Sarcasm Part 1
I am a natural teaser and a wee bit sarcastic. It could stem from my early childhood when Uncle Perv saw me in my highchair for the first time. "Lightnin' kill that ugly bastard, he'll never amount to anything." A nice guy, Perv, and he really hates that name I gave him as I'm sure mother didn't appreciate the moniker Lightnin'. I guess my sarcasm could stem from that incident as an inherent survival instinct.
Then again, my whole family is sarcastic, not cruelly so, but usually a smart ass comment to just about anything. If any of my family members were painting a house and you came up and said, "You're painting your house?" It is guaranteed you are going to get a shot like, "No, actually I'm retorquing the heads on my 57 Chevy." "What the hell does it look like?"
Teasing games at work are fun and good for morale, it usually gives everyone a chuckle and they usually are never mean spirited. People that don't want to play the game are usually left alone, and the doofus of the week goes to who ever made a mistake, whose team lost, whose vehicle broke down, whatever. I have had the dubious distinction of "Doofus of the Week" justifiably more times that I can count.
The sad part of the game is when you get a person in the group who, while a great participant when someone else is the victim, feels he is beyond reproach. When it is their turn I like to make an extra special effort to make them feel part of the group, especially if they are particularly touchy. Some of the nasty things they have to say just cut me to the quick, I toss and turn all night, sleep is but a distant dream...
This week a particular individual got so angry that he brought up the previously unknown fact around the workplace that I had been treated for depression. He actually just wrote a note that stated "I'm glad you retards stick together, it might help you with your depression." Bringing up someone's medical history is usually well off limits, but this fellow is obviously desperate, why, I don't know. (It was only a little teasing about a bird) I was actually thinking about going public around the mill to maybe help with others who are victim to the illness to help release the stigma of depression, but I wasn't sure for the same reason. Well now he has forced my hand, and on behalf of sick people I thank him for his efforts to help victims of depression.
While I am on the subject, calling people "retards" seems to be making a comeback, which really bothers me. How can people be so cruel to denigrate members of society that did nothing to anyone to be stigmatized as not worthy? Compared to what? The people who look down on them? There was an official policy for the "not quite right" in a country not that long ago, it was Nazi Germany.
I know people don't really mean anything by it, so why say it? Would you say it in front of family members of that person? Why not just walk up to a person in a wheelchair and say "Hi loser".
The next time you are thinking of calling someone in jest, "a retard", please think about it.
Then again, my whole family is sarcastic, not cruelly so, but usually a smart ass comment to just about anything. If any of my family members were painting a house and you came up and said, "You're painting your house?" It is guaranteed you are going to get a shot like, "No, actually I'm retorquing the heads on my 57 Chevy." "What the hell does it look like?"
Teasing games at work are fun and good for morale, it usually gives everyone a chuckle and they usually are never mean spirited. People that don't want to play the game are usually left alone, and the doofus of the week goes to who ever made a mistake, whose team lost, whose vehicle broke down, whatever. I have had the dubious distinction of "Doofus of the Week" justifiably more times that I can count.
The sad part of the game is when you get a person in the group who, while a great participant when someone else is the victim, feels he is beyond reproach. When it is their turn I like to make an extra special effort to make them feel part of the group, especially if they are particularly touchy. Some of the nasty things they have to say just cut me to the quick, I toss and turn all night, sleep is but a distant dream...
This week a particular individual got so angry that he brought up the previously unknown fact around the workplace that I had been treated for depression. He actually just wrote a note that stated "I'm glad you retards stick together, it might help you with your depression." Bringing up someone's medical history is usually well off limits, but this fellow is obviously desperate, why, I don't know. (It was only a little teasing about a bird) I was actually thinking about going public around the mill to maybe help with others who are victim to the illness to help release the stigma of depression, but I wasn't sure for the same reason. Well now he has forced my hand, and on behalf of sick people I thank him for his efforts to help victims of depression.
While I am on the subject, calling people "retards" seems to be making a comeback, which really bothers me. How can people be so cruel to denigrate members of society that did nothing to anyone to be stigmatized as not worthy? Compared to what? The people who look down on them? There was an official policy for the "not quite right" in a country not that long ago, it was Nazi Germany.
I know people don't really mean anything by it, so why say it? Would you say it in front of family members of that person? Why not just walk up to a person in a wheelchair and say "Hi loser".
The next time you are thinking of calling someone in jest, "a retard", please think about it.
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