"Blinky the Shark" > wrote in message
news
> Paul M. Cook wrote:
>
>
>> "Blinky the Shark" > wrote in message
>> news
>>> Paul M. Cook wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>>> "Wayne Boatwright" > wrote in message
>>>> 5.250...
>>>>> On Mon 25 Aug 2008 06:07:04p, Paul M. Cook told us...
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>> "Wayne Boatwright" > wrote in message
>>>>>> 5.250...
>>>>>>> On Mon 25 Aug 2008 04:07:41p, Paul M. Cook told us...
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> "ChattyCathy" > wrote in message
>>>>>>>> ...
>>>>>>>>> The Marine and The French Woman
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> The train was packed, and the U.S. Marine walked the entire
>>>>>>>>> length looking for a seat, but a well-dressed, Middle-aged,
>>>>>>>>> French woman's poodle was sitting in the only seat remaining.
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> The weary Marine asked, 'Ma'am, may I have that seat?'
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> The French woman just sniffed and said to no one in
>>>>>>>>> particular,'Americans are so rude. My little Fifi is using that
>>>>>>>>> seat.'
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> The Marine walked the entire train again, but the only seat left
>>>>>>>>> was under that dog.
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> 'Please, ma'am. May I have that seat? I'm very tired.'
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> She snorted, 'Not only are you Americans rude, you are also
>>>>>>>>> arrogant!'
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> This time the Marine didn't say another word; he just picked up
>>>>>>>>> the little dog, tossed it out the train window, and sat down.
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> The woman shrieked, 'Someone must defend my honor! Put this
>>>>>>>>> American in his place!'
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> An English gentleman sitting nearby spoke up,'Sir, you Americans
>>>>>>>>> seem
>>>>>>>>> to have a penchant for doing the wrong thing. You hold the fork
>>>>>>>>> in the wrong hand, you drive your vehicles on the wrong side of
>>>>>>>>> the road........ And now, Sir, you seem to have thrown the wrong
>>>>>>>>> bitch out the window.'
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> Really bad joke. Gratuitous animal cruelty doesn't work as joke
>>>>>>> material.
>>>>>>>> Won't be passing that one around.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> Paul
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Geez, Paul, it's just a joke. It's not like it actually happened
>>>>>>> or would happen.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Hey, I'm cool but it's just very poor taste. Why does the man have
>>>>>> to be a Marine, anyway? Are they just supposed to be ruthless
>>>>>> killers? It
>>>>>> just sounds like something you'd read in Soldier of Fortune or
>>>>>> Hustler.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Paul
>>>>>
>>>>> It didn't have to be a Marine, but it pretty much had to be a man.
>>>>> Likewise, it had to be a dog or the punchline wouldn't work. There
>>>>> are far
>>>>> more crude jokes than that, that target minority groups, etc. I
>>>>> remember
>>>>> back in the late 1960s/early 1970s how ethnic jokes were very
>>>>> specific as
>>>>> to race or nationality. In order to continue teling those jokes the
>>>>> term
>>>>> was usually changed to a person of "certain ethnic background". Did
>>>>> it make a difference? Probably not. There are still religious jokes
>>>>> that include a Rabi, Priest, and Minister. They don't work
>>>>> otherwise, and I doubt that many people consider it a slur on any
>>>>> particular group.
>>>>>
>>>>> Many jokes are derogatory but they're not malicious. What's the
>>>>> difference
>>>>> between a joke about an Irish person, a black person, a Polish
>>>>> person, etc.? Only what so-called political correctness dictates.
>>>>> AFAIC, political correctness is just so much bull shit.
>>>>>
>>>>> Someone could crack a joke about men named "Paul". Would you take
>>>>> that personally or consider that derogatory?
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Nope. I call them as I see them. I just see no humor in it. Guy
>>>> throws a
>>>> dog out of a train and that's funny? Not trying to start a war here,
>>>> I even
>>>> provided ample humor to deflect any hurt feelings.
>>>
>>> It appears you stopped reading at that action. Well, no wonder you
>>> don't get the joke. You didn't get TO the humor. See, Paul, that
>>> usually comes at the end.
>>>
>>>
>> Yeah, I read the whole thing. You must mean that hilarious part at the
>> end where the woman is referred to as a "bitch" in this case play on
>> words referring to her (murdered) female dog. I'm laughing so hard I
>> got phlegm coming out my nostrils.
>
> Please note that wordplay is a rather intellectual form of humor, which
> necessarily limits its appreciative audience. That said, rolling around
> on the floor laughing ones lungs out isn't the kind of reaction generally
> associated with it; the more usual kind of reaction is the chuckle or
> smile that acknowledges appreciation. Thus your sarcastic description of
> your own nonreaction shows, again, just how much you don't get this form
> of humor, rather than indicting the joke as you intended.
>
>
I'll send it on to the The New Yorker magazine.
Paul
>