When you care enough to send the very _____

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Per my Friday night custom, I visit a nearby drug store on Wilshire Blvd. to pick up a bottle of soda pop and some correspondence stationary. I hop over to the greeting card aisle whenever I need to restock my arsenal of overpriced pieces of color-printed cardstock. On one such occassion, I ran into the following birthday card from Ohio-based American Greetings:

 

I felt compelled to purchase and share the card with the Mutiny because it sprung forth many conflicting questions that I could not answer: Is this good-natured, equal-opportunity ribbing? Does such mainstream inclusion signify true acceptance and integration? Is the joke really just derived from a sinister dig at turbaned Sikhs? Did I really just shell out $2.30 for a card that I’ll probably never address? Why do my Friday nights resemble that of a kind, old granny?

Any answers are greatly appreciated.

8 thoughts on “When you care enough to send the very _____”

  3. Doesn’t bother me too much. I can deal with pretty much anything that doesn’t invoke terrorism…

    It makes you wonder, though. Who would find this funny except for desis?

  7. Apul,

    My answers are interspersed within your questions…

    Ank G

    Is this good-natured, equal-opportunity ribbing?

    It’s not that funny-but it doesn’t offend me that much either…we’ve become de-sensitized to letting the small stuff pass…achieving a thicker skin is a good thing, but not when all the muck continues to flow under the surface which we tackle larger problems (hate crimes, being mistaken for fundamentalist terrorists, standard racism, etc etc)…eventually, the muck builds and becomes part of the surface…

    Does such mainstream inclusion signify true acceptance and integration?

    Don’t kid yourself – they’re laughing at us still, not with us…now while Indians are guilty of passing on a plethora of Sardar jokes, Guju jokes, South Indian jokes, etc…it’s still not kosher when a company called “American Greetings” snaps a sikh cabbie and tells the world he’s balding – especially when “hair today” fors sikhs also means “hair tomorrow”

    This is why our African American friends can refer to each other as “niggas” – but when a caucasian male says it (no matter whose throwback jersey he’s wearing), the shit/NBA player hits the fan…(get it? get it?)

    Is the joke really just derived from a sinister dig at turbaned Sikhs?

    Sinister is going too far – I think the boring card-writing crew at American Greetings were trying to do something edgy while throwing in a sign o’ the times, and trying to get some attention…I mean, after all- *you picked up the card, didn’t you? 😉

    Did I really just shell out $2.30 for a card that IÂ’ll probably never address?

    That’s easy: Yep.

    Why do my Friday nights resemble that of a kind, old granny?

    Sweet as that sounds, if you’re questioning it, then obviously you’re not happy with it…so the only reason I can come up with is that you just haven’t hung out with me in Chicago yet…(leave Granny at home)…;)