Quote:
Originally Posted by MrsJoseph
I am going to disagree with this. If you call someone something and they don't want to be called that - you are offending. I was in a store one day and called the shopkeeper "dude." I wasn't trying to be offensive, but he was very offended. Who am I to tell him that he has no right to be offended?
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Who are you to tell him that? - You are a normal human being who said something that wouldn't be considered offensive by anyone who wasn't stark raving cuckoo
. Of course, I wouldn't suggest that you
tell him he has no right to be offended - that sort of language (omg, you said "right" - that's sooo offensive) might just start an infinite regression of offense. Reminds me of the woman in "Dead like me" who got offended by the word "moist"
.
Don't you find that just a little bit absurd? If a guy gets offended by "dude", he needs to be kept in a padded cell (for his own protection) to avoid any accidental contact with humanity that may damage his oh-so-fragile feelings. I mean, seriously - "dude"?
That's offensive now? Or rather, we're expected to humor such
insane levels of delicacy now? Gimme a break
.
I can go along with the idea that people have the right to
feel offended by anything they want. But in a society with more than one person, they have
no bloody right to demand or enforce a ban on whatever it is that offends them, unless the offense makes
sense (as decided by a reasonably large fraction of that society - the details I leave as an exercise for the reader
).
If I were you, I would greet that guy with a very pointed "Hey, ummmm <long pause> ... you" henceforth. Can't find offense with that eh?