# So, a Romanian lady is sharing my office space this week... **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 24, 2014, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-a-romanian-lady-is-sharing-my-office-space-this-week/705501 "2014-11-24T18:15:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2014, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-a-romanian-lady-is-sharing-my-office-space-this-week/705501/1 "2014-11-24T18:15:24Z")
…And the conversations on the phone are hilarious. Blah, blah, blah, blah, click the mouse blah, blah, blah. Right click blah, blah, blah the folder. Blah, blah, blah desktop, blah, blah, blah HTML. I should be used to it being around French people, but at least I can understand about 60% of the French spoken. blah, blah, blah click here for a demo blah, blah, blah network. I’m easily amused today. ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2014, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-a-romanian-lady-is-sharing-my-office-space-this-week/705501/2 "2014-11-24T18:24:09Z")
Keep your valuables locked up. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2014, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-a-romanian-lady-is-sharing-my-office-space-this-week/705501/3 "2014-11-24T18:27:19Z")
Be careful not to let her get near your neck. ---
**Author:** ![KRC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/45deac/32.png) [@KRC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KRC)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2014, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-a-romanian-lady-is-sharing-my-office-space-this-week/705501/4 "2014-11-24T18:29:38Z")
Yeah, I met this Romanian Gypsy----I mean Roma—once. It was horrible. He taught me calculus. ---
**Author:** ![swampspruce](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/swampspruce/32/261_2.png) [@swampspruce](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/swampspruce)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2014, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-a-romanian-lady-is-sharing-my-office-space-this-week/705501/5 "2014-11-24T18:33:08Z")
The bastard! Don’t tell me he made you…differentiate. There are support groups for that; Liebnitz anonymous, for example. ---
**Author:** ![KRC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/45deac/32.png) [@KRC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KRC)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2014, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-a-romanian-lady-is-sharing-my-office-space-this-week/705501/6 "2014-11-24T18:39:34Z")
That gypsy curse is horrible. I still wake up screaming because I can’t figure out the square root of negative 0 ---
**Author:** ![ZPG\_Zealot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e47c2d/32.png) [@ZPG\_Zealot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZPG_Zealot)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2014, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-a-romanian-lady-is-sharing-my-office-space-this-week/705501/7 "2014-11-24T18:40:23Z")
> [@QuickSilver](#): > > Keep your valuables locked up. Would you be so quick to say that if the post was “So, an African-American woman is sharing my office space this week . . .?” Furthermore, there is a difference between someone who is Romanian (a national citizenship and sometimes ethnic identity for immigrants) and someone who is Roma (an ethnic group whose members live in many nations). ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2014, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-a-romanian-lady-is-sharing-my-office-space-this-week/705501/8 "2014-11-24T18:40:33Z")
I’m not sure, but I think she may have eels in her hovercraft. ---
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2014, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-a-romanian-lady-is-sharing-my-office-space-this-week/705501/9 "2014-11-24T18:42:42Z")
Have you shaken her hand yet? Did she like it? ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2014, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-a-romanian-lady-is-sharing-my-office-space-this-week/705501/10 "2014-11-24T18:54:19Z")
> [@ZPG\_Zealot](#): > > Would you be so quick to say that if the post was “So, an African-American woman is sharing my office space this week . . .?” Furthermore, there is a difference between someone who is Romanian (a national citizenship and sometimes ethnic identity for immigrants) and someone who is Roma (an ethnic group whose members live in many nations). Nurse Janice: Dr. Bob! Dr. Bob!.. this patient has lost her sense of humour. What should we do, Dr. Bob? Dr. Bob: I’m afraid it’s terminal, Nurse Janice. Nurse Janice: Did she suffer, Dr. Bob? Dr. Bob: No, but the jokes she killed certainly did. ---
**Author:** ![Living\_Well\_Is\_Best\_Revenge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/6bbea6/32.png) [@Living\_Well\_Is\_Best\_Revenge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Living_Well_Is_Best_Revenge)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2014, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-a-romanian-lady-is-sharing-my-office-space-this-week/705501/11 "2014-11-24T18:54:58Z")
> [@Drunky\_Smurf](#): > > Have you shaken her hand yet? Did she like it? Haha, here we go. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2014, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-a-romanian-lady-is-sharing-my-office-space-this-week/705501/12 "2014-11-24T18:55:37Z")
How does she feel about adoption? ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2014, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-a-romanian-lady-is-sharing-my-office-space-this-week/705501/13 "2014-11-24T19:00:19Z")
Now I have Edina stuck in my head, threatening to " . . . adopt a Romanian baby!" ---
**Author:** ![ZPG\_Zealot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e47c2d/32.png) [@ZPG\_Zealot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZPG_Zealot)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2014, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-a-romanian-lady-is-sharing-my-office-space-this-week/705501/14 "2014-11-24T19:04:05Z")
> [@QuickSilver](#): > > Nurse Janice: Dr. Bob! Dr. Bob!.. this patient has lost her sense of humour. What should we do, Dr. Bob? > > Dr. Bob: I’m afraid it’s terminal, Nurse Janice. > > Nurse Janice: Did she suffer, Dr. Bob? > > Dr. Bob: No, but the jokes she killed certainly did. Ethnic jokes based on stereotypes aren’t very amusing. I doubt you would find such a remark acceptable if it was made about sharing an office with an African American woman. Or a remark about guarding one’s anus if the person was sharing an office with a gay man, would you? ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2014, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-a-romanian-lady-is-sharing-my-office-space-this-week/705501/15 "2014-11-24T19:17:19Z")
> [@ZPG\_Zealot](#): > > Ethnic jokes based on stereotypes aren’t very amusing. I doubt you would find such a remark acceptable if it was made about sharing an office with an African American woman. Or a remark about guarding one’s anus if the person was sharing an office with a gay man, would you? Yeah, those are gonna take some finesse to pull off. Let’s hear what you’ve got. ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2014, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-a-romanian-lady-is-sharing-my-office-space-this-week/705501/16 "2014-11-24T19:38:54Z")
> [@ZPG\_Zealot](#): > > I doubt you would find such a remark acceptable if it was made about sharing an office with an African American woman. Or a remark about guarding one’s anus if the person was sharing an office with a gay man, would you? Of course I’d NEVER say something like that to an African American woman or gay man. What sort of person do you think I am?! But I _would_ warn them to secure their valuables if they are sharing an office with a Romanian. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2014, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-a-romanian-lady-is-sharing-my-office-space-this-week/705501/17 "2014-11-24T20:02:30Z")
> [@ZPG\_Zealot](#): > > Ethnic jokes based on stereotypes aren’t very amusing. I doubt you would find such a remark acceptable if it was made about sharing an office with an African American woman. Or a remark about guarding one’s anus if the person was sharing an office with a gay man, would you? While true, there is no ethnic stereotype that Romanians steal things. That’s the joke. There was also another joke that started like it was going to be racist against (Romanian) Roma, but then it turned out the issue was that he was his calculus teacher. These jokes are all jokes making fun of the stereotypes. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2014, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-a-romanian-lady-is-sharing-my-office-space-this-week/705501/18 "2014-11-24T20:22:10Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > While true, there is no ethnic stereotype that Romanians steal things. That’s the joke. > > There was also another joke that started like it was going to be racist against (Romanian) Roma, but then it turned out the issue was that he was his calculus teacher. > > These jokes are all jokes making fun of the stereotypes. Exactly. It’s like the “Money for Nothing” temporary ban in Canada. When it was pointed out, and explained, that the song was making fun of the minimum wage furniture store employees and not “the little faggot with the earring and the makeup” then the decision was reversed. Still, I’ve yet to hear the unedited version since, but stations are free to play it again if they wish. ---
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2014, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-a-romanian-lady-is-sharing-my-office-space-this-week/705501/19 "2014-11-24T20:46:37Z")
> [@ZPG\_Zealot](#): > > Or a remark about guarding one’s anus One should always guard ones anus. You never know who is into pegging. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2014, 6:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-a-romanian-lady-is-sharing-my-office-space-this-week/705501/20 "2014-11-25T06:14:03Z")
Aren’t Roma and Romanian two separate ethnicities anyway? So which was she – Romanian or Roma? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-a-romanian-lady-is-sharing-my-office-space-this-week/705501.md?page=2)