# Ever have someone react badly to your amusing anecdotes? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 26, 2009, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-have-someone-react-badly-to-your-amusing-anecdotes/515223 "2009-10-26T21:18:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![dhkendall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a9adbd/32.png) [@dhkendall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dhkendall)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2009, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-have-someone-react-badly-to-your-amusing-anecdotes/515223/41 "2009-11-23T15:07:35Z")
A friend of my wife’s always strikes up a “conversation” with the comedian whenever we frequent a comedy club (and since I am a comedian myself, that’s frequent - although strangely, I’ve never noticed her do it to my act but, as any comic can tell you, the acoustics are WAY different on stage). Things like: Comic: "So, I was in Thunder Bay the other day … " Her: “Oh? I was born there! Did you see the [such and such tourist attraction]?” Not in a real loud heckling voice, but a slighlty louder voice than if she was having a conversation with us at our table, and, looking directly at him. Sometimes the comic hears her (and woiuld treat her like a heckler) - we do often sit up front (easier for me if I’m performing on the same bill) sometimes she isn’t heard or is ignored (which seems to confuse friend). She does have a mental problem (not sure exactly, I think she said once it was bipolar), so that might explain it. > [@Lamia](#): > > My sister “Rachel” had a good friend in high school who was also named “Rachel”. The friend had red hair so people in their social circle sometimes called her “Red-haired Rachel” to distinguish her from my sister. This morphed into the nickname “Red Rachel”. My sister, who dyed her hair black at the time, became “Black Rachel”. Reminds me a bit (although not quite related to the topic) of my daughter, who is seven years old. there are two Erics in her class so, naturally, they are referred to as Eric R. and Eric S. There’s also a daycare in the school where younger kids (llike my daughter) go as well, especially after school and the parents aren’t home yet. Eric R. goes to the daycare but Eric S. doesn’t. One time at daycare my daughter greeted her classmate with “Hi, Eric R.!” He shot back with “Eric S. isn’t here! Just call me Eric, not Eric R.!” ---
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2009, 9:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-have-someone-react-badly-to-your-amusing-anecdotes/515223/42 "2009-11-24T09:12:36Z")
> [@needscoffee](#): > > Not me, but a friend: I told her a joke at work that went, “How do you tell a really good lawyer? He can get a charge of sodomy reduced to ‘following too closely’.” She thought it was very funny, and told it later that day to a steady customer whom we were all quite friendly with. He just stared at her, and finally said, “You know I’m a psychologist, right? You know I work with abused children? Well, I don’t think that joke is very funny at all.” She was mortified, but I figured the guy was overreacting. I think the friend was pretty dumb to be telling a potentially offensive joke like that to anyone she didn’t know really well, much less a customer of her business. ---
**Author:** ![T.Slothrop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3e96dc/32.png) [@T.Slothrop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/T.Slothrop)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2009, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-have-someone-react-badly-to-your-amusing-anecdotes/515223/43 "2009-11-25T05:14:04Z")
A high school friend went on to be a navigator on B-52 Bombers and bombed the crap out of Viet Nam. I went on to be an infantry medic and survived two tours in Viet Nam. Years later we met at a mutual friend’s house. I have a funny story about being really scared when hearing a B-52 strike while I was in the infantry. Evidently the navigator was in complete denial about whatever happened on the ground during a B-52 strike. When I found out he had been a B-52 navigator and started to tell the funny story, he covered his ears and went: “la la la la la.” ---
**Author:** ![G.Pie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@G.Pie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/G.Pie)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2010, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-have-someone-react-badly-to-your-amusing-anecdotes/515223/44 "2010-01-05T05:06:42Z")
I tend to tell some edgy stories and, unfortunately, sometimes I get the “That’s not funny!” What does that mean? If I tell 5 people a humorous story about attempting suicide and 4 people laugh, then it IS funny. Person #5 just isn’t getting in to the spirit of the thing. ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2010, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-have-someone-react-badly-to-your-amusing-anecdotes/515223/45 "2010-01-05T05:24:50Z")
> [@G.Pie](#): > > I tend to tell some edgy stories and, unfortunately, sometimes I get the “That’s not funny!” What does that mean? If I tell 5 people a humorous story about attempting suicide and 4 people laugh, then it IS funny. Person #5 just isn’t getting in to the spirit of the thing. Since whether or not something is funny is wholly subjective, it can only mean “I don’t think that’s funny.” I just wish more people understood that consciously rather than declaring something objectively unfunny. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-have-someone-react-badly-to-your-amusing-anecdotes/515223.md?page=2)