"You asked for my opinion. I've listened to both sides and here's my take on the situation. Jack is alleging that Mary made an offensive remark. Mary notes that there is nothing inherently insensitive, offensive, or cruel about her remark. Jack concedes that point but alleges that the context, given various events, makes the comment offensive. Jack states that he does not believe that Mary intended to offend anyone but she shouldn't have made the comment.
"My conclusion is this: Mary, you need to pay more attention to the context. Jack, you need to avoid making a big deal out of a remark that was neither inherently offensive nor intended to be offensive. The matter is closed and we will speak of it no more. Let's get back to work."
2 comments:
A logical response for a logical world.
The world we live in is not fair, logical or reasonable.
This example is fine if Mary made the comment. But if Jack made the comment then it is not fine. The perceived minority ALWAYS has the more influential/powerful argument.
The reality is, if that was your response, it would be that you as the person making the response was just as much of a problem since you sided with Mary and Mary's comments were the issue. Thus, Jack has now been intimidated, and you could infer in that bullied, since you were telling Jack what he should think, lalalalalalalalala......
Jack goes on leave for stress then off to a lawyer to seek compensation. The ridiculous world we live in.
I was taught "sticks and stones would break my bones but names would never hurt me...."
Bob,
The quality of the enforcement is only as good as the quality of the leadership.
I grew up on the sticks and stones standard but don't think that words are so harmless. There are some remarks that can hurt more deeply and longer than any fistfight.
Michael
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