Priyanka Mantha

Columnist

Born in Aurora, Colorado, Priyanka Mantha grew weary of the fresh mountain air at the tender age of two and a half, when she urged her family to pack their bags and head for smoggy Los Angeles, California. Today, Priyanka lives in Washington D.C. where she continues to pursue her passion for social justice, writing, and theatre. In the near future, she hopes to commit small acts of mayhem. Immediate projects include releasing lawn gnomes back to their natural habitat. Applications for potential co-conspirators are being accepted on a rolling basis.

Outsourced: A Quarterly Report

Todd’s company, Mid American Novelties, has outsourced its call center to Mumbai, India, and he, helpless at the whims of a new global economy, is sent there to run it. What ensues is a series of one-liner gaffs that traffic in ethnic stereotypes and induce the involuntary eye-rolling I thought I'd left behind in my teens. Let’s dive right in and explore some of the offending dialogue, shall we?

In the Middle: The Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear

 

I'm at The Rally To Restore Sanity and/or Fear in Washington DC, an event promoted by Comedy Central stars Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert. But I cannot see anything. Nothing. It's giant heads for miles around, and for a brief moment I'm seething, imagining myself a modern-day Vlad the Impaler, sticking them on pikes so that my sight line will no longer be obstructed.