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I made a crack in a leads meeting about another team needing to stop smoking crack. Later that afternoon, my boss came in and said, "Ry, you don't know what ot
by RyJones 14y ago
I made a crack in a leads meeting about another team needing to stop smoking crack.
Later that afternoon, my boss came in and said, "Ry, you don't know what other people are going through in their lives." The lead of the other team (who was in the meeting) had been to rehab for his crack addiction.
- switch007 14y agoNot sure what to think of this. To me, it's a well-used expression that does not imply that you actually smoke crack. What other expressions should we not speak in case they literally might offend someone?
- textminer 14y ago"Did you fall off a space elevator or something?!" Only because it might compel some contrarian to build a space elevator. And I really want a space elevator.
- pyre 14y agoObviously the more PC phrase would be, "Time to put down the 'peace pipe' kemosabe." </sarcasm>
- gpcz 14y agoThat expression already indicates an ad-hominem rebuttal, and ad-hominems can offend by definition ("against the person"). By using a higher DH-level (src: http://www.paulgraham.com/disagree.html http://www.paulgraham.com/disagree.html ) in argumentation, you can avoid a lot of problems and have more meaningful discussions.
- incision 14y agoI grew up in a place where lots of people including some I knew personal literally smoked and/or sold crack. I tend to groan a bit inside where I hear someone make a remark about "smoking crack" because it's often used to describe behavior that is quite unlike that of a genuine crack smoker.
- gnarbarian 14y agoHow would you describe the behavior of a crack smoking developer?
- jaggederest 14y agoGuy I know started tweeting increasingly erratic things over the course of a 48 hour bender, followed by to-the-whole-company emails about working remotely from Fiji so the CIA couldn't follow him. Didn't recognize me when I tried to meet up with him to get him some help. Later he apparently tried to light his apartment on fire.
- gnarbarian 14y agoSounds like a bipolar guy I know.
- jaggederest 14y agoYup! Probably the same guy.
- Dylan16807 14y ago...then your depiction of crack addicts as being generally similar to this guy is probably highly misleading.
- incision 14y agoI'm not sure I've met any, but if I extrapolate from the blue-collar folks I was exposed to I'd think it might be hard to tell. Anecdotally, of course... You've probably heard of high-functioning alcoholics, it's entirely possible to a high-functioning crackhead as well - at least for a while. I expect the point of exposure for most people comes not through continued use, but the point when something interrupts their supply. That's where they end up crushingly depressed, violently angry and indebted in ways that will surely screw-up the rest of their previously well-functioning life.
- MartinCron 14y agoThis is exactly the sort of joke that I used to make that I wouldn't make now for exactly that sort of reason. Similarly, I avoid using terms like "retarded". It all feels like shallow political correctness until you realize that there are real people out there with real things going on in their lives.
- BoyWizard 14y agoOne of the people I worked with used the expression 'We're not saving babies here!' when people were stressing to get stuff done. Until one day someone in the meeting burst into tears and ran out. Turns out they previously had a miscarriage.