Failing to strike the right chord on cross-cultural humor

It is a wise writer who understands that his words on the page are only as effective as a reader’s ability to appreciate them as they were intended.

Sometimes, if you’re lucky, you hit the sweet spot and, like plucking a perfectly tuned note on a guitar string, the message reverberates with a sustained power and lasting echo.

Other times you may be off a bit, the wire wound too loose or tight, and your hope for a pure note doesn’t thrum as well as you had hoped.

Such was the case recently when the column I wrote on San Luis Obispo’s odor ordinance got off key at the start with a little story about some pungent German tourists I encountered on a lighthouse tour some years ago.

It was meant to be a grabby intro to the argument that SLO’s code enforcers were going to have a dicey time navigating a city regulation that requires them to determine which neighborhood smells are OK and which might merit a fine.

However, thanks to some imprecise language and an unnecessary level of detail, I managed to offend the greater German population of San Luis Obispo County.

Two of them, Caroline and Silvia, went on Dave Congalton’s radio show Monday, where the group and several callers spent the better part of an hour lambasting me for my gross cultural insensitivity.

That was not my intent; I referenced the two Germans because that’s who the tourists happened to be.

The guests and other residents of German descent also called and emailed, some making fair points and others not so much.

When I wrote the column, I felt that it was clear I wasn’t painting broad strokes. But in retrospect, I realize it’s not that simple.

For me, the experience served as a lesson in how attempts at cross-cultural humor — even small references like this — can go unwittingly astray, which may not only spark offense, but distract attention on the overall point of a particular column as a whole.

Whatever the various nuances that were involved here, it was an enlightening experience. Writing is a process. We learn and grow. Sometimes I am not as clever as I think I am.

So to Caroline, Silvia and the rest, my sincere apologies.

Be confident that no ill will was intended. We are more alike than we are different.

Hopefully, that’s a chord that will resonate well beyond the end of this page.

This story was originally published April 5, 2015 at 2:12 AM with the headline "Failing to strike the right chord on cross-cultural humor."