Idiocy on the high seas

by Brian McKim & Traci Skene on August 24th, 2012

We stumbled across this article on USAToday.com, which in turn led us to the original account (in the UK Guardian) of an Irish man who sued the P&O Cruises because the comedians on two cruises made Irish jokes.

Here’s the troubling part:

Wolfe brought a civil claim against Carnival Plc – the owners of P&O – under race relations legislation as well as the European Union’s race directive – a ruling which sets out the principle of equal treatment between persons irrespective of racial or ethnic origin.

Emphasis ours.

The European Union’s race directive? What the blazing hell is that?! And, if somebody who is “offended” by a joke can file a civil suit against the employer of a comedian (and win a five-figure settlement) because of it, what effect does it have on the artistic expression of comedians in Europe?

And in another incident— again involving a P&O cruise ship– an Australian woman is seeking $1 million.

Australia’s Sydney Morning Herald reports the 50-year-old woman, Kate Strahan, alleges a crew member serving as a judge during a singing competition on the ship told her he could see her underwear through her dress while she sang on stage, commented on her breasts and suggested she could “cougar” him any time. He also allegedly made inappropriate gestures toward an image of her projected on a screen.

The comments and gestures allegedly were made in front of an audience of about 1,200 fellow passengers, and Strahan’s husband has said the incident caused her so much stress she had to stop working, the Morning Herald says.

Of course, she might not get a penny. But it’s still troubling that she feels justified in bringing the suit in the first place.

Too many attorneys in this world? Too much political correctness? Too much greed? Are some folks just against fun? Or an out-and-out hostility toward fun?

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