Do you find yourself getting offended by people who get offended? It seems to me that these days more and more people are choosing to be offended in a quite opportunistic way about the most trivial and inconsequential things, and I find that offensive. Can I get compensation? I just read a story in the English press about an over sensitive Irishman who collected thousands in compensation because somebody told him a joke that he found objectionable. That's right, a joke. Not a particularly funny joke. An Irishman is sitting in a pub with an empty beer glass, somebody asks him if he'd like another one, to which he responds: "Why would I want another empty glass?" I know. Tumbleweed. Yet one sad individual claimed to be so offended by this non joke that he felt the need to make an official complaint about it, and after two years of legal wrangling he finally got his money. I'm not a particular fan of the Irish joke, but I think people like this are a very good reason to actively preserve the Irish joke and ensure that it lives forever. I was born in Ireland and raised in England, so I was subjected to Irish jokes for the entire time I was growing up. I never took it seriously enough to be offended because I thought some of them were quite funny, I realised they had nothing to do with me personally, and of course there was no money involved back then. Nowadays you get the distinct impression that some people actively go around looking to be offended because they know very well there will be a generous payout thanks to the twisted values of a supremely sick society that encourages a "poor me" mentality of phoney victimhood at every turn. As for Irish jokes, to my mind there is no more offensive an Irish joke than the super sensitive paddy who takes offence for money. I do hope that doesn't offend. I've known quite a lot of Irish people in my time, and I'm just wondering now if maybe I know this guy from somewhere. I'm wondering if he's the same Irishman I heard about who went to the dentist to have a wisdom tooth put in, or if he's the Irishman who fell out the window while ironing the curtains. It would be quite a coincidence if he was. Or maybe he's the Irishman who thought a sheet of sandpaper was a map of the desert, or the Irishman who went to a mind reader and got his money back, or the one who took a tape measure to bed to see how long he slept, or maybe he's the Irishman who put ice cubes in his condom to keep the swelling down. If so, his name is definitely Paddy, even if it isn't - especially if it isn't. And, depending on how we're feeling about it, he may well be smoking a clay pipe, wearing a jaunty little bowler hat, and carrying a pig under his arm, and he is very unlikely to be sober. And if his ears are burning now the phone must have rung while he was ironing again. Jesus, Mary and Joseph, what a stupid feckin eejit, what a thick Irish mick. Peace, begorrah.