"Knock, knock. Who’s there? Otto. Otto who? Otto know. I’ve got amnesia."

"Knock, knock. Who’s there? Orange. Orange who? Orange you going to let me in?" I thought I would use that as a way to say hello and welcome here on this Wednesday, July 3, 2013. There's quite a bit of forth and back arguments regarding the exact origin of the knock knock genre of jokes. Some track them back to the middle ages. Shakespeare did use something similar as a comedic device. As for their modern day incarnation, we have one in print from a circular dated in 1936, "Knock knock! Who's there? Landen. Landen Who? Landen Bridge is falling down." We also find them used on the Fred Allen radio program from the 1930's and 1940's. The TV program 'Laugh In' used them as a regular feature and that caused a renaissance of sorts as people picked them up in everyday life. The worse the pun, the better the joke. I'll end with this one: "KNOCK, KNOCK. Who's there? Butcher. Butcher, who? Butcher arms around me honey, hold me tight"

When I was a kid the 'Why did the little moron' jokes were big. They are likely now outlawed by those committed to political correctness in every facet of life. Q. Why did the moron throw the butter out the window? A. Because he wanted to see a butterfly. Q. Why did the little moron throw margarine out of the window? A. He wanted to see an imitation butterfly. Q. Why did the little moron throw his clock out of the window? A. He wanted to see time fly. Q. Why did the little moron drive his truck off a cliff? A. He wanted to test his air brakes. Q. What did the little moron do when he learned that he was going to die? A. He went into the living room. Q. Why did the little moron drive his car into a tree? A. He wanted to hear its bark. Okay already. They were not intended to make any sense at all. As far as I can remember they were also never targeted towards a particular group or any individual. I do recall that it was not a good idea to ask one to my grandfather. He was not a moron joke kind of guy. If you pestered him, you might not have wanted to hear his rendition of the punch line. Just saying.

Corny? Sure. Much of what happens in life fits that definition. We certainly taught our boys not to make fun of other people and especially those with disabilities or other impairments. But kids like to joke and I fear that someday there won't be much to joke about. It seems that vulgarity is the only area where comedy is allowed to be protected. We are becoming a coarse society in so many ways. An article on one of the news feeds listed the recent winners of music entertainment awards and many of the winning song titles included the words Explicit Lyrics. In the old days that kind of stuff would have been called obscene but now it's the rage, with many of the performers idolized and some even being feted by our President. Every kid, even the younger ones, seem to have a set of those in ear speakers connected to their I-phone or tablet and there's no telling what's being broadcast into their little minds. But, maybe I'm just an old grandpa concerned about the future of my offspring along with the rest of our nation's children. I think it's still okay to express that kind of concern. Isn't it? At least for now. Have a blessed day and I'll see what tumbles out next time when I open up the door into the room where those gray cells are typically hiding in the corner. May God bless each one. Amen. ....More later.