Maybe because even if they had been upset/offended/embarassed by it they also realised that it would do them no good to complain because a) they were temps and b) they were receptionists, while you were (presumably) senior people? PC aside, I think many of us welcome the protection that the new legal environment gives us all from the arbitrary opinions/prejudices/"sense of humour" of our bosses and colleagues. This is work, after all, not the schoolyard. Bah humbug over.