urge to kill... rising...

[rone]

Just got e-mail from the CEO:

In true Macromedia spirit, we want to make sure that we're taking some time out to have fun in the midst of driving 'business as unusual' and integration planning.

Please join us for drinks, appetizers and informal Q&A at 4pm at 601T in the Town Hall on...

• Thursday, July 7 is Mexican Fiesta (don't forget your Sombrero)
• Thursday, August 18 is Hawaiian Luau (don't forget your Luau gear)
• Thursday, September 15 is Irish Pub night (please forget your leprechaun outfit and just stick to green)

I'm sure all of my Mexican, Hawaiian, and Irish coworkers are just pleased as punch to be pigeonholed by some Canadian jarhead who just sold us out a couple of months ago.

Comments

[jennconspiracy.livejournal.com]

Wow - you've GOT to be kidding? Do they really think that is OK? BOYCOTT!!!

[rwx.livejournal.com]

The hell? I thought Friday (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0151804/) was Hawaiian shirt day.

[waider.livejournal.com]

Damn, and me without a single item of green in my wardrobe.

(I lie, of course; my wardrobe is entirely green and consists solely of leprechaun outfits)

[glitter-ninja.livejournal.com]

Thursday, October 12th is Funny Hat day. (The P.A. system will feature "What's New Pussycat". Bob will quickly empty his litre of Jack Daniels while Judy will spend the morning polishing her sawed-off double-barreled shotgun. "The angel of death is upon us," Jack will remind us. "The hour of redemption is at hand." Don't forget to wear your funny hat!)

Where's my steel handkerchief?

[wordweaverlynn.livejournal.com]

How, um, charming. I'd report this to Human Resources as pushing ghe edge on ethnic cleansing humor, or to Miss Manners as a horrendous violation of business etiquette.

[hwrnmnbsol.livejournal.com]

Make sure to ask him when Negro Watermelon Night is, not to mention Emasculated Injun Roundup and 2-For-1 Savings Jew Night at Applebee's. And while you're at it, ask him when you're going to wear toques and get drunk on Molson for Canadian Stereotype Unity Friday.

[tritone.livejournal.com]

Tacky and kind of dumb I'll grant you, but I think it's a bit of an overreaction to see this as ethnically insensitive. Are Irish people offended by the fact that Americans wear green on St. Patrick's Day? Does it demean Mexicans when we find Incredibly Strange Wrestling funny? For that matter, we make fun of Canadians all the time, and laugh at jokes about the French surrendering.

My guess is that the general reaction of people in these groups is "Oh, look at you silly people latching onto something that was once associated with our culture but is now kind of outdated", not "I'm horribly offended because you think all of us wear sombreros/have luaus/wear green."

I'm not saying that all stereotypes are fine, but stereotypes about particular facets of a culture that happen to be outdated and kitschy don't seem particularly harmful to me among people whom I trust to be generally good people, especially since there's usually an unstated ironic acknowledgement that the stereotype is ridiculous.

Black and Jewish stereotypes are different, because they involve negative attributes attributed to all members of a group.

[arian1.livejournal.com]

What?! No Towelhead Day!? I'm OFFENDED! OUTRAGED I TELL YOU!

See if I bring my camel to work...

[urbeatle.livejournal.com]

you should have modified the memo and resent it:

• Thursday, July 7 is Mexican Fiesta (don’t forget your human sacrifice!)


• Thursday, August 18 is Hawaiian Luau (don’t forget your long pig!)


• Thursday, September 15 is Irish Pub night (don't forget your pipe bomb!)

remind me you tell you sometime about the great emails the EarthLink/Mindspring CEO used to send to the entire company while he was out drinking at some atlanta bar.

[littleamerica.livejournal.com]

Thursday, September 15 is Irish Pub night (please forget your leprechaun outfit and just stick to green)

Or indeed orange.