Let's Joke Around

I was amused lately when a man who sells chicken sandwiches answered a question regarding marriage and suddenly conservatives and liberals are hurling accusations at each other like javelins. Massive crowds gathered at the eateries to show support or condemnation which created huge waiting lines. A few just wanted lunch.

These are Spanish Inquisition days where every statement is analyzed for the tiniest bit of potential offense. This is a sad fact in the country that gave the world Micky Mouse, Red Skelton, Jackie Gleason, Bill Cosby, Johnny Carson and dozens of funny TV sitcoms. Now we’ve become a shrill tense group of people glaring at each other with our arms folded across our chests. Cars, the internet and email all physically separates us, we hear our own voice too much.

We don’t joke anymore.

Back before we decided we were all oppressed there were two good ways to get to know a person. You could work beside someone doing an unpleasant job like cleaning up road kill or digging postholes and another way was to tell jokes-- like the one about a horse that walks into a bar and just stands there. The bar tender looks at him and says “Why the long face?”

I’ve heard that joke a million times and it still makes me smile. And there were good old Knock Knock jokes about Dexter and the halls and the one about Mr. Walter when the well runs dry. And of course there was the Buddhist that refused Novocain for his root canal because he wanted to transcend dental medication.

We use to laugh a lot. Then everybody got cell phones and there was no need to see each other.

Now, jokes are only told but up until the 1960’s people use to play jokes. Cars and machines were simple. My father and his pals disassembled a neighbor’s Farmhall tractor and reassembled it in the man’s tobacco barn. It took the farmer a day to find his tractor. Of course there was good natured pay back later. Tying tiny bells to the bottom of a young married couple’s box spring mattress always got a wink and a smile. Many homes, like your grandmothers’, had outhouses that your friends tipped over at the most delicate moment. That’s how I learned to cuss.

Telling a joke right has nothing to do with your political affiliation, religion, education or income. You do not need physics or theology everyday but the ability to tell a good joke always comes in handy. Some people have a knack for it like making hoop shots with a swish.

Nobody knows where jokes come from. Years ago I was standing in the Charlotte Douglas airport watching a news report on a big screen TV that was following up on a president that had sexual relations with a young intern. Standing beside me in a blue business suit was a gentleman I had never seen before. He turned to me and said “Did you hear Belk is having a Presidents Day sale? All men’s pants are half off!” He had heard a version of that joke in a New York diner.

Jokes help you release tension, even oldies like my favorite fifth grade joke,” Why do gorillas have large nostrils? Because they have big fingers.” Or “The blind man picked up a hammer and saw.”

Your life may be a mess, your clothes tattered and torn and you’ve misplaced your car keys but a good joke every now and then will do you good. So tell a joke, give out a laugh and let’s all sit down and eat.