's friggin stupid. Answering "What race are you?" with where your great great great grandparents came from makes about as much sense as giving your age as "Yellow"
If you deliver my mail you are a mailman, and I don't care what genitalia you're sporting. If you seat me on the airplane you're a damn stewardess or a steward. If that offends you, you should have taken a different job. You are mentally retarded, not mentally challenged. The offense there comes from the stigma of being retarded, not from the word. We need to work on the social stigmas we attach to things that are out of our control, such as mental disorders, not change the words we use to describe them. You're fat not big boned, or chubby, or plump. If the term offends you, tough. And before the whines start, I'm 200+ pounds myself, way over the line for fat. The truth hurts sometimes, that doesn't mean you can magically make it not true by using different words. Not everyone finds every joke funny...but guess what? You don't need a court, 3 lawyers, and 10 million dollars to deal with it. I'll leave you with another phrase I say to my kids at least once a day "Why don't you worry about what you're doing, and let other people worry about what they're doing" Seriously people, grow up.
No one can offend you if you don't let them. It's a choice, and I feel nothing but pity for people who choose to take offense at everything they encounter. It must, truly, be a miserable existance.
posted by Ayanla at 3:39 PM
1 Comments:
i have a story about a guy (let's call him A) being offended very easily:
A walks up to the register in a store and mumbles which type of cigarettes he wants to buy the clerk listens intensively but simply can't hear what A says,he smiles and asks politely
"i'm sorry what did you say"
and A begins to say
"Go home to your own (native)country or learn our langueges and rules proberly"
the clerk doesn't answer that but shakes his head discretely while thinking
"oh i thought i was in my own(native) country, seeing as my family has always been here and i was born here?"
in this case i'm scraching my head over A's reaction And yes this is a real story and happens a lot in my country (well not mine alone but i am sure you got my point)this particular case happened to a member of my family (the clerk)
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