The world has gone mad!
My gorgeous little niece is turning one at the end of this week and as she lives in the states and is a little bit too young to appreciate a tenner in an envelope just yet, I decided to log on to the Toys R Us website this morning and order a few goodies to send over to her. I have to say that there is no hardship in that at all for me as I just LOVE looking in toy shops or on toy websites and could stay on them all day even though I am (of course) not thinking of making any purchases for myself but I just think that all the toys today are amazing and my children are so lucky that we are poor or they would be spoilt little brats!
Anyway selection made; address filled in; credit card details given and then to write my birthday greeting which read something like this: Happy Birthday, lots of love from me, my hubby and your cousins xxx. I pressed enter and then a message popped up on my screen which read, 'Your current message cannot be processed due to inappropriate, derogatory or profane language. Please enter a new message.
I entered my message again. There must be some mistake surely. And again, and again but it seemed there was no mistake. I then deleted my three kisses off the message and lo and behold my message was accepted.
Now, I am well aware that the term xxx can be applied to some inappropriate DVD's with some adult content but hello?- I was purchasing from Toys R Us themselves!! Do they have DVD's with adult content for sale on their website? Or did their website security detect xxx and think maybe my message read something like 'Happy birthday darling. Enjoy this baby laptop suitable for children from 6-18 months and when you're done with that tell your Dad that I said to check out Blonde busty ladies XXX - a birthday treat for him too!
Is this political correctness gone mad? I mean, surely if you are running a website that sells toys for children, 99% of your customers are going to go on it to buy gifts and may just think it's all right to send a virtual kiss to their niece/nephew/Godchild with out being accused of profanity. The following message is for the directors of Toys R US in an attempt to help them save their business in these recessionary times -Do your market research people. KNOW your customers.
The other day I received an email from the company that I do mystery shopping for thanking me for all my reports but asking me if in the future would I please not refer to staff members by gender. For example, if I wrote a sentence like 'The staff member asked me to come into her office' it should now read 'The staff member asked me to come into the staff members office'. "No problem" I replied "But could I just ask why that should be?" and the astounding answer I received was "Because the staff member in question is entitled to see this report and we do not want anything on it that could be deemed as offensive. All comments must be neutral".
What the....??? Does the staff member not KNOW that she's female. Has no-one ever mentioned it to her? Were the little pink dresses and bows in her hair growing up not a bit of a give away or did her mother dress her in neutral reds, yellows and greens throughout her childhood and refer to her as 'The child'. I'd say childbirth came as a right shock to her when she grew up. Is being classed as a woman in this day and age an insult for God's sake?
Does anyone else think that political correctness is going a little bit too far? Apparently Paddy Irish man jokes are now racist although I do believe that there may be some sort of liberation if it is an actual Irish person telling them but I'm not a hundred per cent sure about that so stop and think first if you are tempted to launch into one. I grew up on a diet of Paddy Irish man jokes and don't think all Irish people are mentally disabled (Oh wait - should that be 'have a learning difficulty'?) - possibly just all members of the Irish government.
Look at comedies like Fawlty towers (my favourite sitcom of all time - I never get tired of it). It relies on the ritual humiliation of the Spanish waiter; the gradual decline into senility of the Major and the constant sniping and bickering between Fawlty and his wife due to a lot of his chauvinistic and archaic beliefs, not to mention the unbelievable Nazi references in the most famous episode of all 'The Germans'. It is sexist, racist, ageist and chauvinistic and in this current climate unfortunately would never have been made. Now that is a real example of political correctness gone wrong.
So come on everyone, stop and think. Are you really annoyed that that the nice man held open that door for you or that someone said that studies show that intelligent people like green while your favourite colour is red or do you just think that maybe you should feel insulted and so proceed as such? The world would be a lot funnier and an easier place to live in if people just lightened up a bit and if like me you agree with that then here is a joke for you to be getting on with (feel free to use it).
Anyway selection made; address filled in; credit card details given and then to write my birthday greeting which read something like this: Happy Birthday, lots of love from me, my hubby and your cousins xxx. I pressed enter and then a message popped up on my screen which read, 'Your current message cannot be processed due to inappropriate, derogatory or profane language. Please enter a new message.
I entered my message again. There must be some mistake surely. And again, and again but it seemed there was no mistake. I then deleted my three kisses off the message and lo and behold my message was accepted.
Now, I am well aware that the term xxx can be applied to some inappropriate DVD's with some adult content but hello?- I was purchasing from Toys R Us themselves!! Do they have DVD's with adult content for sale on their website? Or did their website security detect xxx and think maybe my message read something like 'Happy birthday darling. Enjoy this baby laptop suitable for children from 6-18 months and when you're done with that tell your Dad that I said to check out Blonde busty ladies XXX - a birthday treat for him too!
Is this political correctness gone mad? I mean, surely if you are running a website that sells toys for children, 99% of your customers are going to go on it to buy gifts and may just think it's all right to send a virtual kiss to their niece/nephew/Godchild with out being accused of profanity. The following message is for the directors of Toys R US in an attempt to help them save their business in these recessionary times -Do your market research people. KNOW your customers.
The other day I received an email from the company that I do mystery shopping for thanking me for all my reports but asking me if in the future would I please not refer to staff members by gender. For example, if I wrote a sentence like 'The staff member asked me to come into her office' it should now read 'The staff member asked me to come into the staff members office'. "No problem" I replied "But could I just ask why that should be?" and the astounding answer I received was "Because the staff member in question is entitled to see this report and we do not want anything on it that could be deemed as offensive. All comments must be neutral".
What the....??? Does the staff member not KNOW that she's female. Has no-one ever mentioned it to her? Were the little pink dresses and bows in her hair growing up not a bit of a give away or did her mother dress her in neutral reds, yellows and greens throughout her childhood and refer to her as 'The child'. I'd say childbirth came as a right shock to her when she grew up. Is being classed as a woman in this day and age an insult for God's sake?
Does anyone else think that political correctness is going a little bit too far? Apparently Paddy Irish man jokes are now racist although I do believe that there may be some sort of liberation if it is an actual Irish person telling them but I'm not a hundred per cent sure about that so stop and think first if you are tempted to launch into one. I grew up on a diet of Paddy Irish man jokes and don't think all Irish people are mentally disabled (Oh wait - should that be 'have a learning difficulty'?) - possibly just all members of the Irish government.
Look at comedies like Fawlty towers (my favourite sitcom of all time - I never get tired of it). It relies on the ritual humiliation of the Spanish waiter; the gradual decline into senility of the Major and the constant sniping and bickering between Fawlty and his wife due to a lot of his chauvinistic and archaic beliefs, not to mention the unbelievable Nazi references in the most famous episode of all 'The Germans'. It is sexist, racist, ageist and chauvinistic and in this current climate unfortunately would never have been made. Now that is a real example of political correctness gone wrong.
So come on everyone, stop and think. Are you really annoyed that that the nice man held open that door for you or that someone said that studies show that intelligent people like green while your favourite colour is red or do you just think that maybe you should feel insulted and so proceed as such? The world would be a lot funnier and an easier place to live in if people just lightened up a bit and if like me you agree with that then here is a joke for you to be getting on with (feel free to use it).
Paddy Englishman, Paddy Scotsman and Paddy Irish man haven't seen each other for a year so they meet up for a drink.
During the year all of them have had a son. Paddy Englishman said "It's funny cause my son was born on Saint Georges day so we ended up calling him George"
Paddy Scotsman said "That's strange cause my son was born on. St. Andrew's day and we called him Andrew".
Paddy Irishman said "Jaysus" That's exactly the same thing with my son Pancake".
During the year all of them have had a son. Paddy Englishman said "It's funny cause my son was born on Saint Georges day so we ended up calling him George"
Paddy Scotsman said "That's strange cause my son was born on. St. Andrew's day and we called him Andrew".
Paddy Irishman said "Jaysus" That's exactly the same thing with my son Pancake".
I have to borrow that joke...
ReplyDeleteIt makes it challenging to speak freely here in the US cos they keep changing what is politically correct! As Whoopie Goldberg joked recently, "what was wrong with black? Now she's African American yet she has never been to Africa in her life. Why can't she just be an American?" You can't say your child is "normal", now she's "typical". AS long as the sentiment is good, the humour intact then speak freely, I say. Good joke btw, and thanks for the present. I'll pass on the virtual kisses!
ReplyDeleteRachael - I love your blog, especially this piece (includidng the excellent joke!!!)Keep writing!!! Jen! :)
ReplyDelete