Doggedly searching for the crux of the biscuit.
Doris Moore was shocked when her new couch was delivered to her home with a label that used a racial slur to describe the dark brown shade of the upholstery. The situation was even more alarming for Moore because it was her 7-year-old daughter who pointed out "n----- brown" on the tag.
"My daughter saw the label and she knew the color brown, but didn't know what the other word meant. She asked, 'Mommy, what color is that?' I was stunned. I didn't know what to say. I never thought that's how she'd learn of that word," Moore said.
The mother complained to the furniture store, which blamed the supplier, who pointed to a computer problem as the source of the derogatory label. Kingsoft Corp., a Chinese software company, acknowledged its translation program was at fault and said it was a regrettable error. [...]
Moore is consulting with a lawyer and wants compensation. Last week, she filed a report with the Ontario Human Rights Commission.
Compensation? Human Rights Commission? Wow. If bad translations are actionable now, there's a gold mine out there just waiting. Here's the part that cracks me up:
"Something more has to be done. We don't just need a personal apology, but someone needs to own up to where these labels were made, and someone needs to apologize to all people of color," Moore said. "I had friends over from St. Lucia yesterday and they wouldn't sit on the couch."
Yeah, you wouldn't want to get any of that on you.
(h/t: Shane)
Does this mean that n----- brown is the new black?
Posted by: Cangrejero at April 20, 2007 01:56 PMMoore, 30, has three young children, and said the issue has taken a toll on her family
I'm sure the underpaid overworked Chinese laborers who made the couch are going to be up all night worried about the poor Canadian woman and the stressful toll this tag is having on her family.
Christ, what's happened to reason?
You mock, iw, but her guests wouldn't sit on the couch!
Posted by: apostropher at April 20, 2007 02:29 PM6: For one never-stated but logically-necessary reason -- she TOLD THEM ABOUT THE TAG HERSELF!!!
Posted by: NCProsecutor at April 20, 2007 02:31 PMYou're of course right, apostropher. Standing guests, or guests on chairs is an irrecoverable faux pas. I was insensitive.
I am forced to wonder though, why, if it's so traumatic, doesn't she just send the damn thing back? Light a candle? Curse the darkness.
8: When was the last time you sat on a couch and your eye casually fell upon the tag placed upon the couch by the manufacturer? For me, the number is exactly zero. Don't they usually put that tag on the underside of the couch? Or somewhere under the cushions?
But now that I think about it, maybe the woman left the oversized retail tag on the sofa after it was delivered to showcase the nuttiness. Who knows.
For me, the best part of the article was when the guy who owns the store claims never to have heard the N-word before!
Posted by: NCProsecutor at April 20, 2007 02:42 PM9: Duh. How can she sue the manufacturer and complain to the Human Rights Commission if the couch isn't prominently displayed in her living room?
Posted by: NCProsecutor at April 20, 2007 02:43 PMI guess her 15 minutes of fame will take six months to two years to resolve.
Posted by: iw at April 20, 2007 03:24 PMDoris is 100% right. It's my considered opinion that all of China owes emotional reparations to all people of colour in Canada for this couch incidents. I'll accept mine in the form of a lifetime supply of Tsingtao beer.
For me, the best part of the article was when the guy who owns the store claims never to have heard the N-word before!
Exactly! And this despite the fact he's been in the country since 1972. Nice try, Romesh; Canada's polite, but not that fucking polite.
Posted by: Doctor Slack at April 20, 2007 03:54 PMWell, I am going to regret this but I just can't help myself.
Suing over a translation error is totally idiotic. No argument. No argument either with questioning the judgement that led to that decision.
Telling your child of color what the word is and why people use it? Yep, pretty hard. I am assuming that the commenters who referenced that are parents of children of color, of course.
And also- the first comment about it being the new black? Seems to me as if it has been the new black for several hundred years.
And yes, I have been known to have a sense of/undertanding absurdity.
14: Telling your child of color what the word is and why people use it? Yep, pretty hard.
It's amazing her child got to 7 without getting a crash course on the playground. That track record would not have lasted much longer.
Posted by: Doctor Slack at April 20, 2007 04:22 PM15: But remember Romesh, who had ever heard the word despite the fact that he'd been in Canada since 1972? Canadians *are* exceedingly polite -- maybe they just don't use that word...
Posted by: NCProsecutor at April 20, 2007 04:35 PM16: But remember Romesh, who had ever heard the word despite the fact that he'd been in Canada since 1972?
Yep. Lying like a rug.
Posted by: Doctor Slack at April 20, 2007 05:54 PMI personally like: "I never thought that's how she'd learn of that word," Moore said.
As if, "I had this big mother-daughter bonding moment planned where I'd tell her all about the N-word. Those stupid C-words ruined it!"
That couch really tied the room together. Now its the source of extreme emotional distress. How sad.
Posted by: Yeho at April 21, 2007 07:05 PM20: Geez what a maroon that guy is. There's only one "g" in "neighbor".
Posted by: M/tch M/lls at April 22, 2007 04:05 PMAah, the lengths people will go to to cash in on life's little lottery tickets.
Posted by: TokyoTom at April 23, 2007 11:26 PMOne shudders to think how the mother would have reacted to this.
Posted by: NCProsecutor at April 24, 2007 10:16 AM