Sick joke - rebuttal

[violet@slip.net]

Esther wrote:
>
>               Who told that 'joke' about the policeman
>               beating up someone.... yes really funny
>               NOT.... I found it really offensive,
>               violent, sick. Is this what American cops
>               laugh about in the locker room after a
>               long, hard day ?
>               Whoever posted it feel ASHAMED. This is a
>               group dedicated to a beautiful woman, not
>               sick, fascist male humour.
>
>               There, had to get that off my chest.
>               Normal service can now be resumed.
>                            Esther.x


I posted that joke here.  I'm sorry you were offended and I'm sorry if it
offended anyone else.  I certainly cannot say what cops joke about in
locker rooms, but I can say that this was well before the Rodney King
beating and the surge of police violence in the news.  The people who told
it at the time were cops from a small coastal town here in California who
are known for their kindness.  It was simply a story to illustrate the
difference between slowing down and stopping.  The mention of it by me was
triggered by someone making a joke about telling someone to go to a corner
and hit himself with a rolled up paper until told to stop.  It was a joke.
Non-police people tell this joke and find it funny.  It does not condone
violence and it is not meant to be a joke about people getting hurt by
police.  I read once that it is the nature of jokes and humor that no
matter WHAT you say, SOMEONE will be offended.  I can guarantee that if I
had said "A leprechaun walked into a bar...,"  somebody would have said
"I'm a leprechaun and I thought that was sick."  A lot of times the only
way to even deal with all of the horrible things that exist IS to turn them
into humor.  One of the sickest forms of humor I ever saw was plastered
across the screens of the nation and is still shown in reruns
here..."Hogan's Heroes."

This joke was originally told to me in an innocent place and in an innocent
tone by a very good, caring officer, who often made the most fun of himself
personally.  Most of the civilians here find it quite funny.  And doesn't
it strike you that the cop in this joke is the bad guy?  Yet police were
telling it?  This proves to me that they can laugh at THEMSELVES.  They
were portraying a negative stereotype OF THEMSELVES.  Do you not see this?
The whole point is that the cop in the joke went way too far to prove
something.  Jokes usually involve extremes.

I'm sorry you found this offensive, Esther.  But I am not ashamed for
telling it.  I see it as quite the opposite of the way you do.  Perhaps
posting here wasn't proper, but as I said I was triggered by the other
humorous comment.  To be ashamed of telling this joke, I would have to be
ashamed to be human.  And I'm not.  And, just for the record, I'm not fond
of the police.  I found out the hard way that most police are NOT as caring
as the officers in this one town were.

Violet

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