Funny or Sad

[braumeister]

It may be that the name "Dick" has sexual connotations to these young women, which furthered the misunderstanding. Rick is currently used as a nickname for Richard, and they may have never even heard "Dick" used as a legit name.

I'll bet they've all watched Dick Clark hosting the New Years Eve show.

 

[Aerides]

Good thing she didn't call the cops, she might have been underage for drinking and had a fake ID.

When you are over 40, everyone under 30 looks 19. She was probably old enough.

 

[Aerides]

Totally do not expect anyone under 40 to know who Dick Tracy is.

If I were in my 20's, sitting at a bar (noisy?) having a convo with a friend, and some older guy comes over to me and says something about Dick? Yeah I can see why she wasn't thrilled.

 

[Tetto]

What makes you assume she's unintelligent? The fact that she doesn't know about a character comic strip that stopped running in 1977? Considering she might have been born in the 21st century, I wouldn't expect her to know it. I remember references from my childhood, but I don't think I've heard any in the last 20 or 25 years. (The movie was released 33 years ago.)

This^^^

 

[Amethyst]

Not surprising at all that a young person hasn't heard of a long-ago comic book character.

Not surprising at all that a young woman assumes a man is making a sex joke. I seem to recall having to put up with quite a bit of that in my young days. It was even creepier when the man appeared to be old, like having your dad or uncle come on to you.

A bit surprising that she got so upset about it, but consider that she'd been drinking.

 

[Keim]

Funny story.

Several responders here remind me of Clint Eastwood in a recent movie: Get offa my lawn!

 

[Amethyst]

I myself didn't get it. I would quickly be tossed out of any 1960's trivia contest.

I don't think that they'd get the reference to Get Smart either

 

[jollystomper]

I suggest that young people never listen to the very excellent funk song, "Shaft" by Isaac Hayes. RIP Isaac.

Yes, there was a time that the word was slang for a detective.

Unfortunately I have heard the name of the detective used in more than one modern rap song in ways that I can fully understand why she may have felt she was being sexually harassed, especially if she or her friends heard any of those songs.

On the other hand, there are words used commonly today that in the past would not have dared been said in "polite company" and thought of as offensive, so us "older folks" might be in the place of the young woman and the younger folks would would what we are upset about.

People are interesting...

 

[Stormy Kromer]

The OP's comments were completely innocent. I understand the generational gap, but that goes both ways.

I do think that threatening to call law enforcement is extreme. Asking for an explanation wouldn't be out of line. I would be surprised if law enforcement would respond.

Reminds me of when I was younger (1980's) we called our town cops "Dick Tracy" and "Barney Fife". Another was called "Frank Cannon"...or Frank for short. He looked just like him.

 

[Philliefan33]

Yeah, old men at bars should not initiate conversation with young women. It's creepy.

 

[f35phixer]

The Pirate took my questions;-)

Should have said you must be TRACEY !!!!

 

[ERD50]

If the young lady's name happened to be Tracy, I can also see how her reaction might be a little bit justified.

I would venture to guess that 90% of people born since 1990 have no idea that Dick Tracy spoke into a wrist watch. Perhaps more. Most may not even know who Dick Tracy was.

That's what I was thinking. If you didn't quite hear what was said, and were unfamiliar with the reference (not surprising for a young person, as many have mentioned), and your name was "Tracy" or "Stacy", or maybe even "Casey" or "Macy", then " I finally got to meet Dick Tracy" might sound like " something, something... meet my Dick, Tracy! hah-hah!". And that could certainly sound out-of-line, and laughing as it was a joke might add to it.

Sounds like she could have handled it better, but we weren't there, alcohol is involved, we are hearing one side of the story, etc.

I'd give a little benefit of the doubt and leeway here.

-ERD50

 

[Keim]

Yeah, old men at bars should not initiate conversation with young women. It's creepy.

I read it that she overheard him. He was not speaking to her.

 

[Philliefan33]

I read it that she overheard him. He was not speaking to her.

He was apparently there by himself, and made the statement “I finally got to meet Dick Tracy” to…who?

I read it to mean that he said it loud enough that he intended for others to hear his joke. He may have only intended it to be an ice breaker for the (male) stranger next to him, but it was obviously loud enough for those at the other end of the bar to hear.

I remember Dick Tracy, but I don’t understand what is so funny about someone talking to their watch. It’s a feature of the Apple Watch. This morning while I was driving to the gym I remembered something I need to look up, so I told my watch to remind me tomorrow morning. Was that funny, or was I just using a feature of the technology on my wrist?

 

[Koolau]

It may be that the name "Dick" has sexual connotations to these young women, which furthered the misunderstanding. Rick is currently used as a nickname for Richard, and they may have never even heard "Dick" used as a legit name.

I say sign of the times.

Sign of the times is that a girl in a bar immediately jumps to the conclusion that she is being sexually harassed. I don't expect her to know about Dick Tracy but when her first thought is that some "old guy" (sorry!) is harassing her because of the name Dick Tracy - I think we've gone too far in too many ways in the battle of the sexes. I see this kind of immediate jump from 0 to 11 on the "This Is Spinal Tap" volume dial without even caring about clarification as typical of the kind of cr@p kids are learning these days. (End of rant - I think.)

I can just imagine the police coming in and hearing her story and laughing their rear-ends off. Even a young LEO has heard of Dick Tracy (I'd just about bet money on it.)

Returning you now...

 

[Aerides]

Sign of the times is that a girl in a bar immediately jumps to the conclusion that she is being sexually harassed.

In any time, most any woman here can tell you that unwanted attention in a bar often goes sideways...fast. And for some women, most attention is unwanted. That's why sitting at the bar is safer, the bartender can help run interference. And she was with a friend.

Even a polite "no thank you" to an offer of a drink...can often yield an unpleasant result. So it's not such a leap to be on the defense so quickly. I agree bring up cops was a leap, but maybe this person learned that works.

 

[38Chevy454]

Sad that the young girl's first response is to get offended. That is typical woke BS. Then threatened to call police? Have to say that her tender snowflake ears were so damaged. Overall the young girl was way out of line. At least the bartender was able to keep the situation from worsening.

But the irony of asking her watch is funny.

 

[freedomatlast]

Look at how many people accused (not convicted) of sexual harassment immediately lose their jobs or sponsorships, whether they are guilty or not. In the corporate world, if somebody is offended, then the accused is automatically guilty, no matter what the intention was. In my corporate senior management days, I lost a good employee to this exact scenario, and there wasn't a darn thing I could do about it. So getting back to the original title of this thread, IMO, the ready, fire, aim reaction to call the cops is truly sad, not funny. However, asking her watch who Dick Tracey is, is at a minimum, at least mildly amusing. She'll certainly believe whatever the reply is from her watch with no further investigation.

 

[Walt34]

Several responders here remind me of Clint Eastwood in a recent movie: Get offa my lawn!

Um, Grand Torino was released in 2008, fifteen years ago. Not exactly recent.

But yeah, time does seem to compress with distance from the event.

 

[Keim]

Recent to me. Saw it last summer.

An argument could be made that it's recent by Eastwood standards.

 

[Major Tom]

Not surprising at all that a young person hasn't heard of a long-ago comic book character.

Not surprising at all that a young woman assumes a man is making a sex joke. I seem to recall having to put up with quite a bit of that in my young days. It was even creepier when the man appeared to be old, like having your dad or uncle come on to you.

A bit surprising that she got so upset about it, but consider that she'd been drinking.

+1

In any time, most any woman here can tell you that unwanted attention in a bar often goes sideways...fast. And for some women, most attention is unwanted. That's why sitting at the bar is safer, the bartender can help run interference. And she was with a friend.

Even a polite "no thank you" to an offer of a drink...can often yield an unpleasant result. So it's not such a leap to be on the defense so quickly. I agree bring up cops was a leap, but maybe this person learned that works.

+1

Yes to both of these comments. They are in line with what I was thinking too.

Not a biggie. Life goes on. I don't think that any of this is an indication of the (apparently) sad state of the world we live in at all, as some others seem to think.

 

[jollystomper]

Yeah, old men at bars should not initiate conversation with young women. It's creepy.

I agree with this. I would add gyms as another location to practice this discretion as well. And many other places.

 

[Time2]

I remember watching an old episode of Buck Rogers when I was a teenager, and being shocked when Buck said "Look THAT up in your Funk & Wagnalls!"

I was like, woah, how'd they get THAT past the censors?! And WTH is a "Wagnalls"?!

I think it was soon afterward, I saw a Funk & Wagnalls dictionary, and made the connection. And I'll confess, as a kid, I was never exposed to "Laugh In"
https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=10155512369692845

I grew up reading Funk and Wagnalls, my mom got them one at a time by shopping at a grocery store that had a promotion, of buying a certain amount of groceries. There was a time when I had great knowledge, as long as it started with A through L. She did get the whole set!
Looking back, it seems a little strange that I would use the encyclopedia as reading material, but I did.

 

[Time2]

I suggest that young people never listen to the very excellent funk song, "Shaft" by Isaac Hayes. RIP Isaac.

If you really want to search for a reason to find offense, watch some old Don Rickles sketches, even I'm a bit taken aback, and I don't offend easily.
"Times, they are a changing"

 

[ls99]

Me thinks the world has become proffessional at being offended by most anything. In fact, I think many look to find excuses to be offended.

And now for a real life story in which I was an offender:

A few years ago, before the covid thing, I used to dance Argentine Tango frequently. One day at the coffe shop I frequented for well over ten years, and still do, ahead of me was a young woman, wearing a gorgeous pair of shoes, like the ladies in the Milongas (tango dance get together) often wore. They are big bucko$$$. Compliments on shoes are frequent. So, I asked if she was a tango dancer.

She ignored me. A few minutes later she walks up to me screaming: you should have more respect for women, how dare you call me a tabletop dacer, and etc...... Raving on for a few minutes.
Me, baffled, trying to get a word in, say I asked if you were a tango dancer, those shoes are often worn by women in tango dances.
More raving by her, then she finally walks away.

Fellow sitting next to me was one of the baristas on a break, says, I clearly heard you say Tango. He was totally blown away by the screaming and the accuastion.
I know I have an accent, yet, for the life of me can't figure out how Tango turned into tabletop.

Good thing I did not comment on her talking into her wrist communicator device, in between the order for double something extra sugar goey drink. AKA Dick Tracy became reality.

Meh, life goes on. Since then I find the world of constantly offended amusing.