Hypothetical Question

Question

If you were an undocumented immigrant living in the United States, and an American citizen said "Happy Veteran's Day" to you and explained what a Veteran is, would you take offense?

Answer 1

I don't think it's a matter of contents, but rather of attitude, don't you think? Almost anything can be said or explained in such a way as to be perfectly acceptable. Likewise, almost everything can be twisted in such a way as to be deeply offensive when delivered just so.

• Excellent point. After all, there are veterans and Veterans Day types of recognitions in many countries. - mountaingirl Nov 14, 2011

Answer 2

Why would I, as a hypothetical undocumented immigrant, be offended? I don't see what would be considered offensive.

Answer 3

If the person correctly explained what a veteran was, no. If the person launched a bigoted tirade, yes. The two are mutually exclusive.