I have no sense of humor?

This is one of my most vivid memories of my employment at Northrop Grumman.

It happened when we were in Pico Rivera in Building 216. Systems Analysis was part of the Advanced Technology and Development Center (ATDC).

We were out in the large unclassified bay where various groups had their cubicles. Along one wall was the managers' offices, as they had a real office with a door that opens and closes. Ordinary employees enjoy the open to the world airiness of two-person cubicles with partitions that came up to nose-level on many people. Not too much privacy ion these cubicles. There were perhaps 60 - 80 people in this bay.

David Rausch was telling a joke with this set-up line, "How do you revitalize the city of Los Angeles?"

David Rausch's punch was, "By dropping an atomic bomb on South Central Los Angeles."

(Laughter???!)

As I do not have a sense of humor, I was clueless why David Rausch thought that this was so funny. I had to ask, "Why is that funny?"

David Rausch was evidently insulted to have somebody ask for an explanation of why his joke is funny.

I went on in the discussion of why his joke was funny. Is it because only Blacks and Latinos live in South Central Los Angeles? Why would THAT make the joke funny?

Is the idea of extra-crisp "crispy critters" what makes this joke so funny? Atomic bomb explosion temperatures reaching 7000 degrees Fahrenheit in 0.1 milliseconds would produce "crispy critters" almost instantly, if they are not close enough to be vaporized.

David Rausch obviously did NOT want to discuss the humor of his joke. He drew himself to his full height (he's well over six-feet tall, and I am just a little Asian guy seated in a chair) and shouted, "Drop it! It's just a joke - drop it!"

At first, I wanted to continued the discussion, so David Rausch again repeated, "Drop it! It's just a joke - drop it!"

By this time, I noticed that the entire bay got real quiet - none of the normal chatter, etc. that one would normally hear.

I got real quiet myself. I was thinking that David Rausch was going to TEAR MY HEAD OFF, or do other GREAT BODILY HARM to me.

I was also noticing that I did not like 1) getting shouted down by a big angry white guy, and 2) being physically intimidated by a big angry white guy standing at his full height towering over me in my seated position - you do not want David Rausch to get angry at you, as Ron Cote advised me, "He's a big guy." I would also add that that David Rausch is a VERY UGLY person when he is angry at you and is shouting you down.

As I am of such a sensitive nature, I let this episode upset me in such a manner that was noticeable to others in our group, so much that somebody reported this to our manager, Randy Yates.

Like any good manager, Randy Yates wanted to head off any potential conflicts between personnel in his group. He called both David Rausch and me into his office for a clear-the-air talk.

David Rausch apologized for losing his temper.

I apologized for not having a sense of humor. Smile-while-you-eat-shit. Go along to get along. Be a "team member".

NOTHING was said about the inappropriateness of this joke in the work environment.

NOTHING was said about the relative value of the lives of our Black and Latino citizens residing in South Central Los Angeles.

Being the type of person that he is, David Rausch pretended that I was the invisible man whenever we were in the same vicinity - he would LOOK RIGHT THROUGH ME as if I did not exist, let alone speak to me.

Of course, whenever he NEEDED something from me, he would speak to me as if he was a normal human being.

Being a survivor ("Smile when you have to eat sh*t." Go along to get along. Be a team player.) I would pretend that I did not notice David Rausch had given me the invisible man treatment, and very polite provide him with whatever he needed.

Mike Petka, who was working at Northrop Grumman at that time, and who is a white guy, thought that while dropping an atomic bomb on South Central Los Angeles might be a good thing, thought that an atomic bomb on Dana Point would not be a good thing.;

The Black people I asked about the humor of this joke did not give me a response. They would just shake their heads for some reason.

Romeo Allen was one Black guy at Northrop Grumman at that time who did not give me an answer, but told me of his encounter with a white Sheriff's Deputy who had an odd sense of humor. The Sheriff's Deputy stuck the MUZZLE of his shotgun into Romeo's mouth, evidently thinking that the potential of blowing a good portion of Romeo's head off into bits of bone, flesh, and brain tissue to be funny.

My youngest daughter who was nine-years old at that time, understood what an atomic bomb was. She did not think that this joke was very funny, and in fact, seemed to be distressed about an atomic bomb being dropped on any part of Los Angeles, as we live in Los Angeles.

My sister-in-law's two brothers, being very polite Chinese guys, at first pretended to laugh at the joke, but agreed that it was not a funny thing at all.

In summary, these white guys got one funny sense of humor that I STILL don't get, and many other people don't get.

I hope that NONE of our Black and Latino Northrop Grumman employees reading this gets the wrong idea about the white guys at Northrop Grumman.


Disclaimer: SORRY - This is only what I know from my point of view. No lies, just what I see as the truth.