Hair

[wonderfullyanonymous]

Wake her up. I have really long hair, and any time I'm in a public place like that, I keep it over my shoulder. I'm incredibly paranoid about what someone will do to my hair.

[Outdoor Girl]

It would still be retalitory rudeness to do that.  And I'm not entirely sure a case couldn't be made for a charge of assault.

I have no issue touching hair.  If I couldn't wake her easily, I'd just move her ponytail back into her own space.  If I did have a problem touching hair, I would either use a pen to lift it up and over or do as Willy Nilly suggested and use my own bag to keep it out of my space.  And if that resulted in her hair getting pulled a little bit when she moved?  Well, that would be a consequence of not keeping her hair in her own space.

[Eden]

It would still be retalitory rudeness to do that.  And I'm not entirely sure a case couldn't be made for a charge of assault.

Yes, IF the poster had actually suggested this be done. It's just one of those wishful "what I'd like to do" moments.

 

[Moray]

Cut the ponytail off? 

You are an evil genius! 

I realize that was said as a joke, but it's not funny. It was not right of the lady to throw her hair into another's space. Joking about cutting another person's hair is not funny.

Agreed. Even with the "Evil Smilie", I'm not finding this all that funny.

Is this really that bad? It's hair. Yeah, if someone actually did it, that would be messed up, but it's not like I'm making jokes about actually hurting this person.

Wait, I just thought it was a joke in poor taste, but are you seriously asking if it would be "really that bad" if someone just came along and gave someone a haircut?

Yes. It's really that bad. Yes, it can really be classified as assault. Yes, it's really not funny.

[AllTheThings]

It would still be retalitory rudeness to do that.  And I'm not entirely sure a case couldn't be made for a charge of assault.

Yes, IF the poster had actually suggested this be done. It's just one of those wishful "what I'd like to do" moments.

Yes, I would never actually cut someone's hair off. To me, stuff like this is funny because it is such a ridiculously over the top reaction that has several non-psychotic solutions. It sounds a little like something Mr Bean would do.

I made a joke recently about what I would do if one of my professor's did something in class that we did not want him to do. I was having fun and got this whole scenario going that ended with me trashing the classroom. If I had done that, obviously that would be terrible, but since it was so over the top and clearly not what I intended to do, it became funny.

[AllTheThings]

Cut the ponytail off? 

You are an evil genius! 

I realize that was said as a joke, but it's not funny. It was not right of the lady to throw her hair into another's space. Joking about cutting another person's hair is not funny.

Agreed. Even with the "Evil Smilie", I'm not finding this all that funny.

Is this really that bad? It's hair. Yeah, if someone actually did it, that would be messed up, but it's not like I'm making jokes about actually hurting this person.

Wait, I just thought it was a joke in poor taste, but are you seriously asking if it would be "really that bad" if someone just came along and gave someone a haircut?

Yes. It's really that bad.

I meant was making the joke actually that bad. Obviously if someone actually came and wrecked my hair I would be very angry.

[AngelicGamer]

Cut the ponytail off? 

You are an evil genius! 

I realize that was said as a joke, but it's not funny. It was not right of the lady to throw her hair into another's space. Joking about cutting another person's hair is not funny.

Agreed. Even with the "Evil Smilie", I'm not finding this all that funny.

Is this really that bad? It's hair. Yeah, if someone actually did it, that would be messed up, but it's not like I'm making jokes about actually hurting this person.

Wait, I just thought it was a joke in poor taste, but are you seriously asking if it would be "really that bad" if someone just came along and gave someone a haircut?

Yes. It's really that bad.

I agree.  There was a story on the boards a while back about a woman who did try to cut off a poster's hair (or really did it or something - it was at a church function).  This and your style of joking about just cutting it off is why, when I am out in public, my hair is either up in a bun or hidden inside my jacket.

[AllTheThings]

Cut the ponytail off? 

You are an evil genius! 

I realize that was said as a joke, but it's not funny. It was not right of the lady to throw her hair into another's space. Joking about cutting another person's hair is not funny.

Agreed. Even with the "Evil Smilie", I'm not finding this all that funny.

Is this really that bad? It's hair. Yeah, if someone actually did it, that would be messed up, but it's not like I'm making jokes about actually hurting this person.

Wait, I just thought it was a joke in poor taste, but are you seriously asking if it would be "really that bad" if someone just came along and gave someone a haircut?

Yes. It's really that bad.

In my comment I specifically said "it would be really messed up if someone actually did that" I don't know why anyone thinks I am serious.

[Moray]

Personally, I find the joke in poor taste. My real objection, though, is to your idea that "it's not like they're actually hurting the person, so it's ok to joke about"

Like, you'd never joke about cutting someone, but their hair is fair game because it's "dead tissue".

I'm saying that mindset isn't ok. Frankly, it's a bit offensive and it's why many of us with long hair get super protective of it.

[Indigosails]

I do not find someone 'joking' about cutting another person's hair funny. The poster was asking an honest question of how to handle a situation. I do not see how the 'joke' was helpful to her.

[Hunter-Gatherer]

Cut the ponytail off? 

You are an evil genius! 

I realize that was said as a joke, but it's not funny. It was not right of the lady to throw her hair into another's space. Joking about cutting another person's hair is not funny.

Agreed. Even with the "Evil Smilie", I'm not finding this all that funny.

Is this really that bad? It's hair. Yeah, if someone actually did it, that would be messed up, but it's not like I'm making jokes about actually hurting this person.

Wait, I just thought it was a joke in poor taste, but are you seriously asking if it would be "really that bad" if someone just came along and gave someone a haircut?

Yes. It's really that bad. Yes, it can really be classified as assault. Yes, it's really not funny.

She knows that it would be completely unacceptable to do.  On the other hand, to many people (myself included) the fact that something is completely unacceptable to do doesn't necessarily render it out of bounds for humor.  The question wasn't, "Is this really so bad that you shouldn't do it?"  Everyone knows that it is.  The question was more along the lines of, "Is this really so bad that it's completely impossible to find humor in a jest involving it, and it should be totally off limits for humor?"  Given the nature of e-hell, I would expect off-color jokes to be out of bounds, but if we chastised everyone who made a joking response that a poster should do something completely over the top in retaliation for rudeness, things in here would get pretty stale.

[Moray]

I do not find someone 'joking' about cutting another person's hair funny. The poster was asking an honest question of how to handle a situation. I do not see how the 'joke' was helpful to her.

Good point, Indigosails.

OP, I think you would have been fine to wake the woman up, or move. It wasn't cool of her to have her hair hanging in your space.

[bopper]

It could be that the person who said "cut it off" has read a few e-hell topics where others threatened to cut off the poster's hair and was referring to them.

In any case i would flip it back over if trying to ask them twice didn't work.

[Hunter-Gatherer]

Personally, I find the joke in poor taste. My real objection, though, is to your idea that "it's not like they're actually hurting the person, so it's ok to joke about"

Like, you'd never joke about cutting someone, but their hair is fair game because it's "dead tissue".

I'm saying that mindset isn't ok. Frankly, it's a bit offensive and it's why many of us with long hair get super protective of it.

I hate to ask the question, but what if the joke had been, "Just pull out your pocket knife and decapitate her with it.  " 
Obviously, no one is going to ever in a million years do that...

[AllTheThings]

Personally, I find the joke in poor taste. My real objection, though, is to your idea that "it's not like they're actually hurting the person, so it's ok to joke about"

Like, you'd never joke about cutting someone, but their hair is fair game because it's "dead tissue".

I'm saying that mindset isn't ok. Frankly, it's a bit offensive and it's why many of us with long hair get super protective of it.

I'm going to be honest and say that sometimes I do make jokes about hurting people. People have made jokes that they will hurt me. I've never had a problem because in all those instances it is clear that nobody will actually get hurt. Obviously, lines can be crossed. Had I jokingly said to kill the woman it would be reasonable to think I wasn't too right in the head for making a joke like that.

I'm sorry the joke upset you, I only meant it in good fun, and I would never condone someone's hair actually being cut like that.