This is my problem, I am impulsive and silly enough to still say things, but the way they come out sometimes makes me want to die a little inside and stop being perceived forever.
Sometimes if I am not doing too badly I still can turn it around, where the very failure of delivery can on its own get the laughs (or groans). If I sort of stay with it long enough to express something like "yeah, that was bad wasn't it? want more?". But it does require a minimum of social aptitude like you said, which for me varies a lot.
Funny, seeing them at the top gave me a favorable impression of them, but seems to have caused the opposite for you. My impression was probably due to, like someone else said, feeling like maybe they're not being drilled with as much anti-union propaganda.
But I'm from a place where you have to go out of your way not to be part of a union.