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Shutting down a joke
Monday, 15 June 2020 10:32I was reading some article on Facebook (buzzfeed, reddit, whatever, I don't recall and I couldn't trace it again) about how to shut down jokes. Specifically, inappropriate jokes. Basically it's just to continually ask them to explain the joke.
I have my own story to tell about this, really.
It was quite a few years ago, when I just started working, so I guess I was... 20? 21? Somewhere around there. There were a group of work colleagues. I was also going to night school for *ahem*theMBAthatIditchedLOL*ahem*... so somehow something came up talking about impressive people.
I told them how I admired one of my classmates who had some kind of deformity (I don't know whether she was born with it or had an accident, but seeing her stature I guess she was born with it)... she did not had thumbs. Yet, she was always very well put together, nice make up, and can write very well, work a phone and all that. It's things we take for granted, thumbs, and I figured it's really tough to operate a lot of things without a thumb.
Well, this one guy started to make fun of it and was telling lots of jokes about how she was ever going to give handjobs and whatnot. The other guy started laughing. Some girls were laughing too.
I was pretty upset and I kept asking them, "so what's so funny about it? I don't understand why you are laughing. Tell me what is so funny and amusing. Explain it to me." And the laughters and giggles died down and my boss at that time had to apologize to me. The guy that started the joke kept assuring me that "it's just a joke" and I asked again, "I don't understand why you think it's funny. It will not be so funny if your future kid is born with a similar deformity."
And that shut him right up. I don't know if it really worked, or what.
I do know that he has since gotten married and has 2 kids. No such deformities that one can see from photos on Facebook. He probably has forgotten the exchange as well... but well.... I'm pretty forgiving, but you can bet on it I don't forget.
I have my own story to tell about this, really.
It was quite a few years ago, when I just started working, so I guess I was... 20? 21? Somewhere around there. There were a group of work colleagues. I was also going to night school for *ahem*theMBAthatIditchedLOL*ahem*... so somehow something came up talking about impressive people.
I told them how I admired one of my classmates who had some kind of deformity (I don't know whether she was born with it or had an accident, but seeing her stature I guess she was born with it)... she did not had thumbs. Yet, she was always very well put together, nice make up, and can write very well, work a phone and all that. It's things we take for granted, thumbs, and I figured it's really tough to operate a lot of things without a thumb.
Well, this one guy started to make fun of it and was telling lots of jokes about how she was ever going to give handjobs and whatnot. The other guy started laughing. Some girls were laughing too.
I was pretty upset and I kept asking them, "so what's so funny about it? I don't understand why you are laughing. Tell me what is so funny and amusing. Explain it to me." And the laughters and giggles died down and my boss at that time had to apologize to me. The guy that started the joke kept assuring me that "it's just a joke" and I asked again, "I don't understand why you think it's funny. It will not be so funny if your future kid is born with a similar deformity."
And that shut him right up. I don't know if it really worked, or what.
I do know that he has since gotten married and has 2 kids. No such deformities that one can see from photos on Facebook. He probably has forgotten the exchange as well... but well.... I'm pretty forgiving, but you can bet on it I don't forget.
