To think colleagues joke was NOT acceptable?

[LaurenkI]

My team has a meeting every Monday (virtual) and there’s always chat at the start about weekends etc. One of my colleagues said he’s worrying because his holiday plans for the year include already booked trips to Cyprus and Dubai. Another colleague then said ‘any chance you can book a trip to France next’ and he got a few laughs.

I have family in France, as does another colleague I’m aware of. Is it me or is this type of ‘joke’ really inappropriate given the current climate?

So you’ve dobbed your colleague in for making an off the cuff stupid joke. I’m sure we’ve all said idiotic things at work and unless this person has form for being crass it’s a big overreaction on your part. If anything I’d emal the colleague and say it wasn’t acceptable and it upset you a bit - and move on.

Exactly! I was going to ask if the OP had heard ‘le roast beef!’’ Comments or when you ‘try’ to speak French there they’ll answer you in English cos your accent is so lame (am talking about asking for a baguette in a shop for example). DD and I were talking about in what languages we could ask for a loaf of bread and this was her exact comment (at 23! having been to France twice as a child).
F

This thread should be in Classics.

Of course it’s clear.

This is just rage bait. Op is bored probably doesn't even have a job

Ah the office fun monitor…..

Allez les rosbifs! I’m fortunate in that my French is good enough for some to assume I’m a …. Belgian. Where that leaves me in this debate…. Vraiement pas d’idée!

Christ. You are the reason work isn’t fun anymore and people are scared to say anything or have a sense of humour.

I speak French and lived there for a bit. They give as good as they get.

Also watch Rowan Atkinson’s ‘Hell’ comedy sketch.

Stop looking to be offended.

Zut alors! I'm offended that you are offended!

Try being half French half British… British people really hate the French for some reason. I think some of them have encountered rude Parisians (just in the same way Londoners can come across as rude) and think the whole of France is like this.

I spoke fluent French then (not now, I’ve hardly spoken it in years sadly), with a good pronunciation, though still with an English accent. So I didn’t get mocked like that. But I remember that, when on holiday in Paris once, I felt a bit fed up when a shopkeeper who insisted on speaking in his very poor English when we could have spoken in French and completed the transaction much more quickly.

I found that French people love joking about all other nationalities. They have ‘les histoires Belges’ (Belgian jokes) and they say that Swiss French speakers speak far too slowly.

I wonder where in France the OP is talking about?

Oh my god I cannot believe you emailed your manager about this. Have a word with yourself OP, honestly.

YABVVVVVU

Sorry, my post was in reply to @Nosejobnelly .

Sounds like he meant to book somewhere safer next time.

You sound like you could lighten up a little. Your poor colleague if you take this comment to heart.

NRTFT

This is wild - imagine involving your manager in this. Hope this marks her card.

Some people really do seem to spend their lives looking for something to take offence at. I sometimes wonder how they ever get through a day!

It wasn't a funny joke, but I doubt I would actually really even notice it being said, never mind contort myself to find offence in it. I certainly wouldn't have bothered to pay it any attention.

You’ve contacted your manager? Jeez, what a complete overreaction. 🙄

My son lives in America - the butt of much angst and jokes with people . I laugh with them.

That was my immediate interpretation of it too. I have family living in France and I just can’t get my head around OP heading straight to HR with a complaint. I like Ricky Gervais’s logical take on what is offensive.

As the OP says she complained about another colleague’s joke in the past I will hazard a guess that the “warning” that colleague received and this one will receive will be very much just to satisfy OP’s complaint but will have done far less damage to the colleagues OP has complained about than it’s done to OP.

🤣🤣 do you speak French @LaurenkI
I can promise you the French are very happy to make jokes about other countries in my experience (having lived there).

My reading of this was that the colleague involved would have known some of the team members were part French. Although you can always argue about the line between banter and potential bullying, that would make a difference too to how I'd view the event. (Rereading I'm not sure that was the case or whether anyone involved is actually of French origin, as opposed to having relatives who are expats)

You never know people's connections, of course, which is one reason to err on the side of caution when making jokes about other nations or nationalities at work

A désolé ma petite chou 😩🥬

To me, this just sums up the ridiculous path we have travelled in this country over the last few years. A colleague makes a light-hearted joke, OP immediately gets all huffy and offended. What has happened to the great British sense of humour - does every single comment have to be analysed for potential offence?

The rivalry with the French is a beloved part of being English! Everyone knows it’s banter - it’s not meant to be taken seriously and they give as good as they get.

Plus it’s six nations and at the moment it’s bloody embarrassing being English. I was at Murrayfield on the 14th….. much gentle ribbing of us poor English on yeh way back into Edinburgh after the match! 😂 it’s part of it.

I specifically said that she shouldn't make a big deal out of it, i.e. I don't think she should take it up with HR or do anything else about it. But yes I do think saying 'I'd like it if (insert whatever country) got bombed/attacked' is in poor taste, and I would have a lower opinion of someone after they said that. Which, as you correctly say, is my right.

very over -sensitive you are.
I had booked trip to Venezuela & Dubai, and July to Cyprus. I lagthed so much with my family about it.

I said. Looks like the universe wants me to save money! so I will lol