Reports Barb in Las Vegas: “A woman in our office, originally from the Philippines, just got her citizenship. Our often inappropriate receptionist wrote this note on her card.”
Yes, that really does say “no more climbing over barbed wire in the nite.” Adds Barb: “She also printed lyrics from West Side Story in giant font and hung them in the area where we had celebratory cake. So odd!”
related: America the not-so-beautiful
123 responses so far ↓
#1
Jack
She seems like a real racist. Like one of those Tea Party people. yuck.
Nov 17, 2011 at 2:45 pm rating: 77
#2
S.A.
What an ignorant prick.
Nov 17, 2011 at 2:46 pm rating: 21
#3
toadiefireball
This may be one of the most effed up PANs I’ve seen of late. I didn’t know whether to laugh or be pissed. The anger really came to a boiling point when I saw the second photo. Write anything you want as long as it’s not in Comic Sans! *shudder*
Nov 17, 2011 at 2:49 pm rating: 66
#4
Edith
Hard to imagine, but the lyrics could have been worse. How? Well, she could have selected this part of the song:
“Here you are free and you have pride – Long as you stay on your own side!
Free to be anything you choose – Free to wait tables and shine shoes!”
I don’t think the written note could possibly have been more offensive though. WOW.
Nov 17, 2011 at 2:52 pm rating: 54
#5
Donald
I had no idea there was a fence between the U.S. and the Philippines.
Nov 17, 2011 at 2:55 pm rating: 173
#6
toadiefireball
Also, a “real american” would know that there’s a “c” in the world “american.”
Nov 17, 2011 at 2:55 pm rating: 46
#7
Sarah
It really looks like she wrote “real Armenian.” That can’t be right, can it?
Nov 17, 2011 at 3:00 pm rating: 60
#8
Jen
hey guys she may have been joking.
Nov 17, 2011 at 3:03 pm rating: 13
#9
Jen
(i can only assume such an over the top performance is meant humorously)
Nov 17, 2011 at 3:05 pm rating: 10
#10
infant tyrone
Too bad we’re not a steady-state system vis a vis immigration.
Then we’d have had to throw one on the discard pile to make up for taking in the one whose name I can’t read because some whacked-out Tea Partier can’t write in cursive anymore.
Ironic that she’d quote from a musical whose parentage included one of the more prominent cultural lefties of the day. God…she’s a smilin’
Nov 17, 2011 at 3:07 pm rating: 10
#11
Jaime A.
The receptionist is mistaken. There is no barbed wire at the United States border, unfortunately.
Nov 17, 2011 at 3:16 pm rating: 9
#12
Mari Rose
An “often inappropriate receptionist” should be an unemployed receptionist. It doesn’t make much sense to make someone like that the first person a customer or client interacts with.
Nov 17, 2011 at 3:50 pm rating: 90
#13
Captain Hampton
This has already been suggested, but this could have been a joke. I mean, really… does anyone truly think that people think it’s spelled “nite”?
Nov 17, 2011 at 3:57 pm rating: 3
#14
Neil
The note on the card seems really offensive but I doubt this woman was actually being malicious or intending any offense. She is just incredibly culturally myopic and no doubt considers having an American passport the single greatest advantage a person could ever possess. The chances of her ever having visited another continent are practically zero. So not ‘racist’ as such, just a fool.
OTOH, if her reputation for ‘inappropriateness’ is deserved, then she may just be an asberger’s sufferer in desperate need of a diagnosis. They aren’t all awkward computer nerds, after all.
Nov 17, 2011 at 4:00 pm rating: 12
#15
Nunavut Guy
Really……….everyone knows you tunnel under barbed wire,not climb over it………gessh.
Nov 17, 2011 at 4:09 pm rating: 50
#16
unsatisfied
can we send the receptionist to over to the philippines then?
Nov 17, 2011 at 4:24 pm rating: 7
#17
AZB
Good thing I’m not her boss. Her racist butt would be gone by the end of the day. Talk about harassment and creating a tense work environment!
And of course, she’s a Tea Bagger because she doesn’t get Sondheim’s satire in that lyric from West Side Story.
Nov 17, 2011 at 4:25 pm rating: 32
#18
Rebecca
It sounds like she thinks the new citizen was from Mexico, an assumption that Philippinos just loooove.
Nov 17, 2011 at 5:02 pm rating: 15
#19
Sara
How the frick is someone like this allowed to have a job?!??!!!!
Nov 17, 2011 at 5:35 pm rating: 13
#20
Michelle
My hope is that they are friends and this is just the way they joke… if that’s not the case, this is ridiculous.
Nov 17, 2011 at 5:37 pm rating: 3
#21
MT
This reminds me of a friend of mine in High School. I’m a Canadian, and I was living in Florida as a dependent of my dad’s visa. An alien, but not illegal. If we were walking to class together, and we were running late and had to hurry up, she’d regularly yell at me “run, run like you’re running across the border!”. Funny thing is, one day I hurried around a corner and ran into two military recruiters with her yelling that behind me.
Nov 17, 2011 at 5:56 pm rating: 22
#22
carmillivanilli
I actually find this hilarious. This is just the sort of thing I’d do, provided that the new citizen and I had a joking relationship in the first place.
Nov 17, 2011 at 7:33 pm rating: 9
#23
Cassavius
Well, my wife and I have been married for 12 years now, and she’s an actual Filipina from the actual Philippines. As an experiment, I showed this to her cold without explanation to get her reaction. She didn’t understand the “West Side Story” reference at all (as neither one of us is a big fan of musicals), but the note caused her to roll her eyes, then laugh. So, at least one actual native of the Philippines was not horribly offended by this act of complete stupidity. On the other hand, I can’t imagine having a receptionist like this greeting and interacting with large numbers of the public if she is so clueless about offending them. I’m not sure “sensitivity training” would sink in, so maybe a transfer into the back office, if she has bookkeeping or other skills?
Also, all of the slamming of the Tea Party really gets trite after awhile. I’m not a member, but some of you seem about as obsessed with them (needlessly) as Perez Hilton is about the Kardashians. It’s just…pointless and not really in context here, except you think they’re all racist. Yeah, whatever.
Nov 17, 2011 at 10:32 pm rating: 16
#24
Hannah
I think this is funny. The comment & lyrics are obviously meant humorously, and they are funny. It depends on the vibe of the workplace as to whether or not it’s work-appropriate, but if no one says anything, it’s 100% kosher. I’d say the joke is on the submitter & PANotes for not having a sense of humor about the damn thing!
Nov 17, 2011 at 10:38 pm rating: 3
#25
garicgymro
I’m with Hannah. This looks like a cute joke to me. It *could* be meant offensively, but that’s not my default interpretation.
Nov 17, 2011 at 10:43 pm rating: 2
#26
Brian H
A sad attempt at being funny or maybe ironic.
It’s actually a really cool event to celebrate someone gaining US citizenship. I love it. I used to go to a doughnut shop where the owners were from Laos and were very proud to be american. They had pro-US stuff all over the shop. I love that.
Nov 17, 2011 at 10:51 pm rating: 6
#27
Canthz_B
♫ I miss small fee in America,
Nothing near free in America!
Son of a Bleep in America,
Prices now steep in America! ♫
Nov 18, 2011 at 7:04 am rating: 8
#28
Pam
Both of those examples are enough to ensure a closed door meeting with HR in most companies.
Nov 18, 2011 at 9:37 am rating: 14
#29
garicgymro
I’m intrigued. The more I think about this, the more I think the card and the West Side Story lyrics are a really sweet gesture. I’m a non-American living and working in America, and if I got citizenship, and someone responded like this, I’d be touched. Is this a cultural thing? I’m from a country where irony is employed extensively and a card like this would be considered rather *more* thoughtful than a card that simply said, say, “Congratulations on becoming an American! Welcome to the club!” This isn’t a criticism of America, just a comment that there’s cultural variation in the use of irony (including within countries like the US), and that people might well be missing the secretary’s point in a way that it wouldn’t have been missed in a different context. Of course, that implies that she probably misjudged her audience, but there you go…
Nov 18, 2011 at 11:01 am rating: 7
#30
Quite Contrary
For once, words escape me.
Nov 18, 2011 at 11:37 am rating: 2
#31
Anon
Ugh. The racist receptionist needs to be replaced by an automated phone system.
Nov 18, 2011 at 12:10 pm rating: 5
#32
nami
Really? Being a product of Japanese immigrants, it bothers me when someone writes ignorant and derogatory messages like that since I’ve had my share of being bullied and told that I would be deported back in grade school. This receptionist seriously needs training on what’s appropriate and inappropriate in social and workplace situations and get on with the times.
Nov 18, 2011 at 12:33 pm rating: 12
#33
garicgymro
@barb: you know her better than we do, so I’ll take your word for it that she intended to be offensive. Sad.
Nov 18, 2011 at 10:39 pm rating: 1
#34
Me
Comic Sans in America!
Nov 18, 2011 at 11:05 pm rating: 4
#35
Dr. Chalkwitheringlicktacklefeff
This just seems like good natured ribbing to me. It’s really no worse than the time I made myself up in blackface.
Nov 19, 2011 at 5:31 am rating: 10
#36
zhangss
http://50。gd/1k
Nov 19, 2011 at 7:14 pm rating: 0
#37
dfgdfgh
http://www.sipostyle.com
Nov 19, 2011 at 7:19 pm rating: 0
#38
zhangsss
http://url7。me/SRh4
Nov 20, 2011 at 9:20 am rating: 0
#39
bloop
All I can think to say to this is…”what a weird bitch”.
Nov 20, 2011 at 6:55 pm rating: 1
#40
bubblezapper
I wonder if they had a cake for celebration? IF they did….I would venture to assume the receptionist ate it all, leaving behind a note stating “it was f***ing delicious.”
Nov 21, 2011 at 1:08 pm rating: 0
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