This really proves the point that political correctness has now got to the point of being worse than ridiculous....

The forklift at work packed up today so we rung the company and a mechanic (who i hadnt met before) turned up to take a look at it, after a few minutes he came to say he found the problem, the wire for the fuel light had been knocked off so it didnt work, it had run out of diesel.

He then asked if it had been serviced recently, so i said "yeah the black guy came and did it last week" i also said that he takes a while to do it as well when he comes to service it (normally takes the usual old guy about 2 hours max, me and him laugh at how it can take the other guy so long) so mechanic and my boss go to have a look at this forklift.

Then, about 5 mins later boss came back in and says "dan in the office now, shut the door."

He then explains that this mechanic was going to report me (i dunno who to) for making derogatory comments about a work collegue of his and because i referred to him as a 'black man' it is classed as racist.

Apparantly my boss thought he was takin the piss at first, then realised that this guy was actually serious, and had to talk him out of doing it.

WTF is that about, there are 2 mechs that do our servicing, the older guy with grey hair who has it done in just under 2 hours, and a black guy who takes 6 hours plus to do the same thing, i didnt call him a ****** or wog or anything bad like that, plus i didnt say hes a f--king crap mechanic, i just said it takes him a while.

The only reason i said black guy is because funnily enough, he is a black guy, so in that case what should i say then, coloured, ethnic, IC3?

How ridiculous is that!?!?!

By the time i had fully comprehended the total bullshittery of the whole affair the disgruntled mechanic had fixed it and gone, which left me no oppertunity to speak with him again just to ask if he was having a laugh or not, and if he was serious then to do his worst because it was clearly NOT racism, never in a million years.

Anyway, rant over, and thanks for reading.

Quote from danthebangerboy :

The only reason i said black guy is because funnily enough, he is a black guy, so in that case what should i say then, coloured, ethnic, IC3?

Maybe he's got a name. Anyway, I would say you were out of order too...referring to someone as "the black guy" is just stupid. Do you call the other repair guy "the white man"?

Well no, but there is 2 guys who do our trucks, the older guy who comes most of the time ( i think his name is dave, as he used to work on my uncles machinery when i was younger so i kinda know him) and then the, other man, who happens to be black, i dont know his name, how could i, as they only come and service them every few months, i probably only see either guy maybe 2 or 3 times in a year for less than 5 minutes (i work indoors) just long enough to say hello and sign their paperwork to say they have been if the yard guy isn't around to do it, plus they dont have name badges, so how can i know, saying hi mate, whats your name, would seem quite forward wouldnt it??

Quote from amp88 :

Maybe he's got a name. Anyway, I would say you were out of order too...referring to someone as "the black guy" is just stupid. Do you call the other repair guy "the white man"?

Well I guess it would depend on context. If there are 10 people out of which 1 is white, then you would, probably.

Quote from danthebangerboy :

Well no, but there is 2 guys who do our trucks, and as they only come and do it every few months i probably only see either guy maybe 2 or 3 times in a year for less than 5 minutes (i work indoors) just long enough to say hello and sign their paperwork to say they have been if the yard guy isn't around to do it, plus they dont have name badges, so how can i know, saying hi mate, whats your name, would seem quite forward wouldnt it??

So why did you volunteer more information than was asked? The guy asked you if it had been serviced lately. Not only did you make what could easily be considered a racist comment but you said the guy was bad at his job (because it takes him a long time compared to the other repairman). Even if it's true (that he is bad at his job) it isn't difficult for someone to think from your phrasing that you think he's bad at his job because he's black.

Quote from amp88 :

Maybe he's got a name. Anyway, I would say you were out of order too...referring to someone as "the black guy" is just stupid. Do you call the other repair guy "the white man"?

No, but in the UK people are predominantly white, and so you use a distinguishing feature to identify people. I.E. grey hair, as Dan mentioned, because it's different to what you usually get.

Calling someone black is in no way racist - it's a decription such as long hair, male, tall etc. If you find any of those descriptions offensive then you need to get a grip.

You didn't take his race or background into account at all - you simply used part of his his appearance as a description. Thats like calling me ageist because I refered to the cleaner at work as the "old man"...

Cant see anything wrong with it. It is just a adjective decscribing his color, obviously if there is more than 1 black guy that wont work anymore.

Otherwise blue man group would be a racist name aswell.

Right ok amp, you seem to have the pessimistic mindset that the mechanic had today, that just because i said black guy makes me out to be a racist. ok then.

I fail to see how that is true, especially as i am in no way even slightly racist at all, an indian person is indian, a pakistani person is pakistani (not paki, as that IS racist) and an asian person is asian, so surely a black person is black?

Sorry if im missing something but i just cant see anything bad in what i said?

Overly sensitive people suck.

and i bet if it was the other way round and the older bloke was the one you hardly ever saw you'd have refereed to him as 'the old bloke' that is no different but you wouldn't get someone moaning about you being discriminatory for that. PC has got to a stupid point now were i honestly believe it is making real racism and discrimination worse and in a way promoting and encouraging it

edit: lol my slow typing causes me to be a bit late in with my comment

What's the difference between these 2 conversations:

Quote from Conversation 1 :

Person 1: Hi, do you know when this forklift was last serviced?
Person 2: Oh, it was done last week.
Person 1: Do you know who did it?
Person 2: I don't know his name, sorry. He's black, about 5 foot 10.
Person 1: Oh, you mean Brian?

Quote from Conversation2 :

Person 1: Hi, do you know when this forklift was last serviced?
Person 2: Oh, the black guy did it last week. He took his time, too. The other guy does it in 2 hours and he took 6.

Saying "the black guy" always sounds wrong to me, just as much as "the fat guy" or "the bald guy"

I wouldn't like to be known as "the Irish guy"

but if some didnt know you but wanted to describe you and make it obvious you were the person they were on about, 'the irish guy' would surley be the best way of doing it if it was just a split second thing

It's because you referred to him as being black when the colour of his skin had no relevance to the conversation. You should have just said "yes, last week", instead of "a black guy did it last week". The fact the man was black is completely irrelevant, so why even bring it up?

the problem is that comments that are totally of the cuff and are meant to have to meaning atall but that could be taken as racist are taken as racist due to the all overpowering PC blanket this country seems to be covered in

Quote from petercollins :

I wouldn't like to be known as "the Irish guy"

Too bad, ginger boy!

The crux of this whole conversation is.. Is it being racist to call or describe a black guy as a black guy? The answer is "Clearly not". End of.

Anyone who thinks it is racist needs shooting.

Quote from The Moose :

The crux of this whole conversation is.. Is it being racist to call or describe a black guy as a black guy? The answer is "Clearly not". End of.

Anyone who thinks it is racist needs shooting.

I think the geezer was being a bit over-sensitive if he was seriously thinking about reporting you, but it sounds like you didn't exactly choose your words wisely.

I agree that "the black guy" is a fair-enough rough description of someone if everybody else you work with is white, although it's a bit insensitive given that racism is a big issue. And to then go on and banter about how slow he is compared to the usual white guy you get is just asking for trouble.

Political correctness is complete bullshit, you can't say anything today without being chewed up for it.

Quote from SidiousX :

Political correctness is complete bullshit, you can't say anything today without being chewed up for it.

+1 my dad got called worse than a white ****** and police where round willing to arrest him

Quote from DarkTimes :

It's because you referred to him as being black when the colour of his skin had no relevance to the conversation. You should have just said "yes, last week", instead of "a black guy did it last week". The fact the man was black is completely irrelevant, so why even bring it up?

I am making some assumptions here as I don't know much about forklifts, but I would assume that the fuel gauge light wire is not just attached it would be soldered or held down with a nut. Now while this could of come loose in the week since the service, it could of also been down the shoddy service. If this is indeed the case then whoever did the service is relevant. If there is one white who does it and one black guy (and you don't know their names) what is wrong with that. If you don't know their names you have to describe then and their skin colour is the biggest difference. Just because someone is black and you call them black doesn't mean it is racism, it is a simple statement of fact.

I am with you on this one dan.

Is it a fact he is slower than the other guy: yes.
Is it a fact he is black: yes - not racism.
Therefore it is fact the black guy is slower so nothing wrong with.

Quote from danthebangerboy :

Right ok amp, you seem to have the pessimistic mindset that the mechanic had today, that just because i said black guy makes me out to be a racist. ok then.

I fail to see how that is true, especially as i am in no way even slightly racist at all, an indian person is indian, a pakistani person is pakistani (not paki, as that IS racist) and an asian person is asian, so surely a black person is black?

Sorry if im missing something but i just cant see anything bad in what i said?

So where do "black" people come from? And what colour are the other ones (indian, pakistani, asian, etc)?

The other mechanic could have simply told you he had a problem with what you said. So yes, he's an idiot for running to your boss instead. However, calling someone "the black guy" wasn't the brightest idea either.

Quote from Greboth :

I am making some assumptions here as I don't know much about forklifts, but I would assume that the fuel gauge light wire is not just attached it would be soldered or held down with a nut. Now while this could of come loose in the week since the service, it could of also been down the shoddy service. If this is indeed the case then whoever did the service is relevant. If there is one white who does it and one black guy (and you don't know their names) what is wrong with that. If you don't know their names you have to describe then and their skin colour is the biggest difference. Just because someone is black and you call them black doesn't mean it is racism, it is a simple statement of fact.

I am with you on this one dan.

Is it a fact he is slower than the other guy: yes.
Is it a fact he is black: yes - not racism.
Therefore it is fact the black guy is slower so nothing wrong with.

The question wasn't "describe the last guy who serviced the forklift", the question was "have you had this forklift serviced recently".

Well, I personally also think that saying "a black guy" did it might be a bit over the edge.