An off the rails joke at Jungle Skipper today

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No matter what you say, what joke you tell, you will offend someone. Sad but it seems to be true.
I'm of two minds on this one, and I've not said anything until now.
i would say that the issue is not one of someone being offended, but someone being genuinely traumatized. Individuals or their family members who are dealing with mental health issues, probably shouldn't have to hear that type of humor.

it's the other folks who get "offended", who may have no connection to anyone with the condition, but react with "eww, you're mean, I'm offended" that are the ones who generate the eye rolls.
 
it's true. if you can't mock the mentally ill then who CAN you mock anymore? I think fat people are still ok.

I respectfully disagree. Please don't mock fat people. I mean, you can, but I, as a fat person, will also be free to think you're a jerk for doing so.

Mocking people's appearances in general is a bad look, IMHO.
 
And what ABOUT all of those poor children who get in trouble for bullying when they are just trying to have a little fun? I mean, what if some 13 year old boy hangs himself because of it? what a joykill, taking all of the fun out of life for those poor boys who were just trying to have a good time. You're right. being PC sucks.

What about the fat children other children mocked for their appearances, that are incessantly mocked to the point of suicide (which is a real thing that happens) because this 13-year-old wanted to "have a little fun"?

Seriously? I don't see bullies committing suicide for being told that their actions are wrong. I see victims of bullying committing suicide for being constantly harrassed and tortured by their peers.
 

I respectfully disagree. Please don't mock fat people. I mean, you can, but I, as a fat person, will also be free to think you're a jerk for doing so.

Mocking people's appearances in general is a bad look, IMHO.
I was being sarcastic. I hope from the tone of my post you would get that I don't think it is ok to mock anyone for any of the reasons I mentioned. But I do think in society people are willing to look the other way more for some groups than others. and i'm not skinny myself. at all.
 
What about the fat children other children mocked for their appearances, that are incessantly mocked to the point of suicide (which is a real thing that happens) because this 13-year-old wanted to "have a little fun"?

Seriously? I don't see bullies committing suicide for being told that their actions are wrong. I see victims of bullying committing suicide for being constantly harrassed and tortured by their peers.
sarcasm alert. I was referring to that horrifying story as well.
 
I was being sarcastic. I hope from the tone of my post you would get that I don't think it is ok to mock anyone for any of the reasons I mentioned. But I do think in society people are willing to look the other way more for some groups than others. and i'm not skinny myself. at all.

I'm sorry, I must have misread your post. My apologies for misunderstanding. (It doesn't matter whether or not you're fat or skinny, in either case!)
 
There is a significant and poignant context to the "joke" that no one has mentioned. The line does not originate with the movie What About Bob? but that movie simply acknowledges the original. The original comes from the great composer and pianist Oscar Levant who wrote "Roses are Red, Violets are Blue I'm schizophrenic and so am I". He was referring to and somewhat mocking his own significant mental problems, drug addictions and multiple admissions to hospitals. Levant intended it as a joke and a reminder of the struggles he went through. As such, the line itself is not at all bad or insensitive if the context is known.

The real issue here is that it was used out of proper context. I would educate the server not vilify them. Education is much more appropriate and useful. I doubt that the server meant serious harm.

Oh, and for those who say they don't get the joke, it's based on the mistaken idea of schizophrenia as split personality. Those of us who have worked in mental hospitals (me as a psychologist) also can understand that Levant's joke pokes fun at that misunderstanding.
 
And... I loved What About Bob!! Awesome movie!

I loved Die Hard. It was an awesome movie too! But if I walked into a disney restaurant and someone said to me "yippie ki yay *-*er" (and you all know what i mean, I won't even attempt to write the second part) I would get the reference and would STILL be shocked to be hearing it at disney. Context is everything. Just because it is in a movie doesn't mean it is appropriate to repeat out of context.
 
Yes, thank you! We also has an unpleasant incident once where Snow White said my son, who has Down syndrome, reminded her of Dopey and asked his big sister if she took care of him like Snow White takes care of Dopey. We talked to guest services. The CMs are typically amazing, but I think there needs to be some more training on sensitivity for those with disabilities.

I am sorry your family had to go through this, but this is a slightly different situation as the cast member was speaking to a specific person in a specific situation. The joke referenced above was just a general joke, not aimed or directed at a specific guest.
 
One of my brother's is schizophrenic, my mother was bat crap crazy (she had a certificate and was very proud of the scar on her wrist where she tried to slit it) my son has PTSD (he says bat crap crazy but I tell him he doesn't qualify since his is a direct result of something else). I would not have been offended, my mother would not have been offended, my son would not have been offended and my brother would most likely either have thought it was funny or not reacted at all. If I had been there without any of them, I would not have been offended nor would I have called the young man to task for using the wrong illness in the joke. I'm number dyslexic and find jokes about it pretty amusing. My son is white, his wife was black and they (they being the operative word here) named their dogs Rhett and Scarlett. If you can't laugh what's left?
 
I feel like many of the people claiming that there's no reason to be offended because they have mental illness in the family do not understand the severity of schizophrenia (I am sure this does not apply to all, but some). Schizophrenia is not anxiety, it is not depression, it is not ADHD. Schizophrenia is more often than not a COMPLETELY debilitating disease resulting in the total loss of a person - first their actual identity as a functional member of society and then often dying alone, sometimes alone on the streets, to suicide, to drug addiction. The paranoia is all encompassing and leads to a life of cycling between psych wards and prisons. They are often severely dangerous to people around them, causing even family members who love and want to help them to have to ditch them to protect themselves.
There may be avenues of dark humor to joke about schizophrenia, but Disney, between cast members and patrons, is not one of them. Do you also think it would be "too sensitive" to be offended by a joke about cancer? About suicide? How about obesity? Can CMs make jokes about obesity? Racist jokes? Making fun of gay people? Mentally handicapped?
Those things seem more obvious that a cast member shouldn't joke about them. What makes schizophrenia any different? Probably because you don't understand the condition, don't know anyone with the condition, and don't have to deal with the agonizing and ongoing loss of a loved one to that condition. Most people's day to day interaction with schizophrenia extends no further than crossing the street to walk avoid walking past the loud, exceptionally dirty, "scary" homeless person. That's the face of schizophrenia, and there is someone who loves or loved that person once. It isn't funny.

Besides that, just to reiterate what others have said, the statement is inaccurate about what schizophrenia even is. Multiple personality disorder is not schizophrenia.
 
1) Alas, political correctness runs amok, again.
2) There are VERY FEW jokes that do not make fun of people or situations.
3) Life is funny.
4) Doesn't anyone even read the Funnies in the newspaper any more?
5) Did you hear the one about . . . ?

You probably wouldn't be saying this if your son was schizophrenic.
 
I thought the joke was funny myself---and I'm sure if I look close enough down my family tree, I'll find someone with a mental illness---but guess what, I'll still find the joke funny. I have NO IDEA why you have to alert management about the joke, as it would have just been easier to brush it off, and agree it was not to your taste, and carry on with your life. While the joke was not to your personal liking, you may have caused a kid his job---a job he might have been trying to get for years.

There is too much 'I know of someone with XXXXX problem, so I find your joke/comment insensitive'....

If one of your children had a mental illness, I doubt very much you would want to hear a joke about it and then people laughing. The point is, a mental illness isn't funny. There are a lot of other things to laugh about instead of someone's disability.
 
I can't speak for anyone but myself, but I didn't find the joke funny at all. The thing I don't agree with is reporting a server, who isn't even your server, for a poor attempt at a joke that you find offensive.

Please read what the OP said a few times. She wasn't "reporting" the server to get them in trouble. She was bringing an issue up to the manager so the manager could talk to the server and advise this line was NOT appropriate. My brother is mentally ********, if I was at any restaurant and heard ANY server said "hey look at that retard over there", I would be offended. Like I said already, there are a lot of things to laugh at, making fun of someone with a disability is not one of them.
 
Aren't there many other things to laugh about other then someone with a disability?
Absolutely...and soon they won't be able to joke about anything. The possibility of offending or upsetting someone is too great. And there is no way to police what is or isn't offensive/upsetting. Time's change. Things that weren't thought of as offensive in the past are now (like jokes about gators). Better to just not make jokes.
 
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