Saturday, December 07, 2013

Know Your Audience

I woke up from a nap today and checked my Facebook.  I don't recommend this practice because we're not always thinking clearly in a state such as this.  The first update I saw was from a local newspaper who was outraged that a bar, one which I have been to tons of times, posted a special on their giant sign outside the bar for everyone to see: "Remember Pearl Harbor With Bombs and Kamikazes!"  Call me a dumb ass, but my gut reaction was to laugh my ass off.  Now if you haven't already deemed me an idiot, the next thing I did was respond saying that people need to lighten up.



Then I realized that I could probably lose my job or something, so I deleted it.

It's good to have sick people around to make jokes with, and that's when it's time to do stuff like that.  When you own a business, yeah, don't make a joke like that plastered on your building.  As a matter of fact, don't say anything that anyone can ever be offended by.   However, if I were drinking in that bar (again, I have a lot), and if the bartender, knowing his audience, proposed honoring the day with those shots, I would have gladly drank them and likely paid for them.  And certainly laughed.

It's just a matter of knowing your audience.

7 comments:

Gorilla Bananas said...

I wonder if anyone would be offended by that joke in 50 years' time. Would anyone today get offended by a sign saying "Remember Fort Sumpter with cannonballs and field guns".

Dr. Kenneth Noisewater said...

Gorilla: Great point. A lot more people died at Antietam, and I highly doubt anyone would get pisseed about an Antietam joke.

Dr. Kenneth Noisewater said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
David Oliver said...

This one was tough for me. When I was a little boy, WWII was very fresh in everyone's mind. There were widows. Men with one arm or one leg. Gorilla has got it right. It depends on how long after WWII you were born and probably how much any of your family was affected by the war.

Jimmy Fungus said...

I don't know. I think enough time has passed since WWII. For example, Hitler is practically a cartoon character these days. I bet if he was still alive he could probably make his rounds on all the talk shows and resuscitate his career. I originally tried the deal about not ever writing anything the least bit controversial or offensive, but it got really boring, so now I am pretty open.

David Oliver said...

Yeah, Jimmy you are right for most people. Anyway, I wasn't offended. It just didn't strike me as funny as it would have if I were 20 years younger.

Dr. Kenneth Noisewater said...

David: For sure. It's funnier the further you're removed from it.

Jimmy: Hitler making a comeback on the talk show circuit is something I could totally see. He would just need to go to rehab and cry for Barbara Walters, and he would be a hero before long.