Distasteful Jokes

Recently a family member forwarded me the following joke:

For centuries, Hindu women have worn a dot on their foreheads. Most of us have naively thought this was connected with marriage or religion, but the Indian Embassy in Washington, D.C. Has recently revealed the true story.

When a Hindu woman gets married, she brings a dowry into the union. On her wedding night, the husband scratches off the dot to see whether he has won a convenience store, a gas station, a donut shop or a motel in the United States. If nothing is there, he must take a job in India answering telephones giving technical advice.

To me, it's one of those jokes that not only is not very funny, but makes you roll your eyes in disgust. Every day I work with a diverse group of people, including the targeted group... so perhaps I highly respect their cultures in a way that others don't. So I turned the tables and reformulated the joke as follows:

NEW DELHI (AP)--For centuries, American women have worn crosses around their necks, depicting a man being tortured to death. Most of us have thought that this has been connected to some kind of social status symbol, or religion. But the United States embassy in New Delhi has recently revealed the true story.

When an American woman gets married, her family usually pays for the wedding, and the groom's family pays for the honeymoon. On the first night of the honeymoon, the couple buries the tortured man under a pile of rocks. The next morning, if the man is gone, the couple is saved and will live happily ever after. They will be so overjoyed by the miracle of resurrection that they can ignore the unsustainable life they live, and be happy as they warm up the planet for their children. If the man remains, the husband's fate has been sealed: most likely as a fast food worker, Wal-Mart employee, gas station attendant, gang member, or construction worker.

In retrospect, I guess "American" doesn't fit that well... I should have mentioned one of the predominant religions here.

If you find one of those "jokes" funny and not the other, you may have a cultural bias. Your culture is not more or less special than anyone else's. Get over it.