Anonymous wrote:Then, the subject of Franken came up. And I joked, it is a consent issue with the second issues: if you agree to allow Al to cop a feel (bad but better than feel a cop) in exchange for the photo, then it is ok. If you do not ask permission, then it is not ok.

OP, can you PLEASE come back here and try to explain this? where is the joke? i don't understand what any of this even means. i do understand why it would be an SNL skit, though, because that show sucks and is unfunny now.

Yes and I don't get offended easily.

If you're a man in this era, be very careful around women.

Am I the only one who read this several times and is still unsure what part was the joke?

Anonymous wrote:WOMEN NEED TO GET used to this or stay in the kitchen

OP, is that you? Do you mean get used to unfunny jokes? From the number of responses to this thread it appears it's possible that at least some men found your "joke" unfunny &/or offensive.

Seriously - what is "stay in the kitchen" even supposed to mean? I thought it was "If you can't take the heat, get out of the kitchen." Also, what's with strange all caps usage here?

I cannot, for the life of me, understand OP's "joke" or why it's supposed to be funny.

Anonymous wrote:Forgetting the harassment issue, you sound unprofessional and unlikely to inspire confidence. Your career has probably flattened and you have no idea why.

nope.

Forgetting the harassment issue, you sound unprofessional and unlikely to inspire confidence. Your career has probably flattened and you have no idea why.

I doubt this happened.

We need to bring back the funny. Sexual harassment is funny

I don't get the joke.

WOMEN NEED TO GET used to this or stay in the kitchen

Get to work and quit joking around.

It doesn’t matter if the person you were talking to was fine with it; in a professional setting those around you who overhear a conversation can be offended too. This is basic harassment training stuff.

Your "joke" still sucks. (To me) It's not offensive, it's just not funny.

Anonymous wrote:OP, if you're unsure about whether to tell a joke at work, don't.

It's ok to just say good morning at the coffee maker. You don't have to make conversation especially if the only thing you can think of to say is a questionable joke.

The person I was talking to was not offended. We were discussing the changing rules, etc. And we have both been very disappointed in hearing about Al Franken. The discussion went in the direction of what is harassment, when I proffered it is about consent. If someone is unable to refuse an act (i.e., feels pressured or worse, forced), then it is on the harassment to assault scale. Then, as a joke, I said if "Frankem had said, in exchange for my photo, I will grab your rear, ok, and she had the photo taken, she consented...no issue". That was the only part of the conversation the person in the next office had heard.