OV9

There's this junkie and he's bought some smack, but he can't remember where he's put it. He ransacks his flat, turns it upside down, but no joy. Finally, going through cupboards in the kitchen, he finds his prized little baggie of brown. He ties a scarf around his arm to try and find a vein, cooks it up and injects his hit.
Sadly, it wasn't heroin, it was curry powder. And now he's in a korma.

Gavster wrote: Wed Aug 17, 2022 11:28 am I can understand why, because it's a pejorative term for someone who has an illness/mental health issues in the form of addiction. There are lots of words that we used commonly in the past which are now considered offensive, especially when it comes to mental health and disability. It's not over-sensitivity, it's the evolution of language and society.

Gavster wrote: Wed Aug 17, 2022 11:28 am I can understand why, because it's a pejorative term for someone who has an illness/mental health issues in the form of addiction. There are lots of words that we used commonly in the past which are now considered offensive, especially when it comes to mental health and disability. It's not over-sensitivity, it's the evolution of language and society.

Swervin_Mervin wrote: Wed Aug 17, 2022 12:01 pm

Gavster wrote: Wed Aug 17, 2022 11:28 am I can understand why, because it's a pejorative term for someone who has an illness/mental health issues in the form of addiction. There are lots of words that we used commonly in the past which are now considered offensive, especially when it comes to mental health and disability. It's not over-sensitivity, it's the evolution of language and society.

See. You start thinking like this and you end up finding yourself at a Coldplay gig...

Delphi wrote: Wed Aug 17, 2022 10:32 am At work we have a Slack channel called DadJokes. I posted the following joke

There's this junkie and he's bought some smack, but he can't remember where he's put it. He ransacks his flat, turns it upside down, but no joy. Finally, going through cupboards in the kitchen, he finds his prized little baggie of brown. He ties a scarf around his arm to try and find a vein, cooks it up and injects his hit.
Sadly, it wasn't heroin, it was curry powder. And now he's in a korma.

Got pulled up on it for using the term "junkie" as it might offend some people. W.T.A.F.?

ZedLeg wrote: Wed Aug 17, 2022 12:11 pm

Swervin_Mervin wrote: Wed Aug 17, 2022 12:01 pm

Gavster wrote: Wed Aug 17, 2022 11:28 am I can understand why, because it's a pejorative term for someone who has an illness/mental health issues in the form of addiction. There are lots of words that we used commonly in the past which are now considered offensive, especially when it comes to mental health and disability. It's not over-sensitivity, it's the evolution of language and society.

See. You start thinking like this and you end up finding yourself at a Coldplay gig...

Broccers wrote: Wed Aug 17, 2022 1:00 pm The way I see it, from the outside of not working with teams. You are best not having banter, a laugh, flirting, moaning about anything and generally have no connection with anyone there apart from your bosses who you need to impress.

ZedLeg wrote: Wed Aug 17, 2022 1:04 pm

Broccers wrote: Wed Aug 17, 2022 1:00 pm The way I see it, from the outside of not working with teams. You are best not having banter, a laugh, flirting, moaning about anything and generally have no connection with anyone there apart from your bosses who you need to impress.

That's not the case at all, where I work is fairly relaxed and we have a laugh. It's really easy, just remember you're not in the pub with your pals and don't be a dick. I understand that last one might give you trouble.

duncs500 wrote: Wed Aug 17, 2022 12:33 pm My opinions on this are ever evolving. Certainly people going overboard with this stuff is a problem and they should get called out, but at the same time these are the kind of people who will also call out genuinely racist or misogynistic comments that others might just brush over or ignore. So I kind of think that it's a necessary evil to take the rough with the smooth once in a while as long as it doesn't do any damage.

Are we going to end up with it going too far? Possibly, but we're not where we need to be on more serious stuff yet so we may need to take it a bit far and then rein it in later with some common sense IMO.

Swervin_Mervin wrote: Wed Aug 17, 2022 1:15 pm

duncs500 wrote: Wed Aug 17, 2022 12:33 pm My opinions on this are ever evolving. Certainly people going overboard with this stuff is a problem and they should get called out, but at the same time these are the kind of people who will also call out genuinely racist or misogynistic comments that others might just brush over or ignore. So I kind of think that it's a necessary evil to take the rough with the smooth once in a while as long as it doesn't do any damage.

Are we going to end up with it going too far? Possibly, but we're not where we need to be on more serious stuff yet so we may need to take it a bit far and then rein it in later with some common sense IMO.

Ask yourself this though - would the joke be any less likely to cause offence if you used the term "drug-addict"? I would suggest that, to those who might be sensitive to a joke such as this, the use of junkie or any other term for the individual, is not the bit that is really likley to cause offence.