I Ended up Making an Offensive Joke!

I was at an open mic last night that I frequent every now and then. I noticed on arriving this time that they had a Palestinian flag up on the stage, which didn't bother me. During the night though I remember looking at the flag and thinking that if I was the MC I'd stay out of all of that, even if I'm in fact in support of the Palestinians. I remember also having a somewhat irrelevant thought when looking at the flag... and that was that I think it is an ugly looking flag. Who has the colour black in their flag?! Of course it wouldn't be helpful to say this.

Me, often being proud at how I'm able to pull off the odd daring joke from time to time, and how I can learn a lot in the process, decided to make a joke about the flag at the end of the night. It wasn't a planned joke, but as the MC was talking to someone else while we happened to be standing by the flag, I said "I'm a Jew", which I clearly don't resemble and wouldn't likely be in my part of the World. When he looked at me I said "and I'm offended" and I then immediately said "I'm only joking". He didn't react well, saying "oh I actually thought you were a Jew there for a sec" which after all was part of the idea of my joke. He then said "I don't appreciate that... especially with how terrible the situation out there is". I said that I was sorry, and considered saying something about how wrong it all is out there right now, but then thought that that would just sound typical, so therefore didn't say anything... thus leaving silence on my part. I think I apologised again but he was already walking away at this point. At least he said "I know you're only trying to be funny" at one point, but continued with the same rhetoric before walking away.

I'm not entirely sure now how offended he is. He was a bit drunk but he definitely remembers. He obviously put a certain amount of thought in deciding to put up the flag, and it perhaps took courage. This might make it hard for him to put the flag up next week. He obviously knew I didn't resemble a Jew, but I guess he was thinking that if someone was going to the trouble of saying they were Jewish, then (to him) it might have seemed like that unlikely event where there are exceptions to everything.

I'm not sure what reaction I was expecting, and I think that deep down maybe I knew it wouldn't go down well. I think maybe I was just too curious about what sort reaction it would get, to give a damn about anything else. Anyway it's one of two open mics in my city, and it's clearly the better one... I like that my performances get appreciated there. He's also quite a nice guy so I'm annoyed at myself.

Has anyone here ever unintentionally made an offensive joke?

 

No not that I can think of.......... One time on the CB someone told me some jokes that others might think are offensive

 

Worldwide, opinions on flags vary greatly.
In the US, it is considered a great insult to step on the American flag, but in the UK a union jack doormat at the hotel was a popular way of welcoming guests to our country.
As more American people started visiting, hotels and guest houses started noticing guests both looking confused and jumping over them.
Following discussions with the US London ambassador, all the major hotels got new doormats.

 

It doesn't seem like you bothered to read any more than the title of my thread.

 

I certainly read your thread. My reply was about what is actually offensive and how it varies in different parts of the world. Only one example sprang to mind.

In my view, an offensive joke largely depends on context and whether you are joking about habits and customs, rather than being offensive to an individual.

Back in my days driving a London ambulance, I was joking with my Muslim partner about taking his breaks at prayer time. When we were chatting about his gods and mine, I suggested that their could actually be one god and we all just used different earthly names for the same entity. When I mentioned the alternative of dozens of gods dating back to the dawn of time, spending all day hurling space rocks at each other, he burst out laughing. He actually invited me to come and give a talk at his Mosque.

The answers to your question must contain context to fully make sense.