Originally Posted by 98CoupeV6
But my personal feeling is the problem is with the individual hearing it, not with the individual saying it. Lighten up. Of course, provided there's nothing intentionally insulting or extremely racist about it.
OK let me break this down to simple english...
Your personal feelings don't mean shit nor does the way you said it or intended it. If the person hearing it takes offense they can cause problems for you by reporting it to your employer...if your employer does not take action and it happens again the person hearing it has a case for "hostile work environment" which can make for quite a large lawsuit. The company becomes responsible for it once it has been reported.
Again, regardless of how you said it or meant it doesn't mean jack shit.
This is one of the first things you learn when entering the proffesional workplace, especially when dealing in office type jobs.