Absurdly Driven looks at the world of business with a skeptical eye and a firmly rooted tongue in cheek.
I fear there that opinions will be divided on this one.
Humor can do that to people.
So let’s begin with a boy in Stafford, Virginia who ordered a Pizza Hut pizza and asked for a joke to be included.
You see, there’s a box on the order form that reads Special Instructions. So arf, arf, let’s ask for a joke.
It’s unclear which of the two sons in the household –aged 12 and 15 — ordered the pizza (and the joke).
However, as WJLA-TV reports, the joke didn’t go down well with the whole audience.
It began: “What do a pizza delivery driver and a gynecologist have in common?“
Oh, you got there already? Well done.
If you didn’t, I’ll wait a little to give you the answer.
Because the more important aspect of this tale is that the mom didn’t appreciate the joke.
She called to complain.
“I was really shocked and floored that Pizza Hut would send that type of joke out,” the unnamed mom told WJLA. “The employee even called and I told her that I hope she doesn’t lose her job over this.”
Some hope.
The employee was, indeed, fired.
Some might consider that Pizza Hut employees aren’t comedians and perhaps shouldn’t be judged in the same vein as Jimmy Kimmel.
Some, indeed, considered that the mom was a little hasty in insisting upon certain “moral standards.”
She, you see, posted a picture of the joke online and received negative commentary.
Sample: “I hope you see it in that big, black heart of yours to call back and explain that you aren’t upset. Days before Christmas you got someone fired.”
The Pizza Hut that fired the employee has also suffered a slice of opprobrium on its Facebook page.
“#JusticeForPizzaGirl!! I am so mad you would fire that girl, because of one lady mad that she let her kids order the pizza and asked for that joke!! I ordered Papa Johns tonight instead of from your store!!” wrote Sandy Brookman.
I asked Pizza Hut for its comment and will update, even if it’s amusing.
I worry, though, about the draconian level of the sanctions.
Yes, some might see the joke, just like certain pizzas I’ve had delivered, as being in poor taste.
Oh, I almost forgot the punchline.
“They both have to smell it, but neither of them get to eat it.”
But wouldn’t it have been possible to reprimand the employee and do something nice for the customer?
After all, the mom insisted that she hoped the employee wouldn’t be fired.
Instead, the mom is being bullied online and Pizza Hut is getting pilloried too.
I wonder if the mom’s two kids actually found it funny.
