A Cat Named Jorts Is Breaking The Internet After A Redditor Said They Were Accused Of 'Perpetuating Ethnic Stereotypes' About Orange Cats
A viral post from the subreddit r/AmITheAsshole had one Redditor questioning whether they "perpetuated ethnic stereotypes" by joking that orange cats were dumb.
In the post, Redditor u/throwawayorangecat explained that their worksite has two cats, a female tortoiseshell named Jean and a male orange cat named Jorts.
Jorts is not the sharpest tool in the shed and is often getting stuck outside of rooms.
The original poster tried putting down a door stop to help Jorts, but Pam (his coworker, whose real name was changed in the thread) said that they were "depriving Jorts of the chance to learn." Pam also continuously tries to get the rest of the staff to do daily team tasks surrounding special learning activities for Jorts.
The final straw came after the OP installed a "cat cutout thing in the door" and made the off-handed remark that "you can't expect Jean's tortoiseshell smarts from orange cat Jorts." The quip caused Pam to cry and go home early.
She sent a companywide email that said that the poster was "perpetuating ethnic stereotypes by saying orange cats are dumb," and demanded they take a racial sensitivity training course.
In the subsequent update, the poster met with HR about the incident. HR said they were "concerned about Pam's comparing ethnic stereotypes with giving a cat a doorstop," and that she had overstepped her bounds by assigning "other staff Jorts-related tutoring."
The OP agreed to "apologize to Jorts about some things that were insensitive or disrespectful."
He also will change a "staff photo" of a sweet potato representing Jorts to the actual cat.
But the coup de grâce of the Redditor's update was the revelation that Pam had been "putting margarine on Jorts in an attempt to teach him to groom himself better."
HR advised Pam not to "apply margarine to any of her coworkers."
The thread found its way onto Twitter and soon became a trending topic as the saga of Jorts the cat captured the imagination of the internet.
The response was so overwhelming that the Redditor set up a Twitter fan account and joked that Jorts didn't need to be buttered.
