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Speaking of offensive behavior.
Jul. 3rd, 2020 11:29 amThere was an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation in which there was an alien ambassador who couldn't speak, so they spoke through a psychic translator.
Upon first meeting them, since it was the translator speaking out loud, Captain Picard replied directly to them. This angered the ambassador, who told Picard (through the translator) that he was being offensive.
Picard said he was sorry, said it was his ignorance that caused him to speak so and that offense was not his intent. And then he stopped doing it.
He didn't tell the ambassador he shouldn't be offended. He didn't try to explain that in his own culture what he did was OK. He didn't try to talk the ambassador out of being offended, or demand an explanation of
why it's OK for members of that species to speak directly to each other, but not for him. And, most importantly, he didn't continue the behavior that the other person found offensive.
The ambassador, seeing that Picard had made an immediate change, immediately forgave the offense. "If none is intended, then none is taken." They then moved on.
The whole exchange took maybe fifteen seconds of screen time but had a lasting impact on me, even 30 years later.
It's not really hard. Ignorance can be fixed. Everyone is ignorant about most things. But once you know that something you have done or said is offensive, you have a decision to make.
Upon first meeting them, since it was the translator speaking out loud, Captain Picard replied directly to them. This angered the ambassador, who told Picard (through the translator) that he was being offensive.
Picard said he was sorry, said it was his ignorance that caused him to speak so and that offense was not his intent. And then he stopped doing it.
He didn't tell the ambassador he shouldn't be offended. He didn't try to explain that in his own culture what he did was OK. He didn't try to talk the ambassador out of being offended, or demand an explanation of
why it's OK for members of that species to speak directly to each other, but not for him. And, most importantly, he didn't continue the behavior that the other person found offensive.
The ambassador, seeing that Picard had made an immediate change, immediately forgave the offense. "If none is intended, then none is taken." They then moved on.
The whole exchange took maybe fifteen seconds of screen time but had a lasting impact on me, even 30 years later.
It's not really hard. Ignorance can be fixed. Everyone is ignorant about most things. But once you know that something you have done or said is offensive, you have a decision to make.
