So, I got in trouble today at work.

[hamsterjill]

So I got in trouble today at work.

I have a small sign that sits on my desk. It was given to me years ago by a friend and has sentimental value. I've had it at all of my places of employment for years with never any issue.

My Trumper Evangelical Rush Limbaugh fan supervisor asked me to remove it today "to keep things positive". The sign, an obvious reference to the Wizard of Oz, reads:

"I have flying monkeys and I know how to use them."

Some people can't take a joke.

[James48]

1. I can see how some people could be offended

By that.

Your best bet is indeed to take it home.

Monkey references in the work place are a special sensitive subject, no matter the context.

[hamsterjill]

5. I can't see how anyone could take offense.

The reference is not to monkeys but rather to “flying” monkeys....like in the movie.

They don’t exist so to say I know how to use them is the joke.

[James48]

12. Monkeys are a racist connotation.

If you don’t understand that, I’m sorry to be the one to educate you.

It infers blacks are monkeys. Flying or not, monkey symbols or words have no place in the workplace, except in a zoo. The original Wizard of Oz story also has a history of the winged monkeys relating to Native Americans. Go look it up.

Please remove it from your desk.

[Wabbajack_]

14. Just mentioning the word "Monkeys" is somehow a racial slur?

Context context context

"I have flying Black people and I'm not afraid to use them"

Who the hell would see that sign and think that's what it means?

[Phoenix61]

15. Flying monkeys are a clear Wizard of Oz

reference. How is that racist?

[James48]

19. long history.

The racist connotations of the winged monkeys in Wizard of Oz go back to the original novel’s publication, and the 1890’s.

Please see : https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_interpretations_of_The_Wonderful_Wizard_of_Oz

The original author of the Wizard of Oz wrote a racist editorial in the 1890’s, against the Native Americans (redskins) and using the metaphors of winged monkeys. Go read the history.

Yes, monkeys, and winged monkeys, have been racist symbols against blacks, and against Native Americans, fir more than 140 years.

Read, and learn.

[Phoenix61]

20. Symbols and word meanings change over time.

The swastika was not originally a symbol of evil as it is now. Planned Parenthood does not promote eugenics now. If we’re going to ban flying monkey jokes I guess we better make sure no one brings any Aunt Jemima pancake syrup for breakfast. (Actually, I find that blatantly racist but there it sits on the grocery store shelf.)

[smirkymonkey]

2. Sounds innocuous enough to me.

I wonder what his problem was? Could it be that Trump is going to India and that there are hundreds of attack monkeys near the monument he is going to visit? Maybe he thinks you are putting a curse on him?

What an idiot! Seriously, I am sorry you got in trouble for such a stupid thing. I tend to be a bit irreverent myself at work, but so far I haven't crossed any "line". This country is going crazy.

[hamsterjill]

4. Yes, I think she must think I'm the devil's spawn.

Her dislike has everything to do with her whacko religious beliefs.

I see no harm in a little humor.

She’s a Rush fanatic. I rest my case.

Thanks for understanding! Obviously some on this thread didn’t.

[Phoenix61]

16. She's probably upset about the implication

of witchery. Some people have incredibly thin skins. Hope tomorrow goes better for you.

[KY_EnviroGuy]

21. Perhaps you could ask her if she has flying angels.....

and knows how to use them?........

KY.....

[csziggy]

18. I have to ask

Trump is visiting a cabana with monkeys in control?

"However, the monkeys still control the cabana" -- voicemails from my landlord today

[fleur-de-lisa]

23. LOL! That's one of my favorite threads.

[Coventina]

24. That, and Oscar, are my two favorite threads ever.

Third was the one about soft toilet seats.

Honorable mention is the Door Buzzard.

[GanjaGrower]

3. File a complaint with HR

Don’t let him monkey with you

[stonecutter357]

6. Flying Monkeys Can get your jaw broken in Alabama !

[FM123]

7. Tell him you will remove the sign from your desk

when he removes his president from our White House.

[hamsterjill]

9. Here's hoping for a blue wave!!!!

n/t

[VarryOn]

8. Too many lack a sense of humor these days...

Things come up all the time worthy of one of my witty comments, but I've learned to apply the brakes. I once received a "gentle, undocumented warning" (the understanding, reluctantly chastising HR director's term) for using a good ol' Southern term "crazier than a bessie bug" to describe a co-worker who literally cried that her weekend birthday was celebrated at the office on a Monday rather than a Friday. A millenial, she had reported almost every close co-worker to HR over something, including water cooler talk about the "I was in the pool!" Seinfeld episode!

I don't trust people who don't laugh!

[hamsterjill]

10. I agree.

Thanks for understanding.

This was nothing more than a supervisor trying to exert control. She can’t find fault with my work so she has to complain about something. Retirement cannot get here soon enough!

Hang in there!

[VarryOn]

11. I would never, ever knowingly be mean...

To anyone with my humor. And I think most people are the same way.

So many things could be funnier than hell if people would just relax.

[Phoenix61]

13. My favorite is

“Not my circus. Not my monkeys. My monkeys fly”

[sprinkleeninow]

17. "May the Bird of Paradise...."

"May the Flying Monkey land on a head of orange-stained fiberglass insulation and make a comfy cocoon."

[DFW]

22. One more reason I keep my blood pressure low

My immediate supervisors (a team of two) are 5000 miles from me.

[lillypaddle]

25. That's crazy

My favorite sign was "Jesus is coming. Look busy!" Think he'd like that better?

[hamsterjill]

26. Hmmmm. I like that.

My next step is going to be to put a big Blue Wave sticker on my vehicle. This is not a job where I will ever advance, retirement is only a few years away, and frankly, I’m just tired of the crazies.

Thanks for your post.

[lillypaddle]

27. Hang in there

[whistler162]

29. Sign in the main office of a Elementary school

I worked in was similar. The fun thing is Margaret Hamilton was a Kindergarten teacher before getting the role.

[Wolf Frankula]

30. Years ago I worked in a call center

The rule was English only in the English speaking section, Spanish only in the Spanish speaking section. Somebody in the English speaking section exclaimed something in Spanish. I said, in Afrikaans, as a joke "In hierdie seksie ons moet praat Engels of Afrikaans." We were both written up, she for speaking Spanish and me for speaking Afrikaans.

Wolf