Jan Coffey wrote: > > I was once reprimanded for stacking books on the ground to be able > to reach a mouse on a high shelf. It seams that stepping on a book is somehow > taboo in the Indean culture. I was told that I was being offensive and > recieved a reprimand which excluded me from promotion. FOR STEPPING > ON A BOOK! for ciseakes. > But, in this case, they were right to reprimand you [but not for using this to exclude the promotion]. It's a general norm of politeness that people should abide by the rules that other people find offensive.
For example, we usually tell jokes in my workplace that involve sadism, sexism, racism, etc. But we don't tell them in the presence of people who might get offended. [I imagine they exclude me from the To: list when they circulate jokes that begin with "Johnny was a mongoloid..."] Alberto Monteiro _______________________________________________ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
