Rosie's Asian Targets Too Quick to Take Offense?

Our sister Rosie argues that she mocks the Irish accent for a laugh, and that people laugh when she mocks the Chinese language for the same reason. Perhaps not.

We laugh at the Irish accent because it is a pleasant surprise when she changes into a quaint character so suddenly. She is the magician who pulls an egg from behind our ear.

But we laugh at the Chinese mockery not because we are surprised or charmed, but because we think the Chinese sound so silly, childish, ridiculous.

When in doubt, let us imagine ourselves sitting in a Beijing audience and up on stage a television host is mocking Americans' pathetic attempt to speak. Don't tell me you wouldn't feel at least a slight twinge of discomfort at being ridiculed. And imagine that China had dominated the world for the last hundred years or so, and the West was considered backward. Different story, different humor.