Shhh… They Might Hear You!

Posted byClever GirlPosted inCourage, funny, Funny Blog, humor, rant, sarcasmTags:, , , , , ,

I’ve been thinking about how uptight we’ve become as a society, particularly as it pertains to humor, and it’s downright annoying. I would venture to say nowadays most people feel they can’t say anything without worrying about being negatively labeled.

Okay, maybe we don’t worry about everything we say, but we definitely worry about saying something that isn’t deemed “politically correct”, which is an oxymoron by the way. Have you heard the things that come out of politicians’ mouths? Politicians can say the most vile, racist, divisive, ignorant statements I’ve ever heard!  Well that’s not true, I’m a stand-up comedian, I hear vile, racist shit all the time and some of it is friggin’ hilarious.

See? That right there… that last statement. I probably shouldn’t have said that because I’m not even supposed to admit I laugh at those kinds of things, so let me say sorry for admitting I laugh at vile, racist jokes.

I’m not really sorry… sorry.

Let’s take a look at the following:

The reason Mexicans are the best people to work in the fields is because they are generally shorter and don’t have to bend over as far to pick the vegetables.

Maybe you were offended by this. I was offended by how bad it was, but is there some truth to it? Of course, so why is it offensive? Is it because it singled out one type of race – Mexican, or is it because it singled out one type of stature – short? 

It’s not my joke, by the way, and even if it were, I wouldn’t admit to it because it’s so bad. If you’re gonna be racist at least be really funny. Okay, if you laughed I can’t hold it against you because what you find funny, another person won’t, so that’s when tolerance comes into the picture. 

Now let me write it out a different way:

The reason short people are the best people to work in the fields is because they don’t have to bend over as far to pick the vegetables. 

Is this version better because it omits mention of a certain race? It actually takes a bad joke and makes it worse because it tries to soften the obvious. There is no difference to the meaning because the inference that a Latin American is doing the picking remains, and it does so because, when was the last time you saw anybody other than Latin Americans working in the fields picking vegetables? 

What if we took an extremely tall white person and put them in the field picking vegetables alongside a bunch of Latin Americans. Like say, Conan O’Brien, and he’s in a lot of pain because he’s bent over all day. He may have even done it already, I don’t know. But anyway, it’s funny because it takes a truth and turns it on its head. 

Italians aren’t good at politics, that’s why they invented pizza.

The inference is that all Italians make pizza. I’m Italian and I don’t make pizza. I don’t even eat pizza because cheese and I don’t get along. But pizza is, and forever will be, associated with Italians, just like the Mafia, Sophia Loren and cheaters. 

I admit, I’m intolerant and I’m preaching about tolerance, but it’s dairy I’m intolerant of, and if there’s anything one should have intolerance for, it should be food, like those friggin’ vegans. Vegans are just nutty… coconutty; they eat way too many coconuts if you ask me. And they’re really aggressive making their point about the food they eat, too. They’re the PETAs of the food world… snicker* You could say they’re PITAs… snort* snicker* snort*!

The point I’m trying to make is… is… what is my point? Oh yes, my point is there isn’t one person in the entire world who isn’t fully aware of another person’s cultural differences and considers that in their observation of them and perhaps even makes fun of them because of it. Except maybe Jesus, and he’s not alive anymore. If you say you don’t and claim you are not racist in the least and totally non-judgmental, then Jesus really did rise from the ashes.  

I was with a friend the other day and I made a comparison between the black plague killing 25 million people and the Coronavirus killing fewer than a few hundred thousand, and how we could do with losing 25 million people because the planet is overpopulated. I was joking (sort of) but she took it badly. So now I don’t know where I stand with her and it’s all because I think it’s funny that millions of people should be dying right now. 

Well that didn’t come out right.

Okay, I’m not saying we should go out into the world with no filters and just start saying whatever we want, that would be, well, it could actually be really funny (see above statement) but no, it wouldn’t be appropriate. I’m just saying we shouldn’t be so goddamn sensitive all the time. 

Published by Clever Girl

Intrepid writer, reader and comedian.

33 thoughts on “Shhh… They Might Hear You!”

  1. Amen. Unless that word is considered politically incorrect now. I laugh at comics who make fun of my ethnicity, because it’s usually partially true and something that I can relate to. It’s not based in hate, but in observation. The Pythons made careers out of making fun of people. People need to lighten up and learn to laugh again.

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  2. I laugh at jokes if they’re funny. It doesn’t matter if it’s directed at a person’s ethnicity or not. As long as it’s not made to purposely hurt someone personally… This reminds me of Dat Phan, remember him from Last Comic Standing? He was funny as hell. He made fun of his own ethnicity, and his family. If it’s meant to be funny, then I say laugh!! Americans do get their panties in a wad about a lot of things. I get mine in a wad over stupidity. Haha!

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    1. Yes, good for you! Just let people laugh at what they wanna laugh at. I know Dat Phan from the comedy circuit. Not personally, but I see him all the time at open mics and shows. We all get to know one another. It’s so much fun! Thanks Deb!

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  3. I think the problem is our inability to laugh at ourselves. Not that there’s much to laugh about these days. That being said, I think there can be a fine line between being humorous and being offensive. My husband has an old friend who hides his racism in jokes… and that’s not funny at all.

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  6. I hate political correctness. It seeps into everything. Songs being banned from 40 years ago because of something. If some people are so damn sensitive…don’t listen and shut up…

    Being a comedian now…has to be hard as hell because anything you say is on a cell phone and on youtube in a second…and the witch hunt begins. Not calling you a witch you know…just a figure of speech!

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      1. Many people are getting tired of it. If you say you are not polically correct you are looked at as an undesirable.
        If you watch Family Guy…you have to wonder how in the hell Seth gets by with what he does…if you like it or not.

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  7. Humour is such a tricky thing. I try to stick to self-deprecating humour so the only person I can offend is myself. But then I’m not easily offended either so I usually get a kick out of poking fun at myself and my foibles. Maybe no one else will laugh, but at least I’ve entertained myself so there’s that!

    Deb

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  10. CG,
    How did they know the tall white guy out in the field was a vegan? Cuz he was getting bent with an eggPLANT!!! Sorry. No, really…that was bad. Ahem. Not even signing my name. 😎 is it too late to take that back?

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  11. CG,
    Also, I wrote a post and gave a shout out to your post. Hell, it’s probably more than a shout out. I kind of based my whole post on your post. That happens sometimes.Hope you don’t mind. 🙂 Mona

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  12. Pingback: What's Wrong With This...Joke? - Wayward Sparkles

  13. Amen! (and I have no qualms about using that word!) Thank you, Clever Girl, for saying what needs to be said — this all is getting out of control. Do the people touting a one-agenda world not realize that the only way they can advance that agenda is because of freedom of speech?? Why would anyone think it’s a good idea to censure/cancel what people can say? Don’t they realize that they themselves could be among the censured/canceled? I wonder if anyone remembers the axim “What’s good for the goose is good for the gander.” Ye who are shutting down others, beware lest you yourself be shut down!
    And thank you, Mona (I know who you are!) at Wayward Sparkles, for sending me in this direction. I keep thinking this all is crazy, and when are people going to stop and say, plain and simple, NO! It’s not okay!

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  14. Im of the opinion that when it comes to comedy there aren’t boundries. I also think people need the release of hearing other postpone say the terrible things they’re probably thinking… once saw jimmy carr live n it was a thing of beauty just being able to enjoy hundreds of people embracing the wholly inappropriate… there stress boundaries and lines but i think there more about the people on the receiving end and their sensibilities than it being a measure of who we are. Unless we are doing it to hurt… but usually we aren’t. Inappropriate is just funny…

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