Yes there is humor to be found in just about anything, even the Holocaust...for example Art Speigleman's (sp) Pulitzer prize winning Maus. And yes cancer jokes abound, I heard plently as a nurse. However cancer jokes are usually reserved for those invested in the illness, the patient, the loved ones and the care givers if they are close to the patient. You don't see stand up comics doing cancer jokes (unless it's about themselves) You do see stand ups doing crazy people routines.
While I realize the intent of this joke was not to harm, what I am pointing out is how often this type a joke is told, with nary a thought to the realities of mental illness.
I really don't expect much support here. When I first joined TCS, I found a thread that was titled (paraphrase) "What type of mental illness are you". Like most things in life, I found it by accident while searching for something else. It was in my opinion a crass and thoughtless thread. Posters were responding to each other with "Wow, I'm bipolar" "LOL I'm a borderline personality!" The thread was, if I recall corectly about a year and a half old. The moderators deemed it too old to make a difference, so they refused to remove it.
I will keep complaining when I see things that are offensive toward the mentally ill. I'll either educate a few people, or annoy people to death...or get thrown off of here. I really don't care.
