You're Really Growing On Me - Like a Tumour

I'm in a bit of an existential quandary at the moment. My ability to judge the difference between the serious and the sarcastic is being questioned. It's like the question of The Darkness, the Lycra catsuit parading hair metal falsetto band from the early 'noughties'. Were they a joke, a parody of the self indulgent metal bands of the 80s, or were they serious? Did they think they were actual Rock Gods? I still don't know.

Fast forward a few years, and I again find myself struck with the same question. Are they serious? Unfortunately this time the question concerns people that are already in my life, people I have physical contact with on a daily basis.

Picture the scene if you will. Someone at work/Uni/college makes a slightly risque comment. You stop, think, look around the room gauging the reaction of others, still nothing. You say nothing, thinking it was a joke you just didn't get.

The next day the same person says something unthinkably offensive. Again you scan the room for clues as to whether this apparently rational and forward thinking person is joking, or is in fact actually a horrible and bigoted parasite.

You continue to ponder. Surely this person is acting out a satirical persona, poking fun at racism, sexism and any other disciminatory behaviour? You feel confused and at odds with yourself and your judgement. Don't.

The moral of this story is trust your judgement. If someone feels quite comfortable revealing fascist sympathies in a public domain, or voicing opinions on women that would make Bernard Manning blush, it is safe to say that they are a hideous human being and should be avoided at all costs. Better still, we should ostracise them from society and force feed them chapatis with pictures of Prince Phillip's face on until they repent.