Not Even In The Same (B)Room As Racists

We have a coworker who moved to the USA a few years ago. Their English is great, but occasionally they will mix up a word or two. He has been tasked with going outside to sweep and he looks confused.

Me: “You okay, [Coworker]?”

Coworker: “Yeah, I’m looking for… the… the, you know… the furry stick.”

Me: *Laughing.* “You mean the broom?”

Coworker: *Also laughing.* “That’s it!”

Other Coworker: *Laughing.* “That’s awesome. We’re calling it the furry stick from this day forth!”

As we’re laughing, one of our coworkers is glaring at us. 

Angry Coworker: “You shouldn’t joke about people’s accents! It’s disrespectful!”

Coworker: “No one is joking about my accent. They’re laughing because I mixed a word up and it was funny.”

Angry Coworker: “You shouldn’t let them laugh at you! They’re being racist!”

Coworker: “I am a white man from Poland. They are all white. Nobody is being racist. I just forgot a word and now that I think about it the image of a furry stick seems very funny to me.” 

Angry Coworker: “It’s still not right! Do you want me to tell the manager for you?”

Other Coworker: “D*** [Angry Coworker], you must be fun at parties.” 

She did indeed tell our manager. Our manager put us all, Polish coworker included, on some form of sensitivity training. Basically, we all got paid to sit in a room and watch a DVD for a few hours while our angry coworker and manager had to deal with the customers. Score!