A joke told sotto voce

Posted to I Hate You by god

Alain: I’ve got a joke for you.
He lowers his voice, and I think “Oh, shit.”
Alain: Why are there no black people on The Flintstones?
Me: …
Alain: Because back then, they were still apes! [laughs]
Me, not laughing: That’s really bad.
Alain, still laughing: Yeah, I know!
Me: As in, it’s not funny.
He stops laughing and quickly changes the subject.

Anyone want to comment on the prevalence of racism in Quebec? I don’t know if this sort of thing is more or less common here than in other parts of Canada and the world, but it seems very common and widely accepted.

Update: corrected speling in title. Incidentally, there is some really bad pronunciation on the Dictionary.com entry.

3 Comments ¤ Write your comment

Comment by Jake
November 21, 2005 @ 8:38 pm

Now, you're the one who has to go back and work there every day, but IMO, that kind of joke is something one can report to a boss.

Comment by god
November 21, 2005 @ 9:03 pm

Maybe. It might make a difference that this was said outside the office, during our lunch break. I think I'm going to start collecting the offensive stuff said and emailed around the office, and once I have a few things that have made me uncomfortable I'll mention it to my boss.

Comment by Jake
November 22, 2005 @ 3:07 am

That's a really good idea. I don't know why it didn't occur to me to mention this to you before, but the *most* imporant thing, when dealing with inappropriate behaviour in the workplace, even if you don't think you want to report it, is to document, document, document.

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A joke told sotto voce

Posted to I Hate You by god

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