If You Don't Laugh At Yourself, Someone Else Will!

We sometimes tend to think that jokes about people in their occupations are mostly about lawyers. Like the one that says if you want to avoid a shark attack you should swim with a brief case. The shark will think you are a lawyer and not attack you out of professional courtesy. But the jokes abound, no matter who is being talked about. I read one recently about the man who went to the doctor and said he just couldn't seem to get up and do anything, especially around the house. After the exam, the doctor told the man he had only one word to describe his ailment, "You are lazy!" The man quickly responded, "Okay, now give me the official medical term so I can tell my wife."

No matter what profession, situation, or circumstance there's usually some humor in there, somewhere. Most of the blonde jokes can be rather rude. There's the story of 10 blondes and one brunette all hanging on a single rope off a cliff. They all cannot stay on the rope, so one must jump so the others can be saved. The brunette gives a very stirring speech about how she is willing to die so the others can live. At the end of her speech the blondes were so moved they all applauded. You see jokes like that can be pretty demeaning but they are part of the landscape that we live in each and every day.

Perhaps the ones that catch my attention today are those dealing with aging. There's the one about the man who decided his wife was losing a little of her hearing so he gave her a test. Upon entering the kitchen he spots his wife with her back turned to him and he quietly whispers, "Darling, what are we having for lunch today?" She did not respond. He then takes a few steps closer and this time a little louder he asks, "What are we having for lunch today, darling?" No response. He then proceeds to get fairly close up behind her and asked the question one more time. At this she whirled around and said, "Listen, you deaf old coot, for the third time, PORK CHOPS!"

No one is immune. Redneck jokes have fattened the paychecks for Jeff Foxworthy for many years. You might be a redneck if you think loading up the dishwasher means getting your wife drunk. You might be if the speakers to your stereo used to be in a drive in movie. You might be if your wife ever said please move the transmission out of the way so I can take a bath. You might be if you think a subdivision is a math problem. And, they go on and on, and on.

You might also occasionally see a bumper sticker that brings a smile. Here's some that I thought were pretty funny. 'I never thought I would miss Nixon.' 'WWJD: Who wants jelly donuts?' 'My dog is smarter than your honor student.' 'National Spelllling Bee Runner Up.' 'Custer wore an Arrow Shirt.' 'Jesus loves you, everyone else thinks you are a jerk!' Unfortunately, we tend to gravitate to the put downs and at times they can be very sarcastic. I've been around folks who loved jokes and laughed out loud until someone made one about them or something close to them, they no longer thought it funny at all.

I happen to like a good laugh and we all need to be able to smile now and then. However, if we feed ourselves only with put downs and sarcasms, we can become very negative in our view of others. That's why I like telling funny stories on my self. We all have things about us that are pretty funny but some never really see themselves that way. And, when it comes to making the jokes, we also need to be prepared to take the jokes. President Truman may not have coined the famous phrase "If you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen." but he certainly used it often and made it popular. He was very clever with words and I love what he said whenever he explained why he fired General MacArthur, "I didn't fire him because he was a dumb SOB, although he was, but that's not against the law for generals. If it was, half to three quarters of them would be in jail."

As far as my blog today, it reminds us that laughter, especially, wholesome fun can help us make it through what would otherwise be a pretty dreary existence. Some of the stories Jesus told to illustrate His points were funny. Like the one where He explained the difficulty one has in removing a tiny speck of a splinter in the other fellow's eye while neglecting the boulder sticking out of his own eye. Yeah, that no doubt brought some smiles to those who heard it but it also brought home a truth about human frailty and our need to examine ourselves first. I'll leave you with one more for the road: "A turtle was walking down an alley in New York when he was attacked and mugged by a gang of snails. When asked by the detective to explain what happened the turtle replied, "To tell the truth I don't really know, it all happened so fast". Think about it and maybe sometime this afternoon it will bring a smile. God bless and have a great day. .........More later.