My joke about pineapple on pizza got me uninvited from a family barbecue

I thought it was a classic dad joke setup. I said "Why can't pineapples play soccer? Because they always end up in pie!" to my sister's boyfriend who loves Hawaiian pizza. He gave me this dead stare and his whole face went red. Turns out his family is from Hawaii and he hates that stereotype stuff. Now I gotta figure out how to apologize without making it worse.

3 comments

3 Comments

derekward3d ago

Dude 100% overreacted, it was just a dumb joke.

masonbell2d ago

Nah, context matters - jokes land different for different people.

kelly.nora3d ago

I mean @derekward has a point but I'm not sure it's that cut and dry. It was just a dumb joke, yeah, but people from Hawaii have to deal with that pineapple stereotype constantly, so maybe it hit different for him. I don't think you need to grovel or anything, but a simple "hey I didn't mean anything by it, that was a dumb joke and I'm sorry it bothered you" might go a long way. It's not like you said something about his mom or anything (you know, a real line-crossing joke). Honestly, the bigger issue to me is how he reacted - giving you a dead stare and turning red over a pun seems a little extra, but who knows what he's been dealing with lately. Just apologize once and move on, if he holds a grudge over this that's kind of on him at that point.