THE RISKINESS OF JOKES


Don't Joke in Britain

We read:

"When it comes to making your co-workers laugh, tread carefully. Sometimes even a great joke can lead to the punch line "you're fired." The daily grind has always been fertile ground for practical jokes, witty one-liners, rude gags and general clowning around. But it is becoming harder to avoid crossing the line into offensive territory, due in part to the ease of electronic communication and the workplace's growing attunement to cultural diversity and worker sensitivity.

Take the PR Newswire employee fired last month for using the term "loony-bin-rally" to slug a press release about a march for mental illness. The company published an apology saying it deeply regretted the "error" and understood how "such terminology feeds the prejudice and discrimination associated with mental illnesses."

Then there was the European head of Barclaycard--the credit card arm of Barclays (nyse: BCS - news - people )--who lost his job last month, allegedly because of a gag that offended fellow employees. According to The Daily Telegraph, Marc Howells was discussing quarterly results with his staff when he told the following joke: "The results were like Muslims--some were good, some were Shi'ite."

It may be difficult to determine when the punishment fits the crime, but there is no doubt jokes are dangerous creatures in an office environment. Careless e-mails build up a trail of evidence that can look 10 times worse when closely analyzed and wrenched out of context. An offhand riposte about a co-worker can worm its way through the office, resulting in an official complaint or even disciplinary action if there is the suspicion of discrimination.

Which begs the question: Is it even worth making a joke at work anymore? Not according to British writer Toby Young, whose 2003 book How to Lose Friends and Alienate People chronicled his many failed attempts to charm co-workers at Vanity Fair through humor. "It is a risk that simply isn't worth taking," said Young

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Jokes Risky in Australia too

In Australia and in Britain, the mayor of a major city is referred to as a "Lord" mayor. The city concerned below is Brisbane, Australia (capital of the State of Queensland). A municipal election takes place there shortly:

"A Lord mayoral aspirant is facing calls for her withdrawal from next month's elections after circulating an email that talks about being gang raped by her Labor opponent. Louise Day - who fronts a rock band under her stage name Punxie - was last night refusing to pull out of the race, saying the email was meant in jest.

Ms Day, a former speech writer for Education Queensland, says she does not feel comfortable referring to Labor's lord mayoral candidate Greg Rowell by his first name "in case he takes it as a come-on and invites his cricket team to gang rape me. "But Rowell just sounds like something I barfed. I think I am just going to call him, 'jug head' because, you know, of his ears," she wrote.

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Robust political abuse was once normal throughout the English-speaking world but an artifical politeness seems to be descending. I think the new way is more likely to lead to things being covered up.

Posted by John Ray.