Saturday, April 04, 2009



Don't say 'blind as a bat', British diversity guide warns police

Offensive to bats??
"Thousands of police officers have been issued with a 140-page 'diversity handbook' containing tips such as 'Don't lean on a disabled person's wheelchair'.

The guide points out that it is unhelpful for officers to cover their mouths when talking to somebody who is lip-reading, and suggests the phrase 'blind as a bat' may cause offence.

The Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland spent almost £5,000 on the project, consulting 75 different groups before handing out 7,000 copies of the booklet to all Scottish police forces. But frontline officers dismissed the book as patronising and pointless, claiming money was being wasted on stating the obvious in the name of political correctness.

The book also points out that cheery traditional greetings such as 'hen', 'pet', 'love' and 'my dear' should never be addressed to a woman.

And officers are reminded that a woman who is provocatively dressed and 'paying attention to passing vehicles' may not necessarily be a prostitute.

Source

Most bats can actually see quite well, as it happens. Their eyes are primarily adapted to night vision, however.

9 comments:

Stan B said...

Most bats can actually see quite well, as it happens. Their eyes are primarily adapted to night vision, however.

John, how could you! I'll have you know that some of my best friends are bats! To hear you disparage their eyesight like that is just devastating! I am SO offended for THEM!

Actually, most of my bat friends really feast on the irony of the "blind as a bat" metaphor, and they are not offended at all by its usage. Someone should have talked to the bats before banning the phrase.....

Anonymous said...

After Obama announced on national tv that he bowls like a retard ... I mean ... special olympian, maybe this is needed!

The one listed that I can relate to is about leaning on a wheelchair. I know a lot of people in chairs. What you and I see as a chair, these people see as an extension of their bodies. I, too, had to be corrected, but I was corrected by the people in chairs.

Calling people pet names ... why does every waitress in the world call their customers "hon"??? Gads!! It's irritating, but I don't think it's sexist.

Anonymous said...

so I wonder if "Dumb as a doorknob" made the list.

If not, this may be a good time to use the phrase to descibe the PC Police....

Anonymous said...

Just another day in Britain. What i find amazing is how the people there tolerate all this nonsense. Apparently, they agree with the out-of-control PC which says a lot about them, none of it being good.

Political correctness is a solution for people who are incapable and/or unwilling to think for themselves. It uncovers deep-seated weakness's in the fools who subcribe to it.

Geoffrey STurdy said...

Anon
Most people over here do not agree with this PC nonsense - I would suggest you look at the Daily Mail website for example

Anonymous said...

If that's the case, then why do they tolerate it? And why is it spreading across Britain so fast? (along with Sharia Law) Why is there no outrage from the people, except for a handful of bloggers?

Anonymous said...

"Don't say 'blind as a bat' nor lean on a disabled person's wheelchair'.

That's not Cricket!

Anonymous said...

12:44 PM. You have a long-distance impression of Britain filtered thru' unobjective media.
And on the same basis, not all Americans tolerate, OR can do much about, the PC-madness seen in the US (or for that matter muslim influence). And trying to look for proportionality, even if possible, is just splitting hairs.

Flu-Bird said...

PC just another word for stupis and rediculous ideas from liberal jerks