You know its possible to ignore someone without announcing it... like I get ignored all the time, and it rarely seems like people make a statement. lol.
"Why does Mimi keep calling people Tarbaby?? Should I be appalled??"
No. She is directing that at Mewes. Consult the internet.
Wikipedia quoted below, no need for being racially offended.
"The Tar-Baby is a fictional character in the second of the Uncle Remus stories published in 1881; it is a doll made of tar and turpentine used to entrap Br'er Rabbit. The more that Br'er Rabbit fights the Tar-Baby, the more entangled he becomes. In modern usage, "tar baby" refers to any "sticky situation" that is only aggravated by additional contact."
"In one tale, Br'er Fox constructs a doll out of a lump of tar and dresses it with some clothes. When Br'er Rabbit comes along he addresses the tar "baby" amiably, but receives no response. Br'er Rabbit becomes offended by what he perceives as the Tar-Baby's lack of manners, punches it, and in doing so becomes stuck. The more Br'er Rabbit punches and kicks the tar "baby" out of rage, the worse he gets stuck. Now that Br'er Rabbit is stuck, Br'er Fox ponders how to dispose of him. The helpless but cunning Br'er Rabbit pleads, "but do please, Br'er Fox, don't fling me in dat brier-patch," prompting Fox to do exactly that. As rabbits are at home in thickets, the resourceful Br'er Rabbit escapes. Using the phrases "but do please, Br'er Fox, don't fling me in dat brier-patch" and "tar baby" to refer to the idea of "a problem that gets worse the more one struggles against it" became part of the wider culture of the United States in the mid-20th century.[citation needed] The story was originally published in Harper's Weekly by Robert Roosevelt; years later Joel Chandler Harris wrote of the Tar-Baby in his Uncle Remus stories. A similar tale from African folklore in West Africa has the trickster Anansi in the role of Br'er Rabbit."
"a problem that gets worse the more one struggles against it"
Mimi, Couch, Wiki... Thanks for the new metaphor!
"Quicksand" was getting old, lol!
.....
re: tar baby as a slur
The Oxford English Dictionary defines "tar baby" as "a difficult problem which is only aggravated by attempts to solve it", but the subscription-only version adds a second definition: "a derogatory term for a Black (U.S.) or a Maori (N.Z.)".
Several United States politicians—including presidential candidates John Kerry, John McCain, Michele Bachmann, and Mitt Romney—have been criticized by civil rights leaders, the media, and fellow politicians for using the "tar baby" metaphor. An article in The New Republic argued that people are "unaware that some consider it to have a second meaning as a slur" and it "is an obscure slur, not even known to be so by a substantial proportion of the population." It continued that, "those who feel that tar baby's status as a slur is patently obvious are judging from the fact that it sounds like a racial slur". In other countries, the phrase continues to refer to problems worsened by intervention.
Mechrist, are you OK with Mimi calling you a Tarbaby?
I have this wondeful scene playing out in my head where Dr. F comes up to Wes at a formal dinner party (Martini in hand) and asks Weschrist the same question.
"NO its not OK! WHY WOULD IT BE OK! I'm dying over here, man... f*#k. How can I live with myself?"
Wes begins to cry into his fistful of appetizers. The good Dr. puts a reassuring arm around the poor lad, smirking not so much at his good deed but how great he looks doing it.
"It'll be alright, Kid. The Brer Rabbit fought the tar-baby in that old song of the South. It means that the more people tangle with you, the more f*#ked up they get, because you're all covered in tar."
Wes peels his clenched white knuckles away from clawing at his sobbing eyes, just long enough to look up to the Doc and ask "Isn't that racist?"
"No, Wes, Mimi isn't a racist!" Dr. F exclaims with a chuckle. "But she IS a pedophile."
(You are only seen as a not-racist to people that are steeped in sharecropping folklore, so everybody.)
Don't be so hard on yourself. If I recall I was teaching you how to use your feet. Besides, I know it's hard to take your eyes off my sexy lower half when I'm climbing.
Let us know!