Domestic Violence

[JanetRose]

I mentioned to a co-worker something about domestic violence and he replied ‘that’s why I always hit my wife in the kidney area’. I have never been abused but did not consider that reply the least bit funny – was I being over sensitive?

 

[AKLRULZ]

I mentioned to a co-worker something about domestic violence and he replied ‘that’s why I always hit my wife in the kidney area’. I have never been abused but did not consider that reply the least bit funny – was I being over sensitive?

Whoa, I hope he was joking (not funny even then really).

 

[Gonz Of Lancashire]

Yes. It was meant as a joke I presume.

 

[cardaway]

Likely just a joke. Some people will make a joke out of anything, even in the wrong company.

 

[ClarabelleCowFan]

Your co-worker is a twit.

 

[disneymama73]

That's just not funny.

 

[PrincessTiff]

Even if he was joking, that's disrespectful to his wife.

 

[GoodFairies]

Might your coworker be a Stephen King fan?

 

[JanetRose]

I always wonder if people ever consider that maybe someone within hearing distance may have at one time or another been a victim and how they would feel hearing people make light of it.

 

[MAKmom]

He is an Idiot.

 

[MagicalMom]

I used to know someone who always said to his friends "I always hit her in the back of the head, it doesn't show a bruise there." Not funny at all.

 

[PixiePop]

Not funny.

 

[scrump]

I don't think that's funny.

 

[dmslush]

Well, as the resident Domestic Violence Legal Advocate on the dis.. he was very tacky. I understand trying to make light of something, but the fact that one third of all women in the world report having been a victim of some sort of violence at the hands of an intimate partner, I don't find jokes about dv very funny at all. Think about it, you (a female) and two of your female friends go out to dinner. Odds are that one of you at the table have been abused by an intimate partner.

 

[mrsheppo]

As a former victim of domestic violence, I find it in very poor taste.

 

[paigevz]

Not at all funny, and I shudder to think if he was telling the truth..............

 

[thewishfire]

I'll joke about almost anything but never that. I'm sure he was kidding, but it was in very poor taste... especially if you were around other people.

 

[Keli]

I don't know, somehow I find it hard to get worked up over a joke like that. Personally I think it's not particularly funny but at the same time I wouldn't get upset if someone said it around me. I'd probably answer "Yeah, whatever".

 

[poohandwendy]

I don't know, somehow I find it hard to get worked up over a joke like that. Personally I think it's not particularly funny but at the same time I wouldn't get upset if someone said it around me. I'd probably answer "Yeah, whatever".

Me too. It would not have bothered me. I am positive I have made stupid jokes that if someone overheard, they would think I was absolutely horrible. Amongst close friends.

The fact that he said this to someone who actually was offended by it means it was inappropriate. You need to know your audience, when making jokes, IMO.

I have to admit, my DH made a really bad joke when we were first married that shows how you can really put your foot in your mouth...and it was just like the one the OP describes:

He was working on a construction site and my father happened to be his foreman. The other workers constantly made jokes about his having to work for his new FIL. Someone said, "man, you better not piss off the boss or you are going to hear it from your wife"...so my DH, being a total nimrod quips "Yeah, but he better not piss me off because I will just go home and smack his daughter" Totally joking and everyone knew me and him so this was not something they took seriously...HOWEVER....little did he know, my father just happened to walk around the building behind my DH and catch the last part of this exchange. The part my DH said. My father was a man of few words and just said "Nice" and walked away. Of course, my DH apologized profusely...but it was NOT good timing, not funny and he learned a lesson about 'inappropriate' that day.

My Dad later giggled to me, "You know, the best part of that joke was the look on his face when he turned around and saw me...it was a good lesson in humility for him" He NEVER let on to my DH that he knew it was a joke. I later told my DH after my father died a few years later.

My point is, sometimes people say stupid things. Sometimes the best thing you can do is teach them a wee bit of humility. If I were bothered by the guy in the OP, I would have said deadpan "Hmm, that is what my father used to do to me and my mother...thanks for the painful reminder" and walked away.

 

[tiff211]

I sure I would have found it offensive if I had been a victim of DV but otherwise I would have just shrugged it off.....if I knew for sure he was joking, which I would assume he wouldn't be seriously admitting to something like that.