這事的開始是在車上的一段閒話。我女兒告訴我一段她最近看到的小人書上的故事，原始版本大概是這樣：

Once upon a time, there was a man who liked to gamble. He gambled only during the night, when his wife couldn't see. But boy was he addicted in gambling. As came to show when one day, he gambled a little too hard and wasted so much money even his ignorant wife would notice.

"Oh no!" he cried, as the other gamblers faces warped with blind joy.

The man was wandering around worrying about what to do when suddenly, a stranger appeared.

"You've lost a lot of money, right? I can help you," he said, "for a price."

"I don't want help if I need to pay," the man replied, "I hardly have any money left."

"Oh no," the stranger smiled, his face glowing a dangerous hot red. "This won't take any money at all. All you have to do is play a game with me. If I lose, you'll get all the money you need to make the loss look like it wasn't there. However, if you lose, I'll suffice with taking only what's sitting by the fireplace in your home right now."

The stranger's golden hair swung down his shoulders and shone. The man thought long and hard. "The only thing sitting by the fireplace right now is the rocking chair, right? That means if I win, I'll get what I want. But if I lose, I'll only lose the rocking chair. No pain, but lots of gain, right?"

"Okay," the man said out loud. "I accept the deal."

A few minutes later, the man lost. He wasn't distraught though. All he had to give was the rocking chair, so he thought. He worried about his wife, though. He was going to have to brace himself to prepare for his wife killing him. He whistled a happy tune as he opened the door, and then froze when looked at his fireplace. His son was sitting on the rocking chair, reading a book. Realization came to the man. He remembered the stranger's long golden hair and his evil glowing red face. The man had gambled with the devil.

還沒聽完全部的故事我就開始質疑起這故事的政治正確性。這也是她自找的，因為最近她常常指責我有性別刻板印象與歧視，也常常抱怨看到的故事有種族歧視的嫌疑。

「為什麼故事的主要人物都是男人？這是stereotype和性別歧視。」我提出疑問。她常用同樣的理由攻擊我的觀點，所以很容易就接受了我的意見。

「那要怎麼說？」她問我。

「去掉所有有性別意義的字詞，像是 man, woman, he, she, boy, girl, son, daughter, father, mother 等等，改成中性或無性的字，比如像 person, one 等等。」

「還有為什麼一定要是 husband / wife 的關係？這也是 stereotype和歧視同性婚姻權，應該改成中性的 partner。」

「而且你應該知道不能強調別人的身體心理殘缺，所以不能用 blind，而且 ignorant 也應該避免使用，否則就是歧視身心障礙者。」

「故事裡也不應該具體描述人物的膚色髮色，這些都是 stereotype 和種族歧視！」

「還有那些像 devil, hell, after life 之類的概念也不應該出現，因為並非所有的宗教都有相同概念，何況還有人是無神論，我們應該要顧慮到所有人的感覺，所以要把它們全部替換成中立而且不會引起反感的字詞。」

「然後，你知道賭博是壞事，故事裡有賭博情節對小孩子很不適當，我們要想個辦法用別的字眼代替，否則這故事好像在鼓勵賭博．．．這樣吧，我們就用『投資』來代替。另外像 poor 或是 no money 這類的字詞好像牽涉到價值判斷，也有歧視的嫌疑，我們來想個辦法把它們中性化一下。Kill 也不應該出現，我們不能提倡暴力。」

在我們的腦力激盪之後，這段故事被改寫成完全的政治正確如下：

Once upon a time, there was a person who liked to invest. That person invested only during the night, when one's partner couldn't see. But oh small child, was the person so devoted in investing. As came to show when one day, the person invested a little too hard and suffered from capital loss even the person's intellectually-challenged partner would notice.

"Oh no!" the person cried, as the other investors' faces warped with visually-challenged joy.

The person was wandering around worrying about what to do when suddenly, a stranger appeared.

"Your investment didn't have good return, right? I can help you," the person said, "for a small fee."

"I don't need help if it requires a fee," the person replied, "My investment funds were depleted."

"Oh no," the stranger smiled, with face glowing a dangerous hot mysterious color. "This won't require any fee at all. All you have to do is do a business with me. If I make a bad investment, you'll get all the profit you need to wash out the debt you owe. However, if you make a bad investment, I'll suffice with taking only what's sitting by the fireplace in your home right now."

The stranger's mysterious color hair swung down the one’s shoulders and emitted. The person thought long and hard. "The only thing sitting by the fireplace right now is the rocking chair, right? That means if I make a good investment, I'll get what I want. But if I make a bad investment, I'll only lose the rocking chair. No pain, but lots of return on investment, right?"

"Okay," the person said out loud. "I accept the transaction."

A few minutes later, the person's investment didn't work. The person wasn't that distraught though. All the person had to give was the rocking chair, so the person thought. The person worried about the partner, though. The person was going to have to brace oneself to prepare for the partner nullifying the person. The person whistled a happy tune as the person opened the door, and then froze when looked at the fireplace. The successor was sitting on the rocking chair, reading a book. Realization came to the person. The person remembered the stranger's long mysterious color hair and otherworldly dangerously glowing mysterious color face. The person had invested with a deviant.