Thursday Tharies: I didn't think I'd get cancelled for saying that

It’s usually my parents and in-laws who complain about all the things you’re not allowed to say anymore.

I mean a lot of the things they used to say we probably shouldn’t have said but they feel it’s gone too far and that “cancel culture” is ruining the world.

My Dad’s nickname could be a very good example of what used to be normal vs what’s not accepted anymore. A few years ago I was walking to a cafe with him and someone he knew called out to him.

“Sooty! Soot! Over here” she yelled.

Then she got closer and said “you know I’ve just realised, I’ve known you 30 years and I don’t know what your real name is”.

Everyone calls my Dad Sooty or Soot.

Why?

Because his skin is so dark, the joke was he was a chimney sweep and covered in soot.

Could you imagine giving someone that nickname in 2024?

So while I think there’s been instances like that which we’re happy to see in the past, I didn’t think I was going to get called out for something I wrote in this very newsletter just a few weeks ago.

In reference to someone who was aggressive in their pursuit of career opportunities, I said that they “would push his Grandma to the ground and set her walking stick on fire if she was in the way of him and anyone with a VP, Director or C- in their title”

A few hours after hitting publish I received a DM that said I shouldn’t say this as it was offensive to women and the elderly.

I clarified with this person that I wasn’t advocating for the pushing and fire setting but only using it as a turn of phrase, a figure of speech. I was in fact strongly against the pushing of any Grandmothers.

They pointed out they had spent many years working with women and the elderly and to “trust them, it was offensive”.

So here I am, just a man sitting here asking you if I’m the asshole for using that phrase or is this one persons political correctness gone too far?