Changed my mind about disability jokes after my cousin broke her leg

I used to laugh at wheelchair jokes until my cousin spent 6 weeks in one after a ski accident and told me how isolating those jokes felt. Has anyone else had a personal experience flip how they see a whole category of humor?

3 comments

3 Comments

murphy.tessa26d ago

Wait, everyone actually made "break a leg" jokes to your cousin every day for three months? That's wild, I can't believe people would be that clueless for that long. Like, okay, puns are funny once maybe but constantly hitting someone with the same joke when they literally can't use their arm? That's just mean, not even funny mean, just annoying mean. It makes sense that she got sick of it, I would have started throwing stuff at people by week two. Honestly it takes some guts for her to tell you how she felt, most people just smile and pretend it doesn't bug them.

the_wade26d ago

My cousin broke her arm in 8th grade and had to wear a sling for like 3 months. Everyone kept making "break a leg" jokes and she told me later how much it sucked always being the punchline. I stopped making jokes about other people's bodies after that. It's different when you see the actual look on someone's face when they hear those jokes. I think most people just don't realize how personal it feels until they're the one stuck in that position.

rileygarcia27d ago

Ah man, that's rough. It's wild how a personal connection can totally shift your perspective on something you never thought twice about before.

-2