Good night, Cellar

[glatt]

I'm guilty.

I thought LJ's initial post was mildly funny.

Jeb's response that "She's dead, you jerk." is the standard response (a lie) to a "mother joke." I didn't think it was true. Apparently neither did LJ.

Then LJ's comment about the mom after that made me snort. Most people would have let it drop at that point because of the very slim possibility that the sister really was dead, but LJ is confident in his BS detector. He figured it was a lie and he went for the big laugh. I found it to be quite funny in a shocking sort of way.

Maybe the sister did die in the WTC. If so, then what LJ said was terrible. But I think it's unlikely. This thread has me wondering though.

[BigV]

Originally Posted by glatt

I'm guilty.

I thought LJ's initial post was mildly funny.

could be mildly funny, but horribly crude, in my opinion.

Originally Posted by glatt

Jeb's response that "She's dead, you jerk." is the standard response (a lie) to a "mother joke." I didn't think it was true. Apparently neither did LJ.

understood. I took it at face value, having no other good reason to believe otherwise.

Originally Posted by glatt

Then LJ's comment about the mom after that made me snort. Most people would have let it drop at that point because of the very slim possibility that the sister really was dead, but LJ is confident in his BS detector. He figured it was a lie and he went for the big laugh. I found it to be quite funny in a shocking sort of way.

same here, except quite shocking. different senses of humor.

Originally Posted by glatt

Maybe the sister did die in the WTC. If so, then what LJ said was terrible. But I think it's unlikely. This thread has me wondering though.

Here I have to agree with what lj said. if the sister did die in the WTC, then terrible. But if I put myself in J's shoes, and my sister who I know didn't die in WTC were the subject of the same remarks, I would still find them crude, offensive and unfunny. The actual facts about the sister doesn't change that for me.

Golden rule, Occam's razor ... why be mean, unnecessarily?

[glatt]

Originally Posted by BigV

could be mildly funny, but horribly crude, in my opinion.

I agree. It's not a comment I would make, but the guy did insult LJ earlier and it was a comeback.

Originally Posted by BigV

Golden rule, Occam's razor ... why be mean, unnecessarily?

Good point, but LJ didn't start it.

[BigV]

Originally Posted by glatt

I agree. It's not a comment I would make, but the guy did insult LJ earlier and it was a comeback.

Points for continuity, but passes caught while out of bounds do not advance the ball.

Originally Posted by glatt

Good point, but LJ didn't start it.

Hm. Is that a valid defense in the House of glatt when a dispute arises among the children? should lj be held to that standard? A higher one?

[dar512]

Originally Posted by glatt

Good point, but LJ didn't start it.

So it's ok for LJ to be mean because Jeb was mean first? That's an argument I wouldn't accept from a fifth grader, much less a grown man.

Whether Jeb's story is the truth or not, I think Jeb is right in this respect. There's a lot of mean-spiritedness and one upmanship floating around the Cellar these days. It's the main reason I don't spend much time here these days.

It seems I can't resist putting my two cents in from time-to-time, though. So I compromise by skipping the inane and mean threads.

[glatt]

Originally Posted by dar512

So it's ok for LJ to be mean because Jeb was mean first? That's an argument I wouldn't accept from a fifth grader, much less a grown man.

I never said it was "OK." I was pointing out that it wasn't unprovoked. But yes, the "he started it" defense doesn't work.

To be forthright, I think part of the reason I didn't find LJ's initial comment all that shocking or bad is that when I was in college years ago, my buddies and I used to make "your mother" jokes to each other often. It was acceptable and didn't mean anything other than a joke. So to me, there's nothing bad in his joke. I also only found it mildly amusing for the same reason. I'd heard all the "your mother" jokes already. The second comment he made, after the WTC bit was something I'd never heard before, so that's probably why I found it to be shockingly funny. It was so over the top I had to laugh.

It seems clear that it had a greater impact on others here, and I accept that. I also wish I hadn't brought it up, because LJ is perfectly capable of defending himself, if he even wants to.

The Cellar has had a bit of a bad vibe lately, but I don't think this incident is a good example of it.