tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6693471143220681808.post8180794216125032993..comments2023-12-18T07:59:16.525-05:00Comments on Hats and Rabbits: The Cultural Compliment ConundrumChris Matarazzohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17885109959459471509noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6693471143220681808.post-24690939229197862392012-10-02T09:09:46.482-04:002012-10-02T09:09:46.482-04:00Thanks, George. Sounds like my kind of reading. I&...Thanks, George. Sounds like my kind of reading. I'll give it a look. Chris Matarazzohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17885109959459471509noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6693471143220681808.post-13063970430670755132012-10-02T09:09:17.560-04:002012-10-02T09:09:17.560-04:00Thank you, Stephen. We are off the rails, in so ma...Thank you, Stephen. We are off the rails, in so many ways. A friend of mine, elsewhere, also pointed out that one might consider speaking his mind and then remembering that a sincere apology is an effective part of the process, if it goes wrong. There is always a graceful recovery to be made, but I think we forget than part, too. <br /><br />Great to hear from you, as always.Chris Matarazzohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17885109959459471509noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6693471143220681808.post-53180563739601363912012-10-02T09:06:42.344-04:002012-10-02T09:06:42.344-04:00It does seem to come down to an exercise in provin...It does seem to come down to an exercise in proving one's superiority, doesn't it? -- find the most overly analytic take on what is offensive and then act as if everyone else is a fool for not having recognized it. It gets tiresome. Chris Matarazzohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17885109959459471509noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6693471143220681808.post-70050651079126644002012-10-01T20:22:28.213-04:002012-10-01T20:22:28.213-04:00In Marianne Robinson's book The Death of Adam ...In Marianne Robinson's book <i>The Death of Adam</i> one essay, "The Puritan and the Prig" (contrasting them to the advantage of the former), says this cogently at at greater length.Georgehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14819154529261482038noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6693471143220681808.post-62082153953972860292012-10-01T15:06:21.988-04:002012-10-01T15:06:21.988-04:00In 1990, I had a summer job where I was required t...In 1990, I had a summer job where I was required to conduct telephone interviews with disabled people, felons, and recent welfare recipients. <br /><br />Her first week on the job, one of my co-workers decided to share with us what she had learned in one year at her small, overpriced liberal arts college: that under no circumstances should we refer to anyone as "disabled." Never mind that we were using the phrase in its strictest legal and legislative meaning; nope, an 18-year-old summer intern insisted that the company change all of its phone surveys to use the term "differently abled." (When the company said no, she altered her own scripts; the disabled people she spoke with found her kind of silly.)<br /><br />I've seen this again and again in business, in academia, and in life: It's almost never about actually being sensitive; it's about the scolder asserting power by insisting on ever-changing rules that only he or she, fully enlightened, is competent to assert. <br /><br />If we would all agree on, and codify, the rules--which used to be called "manners"--we'd all be less likely to offend others anyway, and we'd be free of these insufferable busybodies. Jeffhttp://www.quidplura.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6693471143220681808.post-61023486180968505532012-10-01T13:56:38.163-04:002012-10-01T13:56:38.163-04:00Chris: as usual, you are right on the mark. Here ...Chris: as usual, you are right on the mark. Here is a conundrum that comes up for me at this time of year: is "Indian Summer" now a politically incorrect term? A friend of mine was once advised by one of the thought police (someone who was not a Native American) that she should refrain from using the term because it was offensive to Native Americans.<br /><br />And don't forget (I know you already know this): we live in a country where the paramount right that is protected is the right not to be offended. Free speech? Nah. Freedom of religion? Nah. But God help you if you should offend somebody.Stephen Pentzhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14882220887712092005noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6693471143220681808.post-19302753476185919192012-10-01T13:05:54.874-04:002012-10-01T13:05:54.874-04:00Hear, hear!Hear, hear!Chris Matarazzohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17885109959459471509noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6693471143220681808.post-35310181796897301892012-10-01T12:43:38.119-04:002012-10-01T12:43:38.119-04:00A few years ago, I was put in charge of buying Chr...A few years ago, I was put in charge of buying Christmas gifts for the very diligent Central American maintenance team at my workplace. I looked at the sizable pile of cash I collected and knew the choice was obvious: three $50 Chipotle gift cards.<br /><br />Inevitably, a couple people piped up: Should we really be sending the message that we think Hispanics always eat tacos and burritos? <br /><br />I had to point out that those of us who actually talked to the maintenance guys knew that they ate at Chipotle, without deviation, without exception, with visible satisfaction, five days a week. <br /><br />I'm all for sensitivity based on actual knowledge of a culture, and it's rarely a bad idea to double-check one's blind spots, but the constant state of generic hypersensitivity and the assumption of ignorant or malevolent motives? I don't have much patience for that anymore.Jeffhttp://www.quidplura.comnoreply@blogger.com