Can I just say "What"?

We all know that some of the things this world does to be politically correct or to avoid offending people are on the ridiculous side. I have to say I think this is the worst example I have ever seen.
SYDNEY (AFP) - Santas in Australia's largest city have been told not to use Father Christmas's traditional "ho ho ho" greeting because it may be offensive to women, it was reported Thursday. Sydney's Santa Clauses have instead been instructed to say "ha ha ha" instead, the Daily Telegraph reported.
Can I just say "WHAT?". Is that not outrageous? Come on, if you get offended by the use of that maybe you deserve to be offended. Is it going to come to the point where we have to review everything that we say? I agree that there are words that can be extremely offensive if directed to a specific person or group but are we all so dumb that we can't discern a person's intent when they are saying something. Unless you are a huge HO why would you assume that a Santa was being insulting towards you when he says "Ho, Ho, Ho". Do you see where we are headed with this? It isn't pretty and it's only going to get worse.