to not find this funny

[mommy2ash]

I work as part of a team and my workplace have started weekly newsletters to help each team get to know each other. One person from each team is nominated each week to write an update of their team and it gets sent to everyone roughly about 80 people. This was the first week and it was a general get to know each person.


Everyone tried to make it humorous and it turned into a bit of a roast. The person who sent the email about my team poked fun at people's accents, my height, people's humours etc.

Each person had their own paragraph and at the end of mine was she is a terrible mother.

Now obviously I know it's not true and it's supposed to be tongue in cheek but I felt it was an unnessesarily personal comment. The person who wrote it is out today and everyone was laughing and asking me to read it. I just said I don't find that funny and carried on with my work.

I'm not usually precious but I felt it inappropriate especially for work. Aibu?

[cailindana]

God almighty whose stupid idea was that??

[UterusUterusGhali]

No. That's just horrible.

Is there an HR dept?
I'd maybe have a word.
I can understand if you don't want to be seen as a killjoy but it's very unprofessional.

[AlwaysHope1]

Wow that's a really stupid idea and it should be stopped. How can they make such a personal comment

[wickedwaterwitch]

Totally unprofessional and unacceptable

What on earth were they thinking?

[Pipestheghost]

That's not on at all, that sounds like bullying to me.

[Glitterspy]

Sounds like a sense of humour fail. Sometimes people get desperate in their attempts to try and be funny, and it can (at best) fall flat and (at worst) be really hurtful. How are your relationships at work otherwise? If they're generally good I'd make it clear you're not happy/they've crossed a line with you - and then leave it at that. If you're relationships are generally poor and you feel like this is a more serious attack or bullying, then you should talk to your line manager or HR.

[Iliveinalighthousewiththeghost]

YNBU. You didn't find it funny because its not funny, very far from it.
Whose idea was to advocate work place bullying and making people feel uncomfortable.

[mommy2ash]

This person has quite a dry sense of humour and has tried to make a similar joke about my parenting in the past and it immediately changed the tone of the conversation and I told them that bringing my dd or my parenting into their banter was off limits

[Jw35]

Ridiculous YANBU!

[iMatter]

I'd raise it with your HR department.

That's appalling. It's not at all funny and totally inappropriate.

[Floggingmolly]

How does an email taking the piss out of each other help you get to know one another? Someone's been reading one of those management books written in the 80's, and is best consigned to the bin. Preferably before they get the notion of organizing a team building awayday.

[OurBlanche]

That's a 'straight to HR and I expect to see a policy change and get a direct apology' situation.

Refer it now. It is utterly unacceptable.

[ouryve]

Why the hell are they so obsessed with your parenting? And what would it have to do with your work, anyhow? The fact that they've made the same sort of dig before suggests they're either stupid or it's deliberate. Either way, they're a pathetic individual and I think you need to have a word with HR.

[ouryve]

And I have a dry sense of humour, but I draw the line at being unkind. A long way short of it, generally.

[TheWitTank]

Wtf? In my HR days I would have stamped out this ridiculous idea before it has even started -I'm all for a laugh, but this is very unprofessional (and unkind for those who don't want to join on the hilarity stupidity).

[iMatter]

I hate the way people excuse their rudeness by saying "it's my sense of humour" as if you're at fault for not finding their arsehole attitude funny.

I too have a dry sense of humour but I'm failing to find your colleagues comment even remotely funny.

[stopfuckingshoutingatme]

whoa, |YANBU at all.

to HR and line manager, and don't feel like a prude either its bang out of line

[pluck]

Well, that's one person who's just told 80 others: "I'm totally unprofessional and a backstabber."

A very effective getting-to-know-you, but one with considerable collateral damage! Twat.

[RaptorInaPorkPieHat]

This person has quite a dry sense of humour

I have a dry sense of humour, sometimes sarcastic and a little bitter/twisted (if I do say so myself).

I would NEVER call anyone a terrible parent, and to put it in writing to the whole of your company is deeply deeply unprofessional and downright nasty.

[stinanordenstram]

Not only deeply unfunny but bad bad practice.

Yep - risk of litigation and/or HR having to deal with lots of staff grievances being raised.

This whole newsletter thing would def break my company's policy on harassment and bullying

and the PP who said that dry sense of humour = sarcastic and arsehole-ish, I'd disagree. You get nice people with a dry sense of humour and then OTOH you get some wankers.

YANBU