In one of her comedy routines, Sarah Silverman declared, “I’m not a racist. It’s just that I was married to a [certain nationality] man and he stank! It’s just the fact, not racism.”
Then, she said, last night she performed in a particular city and afterward, a woman from that certain nationality came up to her crying. She said, “Sarah, I am a ______ [certain nationality] and I do not stink.”
Sarah said it broke her heart. She looked at the woman kindly, lowered her voice and said gently,
“My dear, you know, you cannot smell yourself.”
Imagine the uproar of laughter. Then, imagine what it must be like to have a fault and think you are okay when you are the only one who does not see it! This analogy does not apply to you if you are not human and you have no faults; but as surely as you are human, there are things about you that represent vice, weakness or offence to others.
QUESTION:
Regard the word “smell” as a metaphor for attitude, demeanor and other personal characteristics. Can you smell yourself using someone else’s nose? How humble, kind, good-hearted, productive [. . . insert other virtuous attributes] are you? When last did you ask others for a personal assessment of you?
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Dear Alvin, I would not pay much attention to Silverman, for me she looks like a racist, very biased, rough, and picky person, according to what she said to the woman in that particular city. She is not a model in good manners. It is the first time I read about her and hopefully the last one. Thanks and regards!
Hi Juan, I know…and I cannot disagree with your sentiment. This is why I disguised the nationality she referenced. I was trying to extract a different point from the humor. Perhaps I should have used “poetic license” and changed her joke to using some other group that is not racial. No worries, if I find proof that indeed she is racist, not just making a joke, I will stay away from quoting her in the future.