Quit Using Bad Platitudes!

Kerry Howley | July 25, 2008

The Dongcheng District Propaganda Department has prepared a helpful list of things not to say to Olympic tourists, lest they figure out that they're in a foreign country:

Rules for Interacting With Foreigners 

Don’t ask about income or expenses, don’t ask about age, don’t ask about love life or marriage, don’t ask about health, don’t ask about someone’s home or address, don’t ask about personal experience, don’t ask about religious beliefs or political views, don’t ask what someone does. 

Etiquette for Interacting With Handicapped Athletes

Pay attention to avoiding taboo subjects, quit using bad platitudes, and do not use insulting or discriminatory contemptuous or derogatory terms to address the disabled.  Say things such as, “You are amazing,” or “You are really great.”  When chatting with the visually impaired, do not say things like “It’s up ahead,” or “It’s over there.”  When chatting with athletes who are paraplectic in their upper body, do not say things like “It’s behind you.”   

Via Peaceful Rise.