[Modding]Done.[/Modding]
I’m sure the OP was just making a joke and didn’t mean to be offensive, but the comment is pretty insensitive. It’s not surprising the guy was hurt by that remark.
Now you tell me. I still cringe over a few of these sometimes when I’m trying to go to sleep. 
A while back, I asked a friend of mine a question about a prospective speaker - something along the lines of: “Is he with the Med Center?” He answered “no, not really”, or something like that, which puzzled me a bit. As the conversation went on, it became obvious that the person in question WAS with the Med Center, and I asked why my friend had indicated otherwise. My friend then burst out laughing. Apparently, he’d thought I’d asked if the prospective speaker was “one of his gay friends”.
Maybe you had to be there, but it was pretty funny.
I disagree, the comment does not sound insenstive at all. Some people who are different (disabled/gay/etc.) want to pretend they are not different from what is considered the “norm” (when in fact we all are in some way), and they expect everyone to pretend that the difference does not exist. To me, there should be no problem with acknowledging the elephant in the room, and it should make the person more comfortable.
Perhaps I’m rambling, but to me it should be okay to mention someone’s “difference” without that person being offended.
She can get a Court Order of Protection against him. He blew up at you for no reason, and made threats,
Then she can go to this Starbuck’s, and he will have to find another one to go to.
Right, because escalating animosity is always the best way to handle interpersonal problems :rolleyes:
Um, you try getting one of those when the other side has a verifiable mental/physical condition. He’s no thread to anyone in his condition. But, even if you do get one, you’re going to look very insensitive. And don’t think the guy won’t spread the news around to others.
It’'s generally a bad idea to get the courts involved in a personal dispute except as a last resort. I sincerely hope this is not the way you react whenever you have a spat with someone you know.
[disclaimer]I raised a kid with Cerebral Palsy – she doesn’t have a speech impediment, but she can’t walk or stand up without crutches[/disclaimer]
I am glad I didn’t raise my daughter (now almost 22) to be so oversensitive about her condition. Look, what Cats wasn’t an insult – it was a fact. The guy’s speech is such that, sometimes, people can’t understand him. Ergo, he sometimes needs an interpreter. Frankly, Cats’ comment was no more insensitive than the other guy’s remark that her voice was too loud. The guy sounds like kind of a dick, to tell the truth; a Special Snowflake type who feels free to make personal remarks about others but becomes all offended when anyone makes a personal remark about him.
Anyway, I’m glad Cats patched it together enough that she can continue to go to her hangout. If it were me, I’d just keep the interactions with the guy at a ‘vaguely friendly but cool’ level.
Perhaps it’s partly because you weren’t close enough to him for him to be okay with you joking about it. If somebody knows me, they can tease me about my height (I’m 4’2"), because I know they know me as a person, not just a target. I’m not saying he wasn’t oversensitive (why he didn’t say something at the time, I have no idea, even just, “That’s not cool, knock it off”) but I can kinda see why he was annoyed, if not why he was a bit jerkish about it.
At least you got this straightened out. I’d stick to friendly and civil and leave it at that.