Appropriate Jokes

To confess, I never rate my sense of humour as high. Neither am I an expert where I can cleverly define the thin line between humour and sarcastism or delf-deprecating and diffidence. It is an elusive art to me on when should humour be injected to build rapport and when it should be kept at bay during a formal occasion. I am also hopeless when it comes to determining whether someone is being humourous or is being serious in some of their comments unless they add in the obvious 'Just joking' at the end of the conversation.

Being naturally a more serious than jovial person, I am not very comfortable with the use of humour especially in work context. Some of my colleagues like to crack jokes and engage in trivial banter before we start discussing on work matters. This sometimes take the boredom and frustration out of complex or perennial issues. Yet, when use inappropriately, it can be detrimental to the professional image that you try to project.

Recently, I have met with an incident where I was pretty uncomfortable and was rendered speechless by a comment that my colleague made.

My SMS: The numbers have to be submitted today. There are still problems with a few of the divisions. Have you completed the reconciliation?
His SMS: I am on leave for these 2 days. Can wait until Monday?
My SMS: Ok, we will play by ear cos it depends on when Management wants to see the nos.
His SMS: I know my ears are cute, but please do not play with my ears.

... ...

I was speechless and decided not to send any reply.

Alright, to take it lightly, he was trying to add some humour to a serious issue. Yet, I could not help feeling if this was crossing the line a little. Firstly, it was clearly "Play BY ear" instead of "Play WITH ear" even I took it to the literal sense. Secondly, such a comment especially from a male to a female colleague seemed to exceed protocol and common etiquette. It took the wind out of me and left me feeling even slightly embarrassed. Yet, I was quite certain I typed in correctly with "Play BY ear".

I chose to ignore this eventually because I knew that he could sometimes be rather inappropriate with some of his comments. It was his nature that he tried to see the lighter side of things though sometimes at the expense of others. What could I say? Humour is indeed an art that not everyone is a master of.