Words That Sound Like Inappropriate Words

Once in a great while one will come across a term that does not fit its situation. Words that are spoken too quickly in certain situations can make someone appear to be an ass. The following example is one of my shining moments which will further explain exactly what I mean.

Once upon a time...

I was working at P.F Chang's China Bistro as a server late one night, when I received a table of two old black ladies in the mood for some dinner. The table started off like any other: I asked how they were, they were friendly, and we chatted briefly. By the time the old ladies were through with their meal we had spoken about different subjects and had pockets of nice conversation throughout the night. Normally that is where every story about a nice table ends, and in a way, that is still true for this story. Yet, just before I left and said goodbye to the old black ladies, they asked me one last question.

“We were trying to think of the name of this old horror movie we saw, maybe you can help us? Have you ever seen a movie where a woman is sewing a quilt together and when some man walks up to the lady she jumps up and stabs him in the eyes with her quilting tools?”

With some shock to such a random question, I quickly replied, with some emphasis towards the end, “No! But it sounds like that’s one crazy knitter!”

Looking back, I do not remember how long I stood there. The old black ladies and I just stared at each other in shock, confusion, and with a tad bit of horror. I only remember the quite walk back to the kitchen.

Was it subconscious racism that sparked such a witty comment, or was it sheer coincidence that the term I used was unfortunately similar to an ignorant slur? Either way, I hate the term knitter for being too much like a callous word.

(Knitting Needle stabbed into an eye - X-Ray)

A Patch of Racism

In 1965 a film about a blind woman and black man titled A Patch of Blue was made. If this movie was made today you may assume it was written by Tyler Perry or star Anna Faris and Martin Lawrence, but you would be wrong...or maybe racist. I'm not sure.

A Patch of Blue starred Sydney Poitier, Shelly Winters (who won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for this film), and Elizabeth Hartmen. The movie tells the tale of a blind woman (Hartmen) who meets a friendly stranger in the park. The two spend time together and eventually fall in love. The movie takes place over a racially divided American landscape and tells a story which takes color out of our world. We discover "love is blind."

So, if that is what this thought provoking movie is about...what is with this original poster?


Does it seem odd that a movie exploring pointless racial inequality would make this poster? It has a large picture of the actress playing the blind woman, a lot of blue (involving the movie's name), and down in the bottom left corner is a tiny little picture of Sydney Poitier. It looks like they just used his head-shot to fill some space. He is the most well known actor in the movie, in the leading male role, and this is the image they came up with.

I can see (no pun intended...or was it intended since I have clearly taken time to type "no pun intended" where as I could have just deleted this whole beginning and not written this whole bit?) what the main theme of the poster is going for. The poster would be better suited if it just left his image off of it completely. The 2 well known stars (Shirley Winters is the other) could have just had top name billing and that would be fine. But to taunt the idea of equality which this movie preaches by installing a random smile from Poitier is reckless. It subconsciously says the characters, and thus races, are not equal.

Then again...my hypersensitivity towards racism may mean I am covering my own hidden racism.

This blog post is my small picture of Sydney Poitier.