Redditor Wonders If They Went Too Far By Telling A Disabled Joke To A Disabled Person

Caught in the crossfire of humor.

Jesse

• Published in Interesting
• May 23, 2023

Different people have specific things they find funny. While humor brings people closer to each other, it must be done with a mutual understanding already established.

Friends, for example, may have inside jokes they share amongst themselves. These jokes may seem inappropriate to those not part of the friend group.

There have been many cases of jokes gone wrong, especially when the joke involves poking fun at someone, even though some people consider being able to poke fun at one another a form of bonding.

This is why it’s important to get to know a person better before teasing them. 

We found a story on the AITA Subreddit that tells a similar story.

OP shared that some of their family members are disabled, and they often made jokes regarding their disabilities, and no one got upset because they understood OP’s humor.

One day, OP’s friend introduced them to another friend who’d lost an arm and leg due to a terrible motorcycle accident.

OP made a joke regarding the man’s missing leg and arm. Although his friend found it funny, the man in question did not. He walked out on OP and their friend.

Thereafter, he refused to talk to OP and his friend too. This led OP to question themself and wonder if they were the AH.

Check out what other Redditors thought of OP’s joke below!

Let's dig into the details

A little bit of context

OP told a disabled joke to his friend's friend who is disabled

The disabled guy left angrily and doesn't want to talk to either of them anymore

The post garnered 4.2k upvotes and over 3k comments. Let's see what the Reddit community had to say about the story:

"Just apologize to him if you can. I think that's the least you can do here"

"Leave the disabled jokes to the disabled persons."

"It was waaaaaaaaaaaaay too soon to make that kind of joke"

"You don’t get a free pass to make anyone you meet the butt of a cruel joke."

"Amputees often make the most hilarious jokes. But those jokes belong to them"

"Not everyone appreciates gallows humour."

"Your intent does not matter. The effect does."

"You didn’t know this person and made a joke about something that was probably extremely traumatic for them."

The commenters slammed OP with the AH title. According to them, OP’s joke was inappropriate regardless of their intention to break the ice.

Some commenters referred to OP’s previous posts and accused them of deliberately trying to get a reaction from their friend’s friend.

What do you think about OP’s joke? Let us know in the comments section below!

Jesse