If it's a joke you shouldn't laugh at, don't.

A few threads down on this list is a thread containing jokes that we shouldn’t think are funny but we do.

Most of them are quite funny.

But they shouldn’t be.

I aim my complaints mostly at the racist humor. I don’t think that simply preceding a joke with a disclaimer makes it ok to say it.

I have told these jokes countless times. I have laughed at them and other like them countless more. But I want to be better than that. I try not to tell them anymore, and try not to laugh at them, even if they are funny.

Don’t get me wrong. It’s not that I have no sense of humor. Hearing even the worst of these jokes makes me want to, at least, chuckle inside. They are, for the most part, quite clever and quite funny. But just like tasty foods that will give me a heart attack if I eat them, these are bad for me, and I would rather not be involved with them.

And, just like it’s your choice to choose a diet that will have you dead from a heart attack at 40, it’s your choice to continue enjoying racist humor. I just think you’ll feel better about yourself if you give it up for something healthier.

Like…

A New York woman was at her East Side hairdresser’s getting her hair styled prior to a trip to Rome with her boyfriend. She mentioned the trip to the hairdresser, who responded, "Rome? Why would anyone want to go there? It’s crowded & dirty and full of Italians. You’re crazy to go to Rome.

So, how are you getting there?"

“We’re taking Continental,” was the reply. “We got a great rate!”

“Continental?” exclaimed the hairdresser. "That’s a terrible airline. Their planes are old, their flight attendants are ugly, and they’re always late.

So, where are you staying in Rome?"

“We’ll be at this exclusive little place over on Rome’s left bank called Teste…”

"Don’t go any further. I know that place. Everybody thinks its gonna be something special and exclusive. But it’s really a dump, the worst hotel in the city! The rooms are small, the service is surly and they’re overpriced.

So, whatcha doing when you get there?"

“We’re going to go to see the Vatican and we hope to see the Pope.”

“That’s rich,” laughed the hairdresser. “You and a million other people trying to see him. He’ll look the size of an ant. Boy, good luck on this lousy trip of yours. You’re going to need it.”

A month later, the woman again came in for a hairdo. The hairdresser asked her about her trip to Rome.

“It was wonderful,” explained the woman, “not only were we on time in one of Continental’s brand new planes, but it was overbooked and they bumped us up to first class. The food and wine were wonderful, and I had a handsome 28 year old steward who waited on me hand and foot. And the hotel-- it was great! They’d just finished a $5 million remodeling job and now it’s just a jewel, finest hotel in the city. They, too, were overbooked, so they apologized and gave us their owner’s suite at no extra charge!”

“Well,” muttered the hairdresser, “I know you didn’t get to see the Pope.”

“Actually, we were quite lucky, for as we toured the Vatican, a Swiss Guard tapped me on the shoulder and explained that the Pope likes to personally meet some of the visitors, and if I’d be so kind as to step into his private room and wait, the Pope would personally greet me.” Sure enough, five minutes later, the Pope walked through the door and shook my hand! I knelt down and he spoke a few words to me."

“Really?” asked the hairdresser. “What’d he say?”

He said, “Where’d you get the shitty hairdo?”

Busy-body hairdressers may take offense to that joke.

Actually, I take offense at it, but only because I’m the Pope.

As a member of the Swiss Guard, I have to say that I do not find this joke very funny.

Trifecta!

I’ve had conversations along these lines with my mother many times. Although she has a wonderful sense of humour, she has mastered the art of TAKING OFFENSE.

Yes, some humour is offensive. Hell, MOST of it is. Laughter serves many purposes, one of the primal ones being a reaction to a perceived threat (compare the wide grin and spasmodic grunting noises of laughter to an animal being threatened, baring its teeth and growling/grunting/barking).

But the fact of the matter is, if we get rid of all the jokes that offend somebody, we’ll be left with elephant jokes and "I just flew in from Vegas, and boy are my arms tired!

If a joke offends you, stop the teller before they get to the punchline. And don’t tell offensive jokes yourself. There’s nothing wrong with being self-righteous (well, that’s debatable…but not here), just as long as there’s no hypocracy. Mind you, Kid G., I’m not calling you a hypocrite–you’re not telling those jokes any more. I applaud you.

Personally, I enjoy being offensive. It’s a wonderful way to challenge peoples’ ideas and make them AND me think more about them.

Actually, I took a humor course years ago, and the professor offered the thesis that ALL humor is offensive on some level.

Maybe he was wrong, but the entire class was unable to give an example of anything funny that did not offend on some level. In other words, a pun would offend our sense of what is the right word, etc.

Kid_Gilligan wrote:

Q. How did the black man on the train die?

A. He stuck his head out the window into the wind, and his lips flapped him to death.

I’m a hairdresser and I thought it was funny. You gotta take jokes in the spirit in which they are given. For example, I didn’t take offense because I knew that the person who told it was just trying to be funny. Now, I’d be offended if I knew the joke teller was trying to upset me.

I’ll admit I cracked up when I read the offensive joke thread (plus I contributed), but I was also taken aback when I saw Special Olympic jokes since my son is a member of that. I had to remind myself that the joketeller wasn’t trying to make me mad, just telling a joke. And once I reminded myself that those jokes were no different than the others I read I was fine.

So if you realize a joke is a joke and don’t take it seriously (that is, if you know the intention wasn’t to offend) then everything should be fine (is "fine"the word I’m looking for? I’m having trouble finding the right way to phrase my point).

I thought the whole point of the offensive joke thread was that, these jokes ARE offensive and crude.
I’ll say the jokes I told were racist, and I no longer laugh at them. I did however, when I was 8 years old, and back then I didn’t understand them.

I remember leaving the Food Lion not to long ago. As I was getting into my car the guy coming out of the truck next to me looked at me and said “There sure are a lot of niggers in your town.”

It’s hard for me to laugh at racial jokes no matter how sincere the apology before the joke is told. Racisim is so ugly, causes such harm, and is dealt with painfully by so many people and is so common in our society that I can’t help but feel uneasy every time I hear a racist joke. Just because humor may always be offensive to someone doesn’t mean that therefore all humor is OK.

Think of someone or something close to you associated with loss, sadness, or pain. How would you feel about jokes being made about that subject or person? Especially if the laugh itself were somehow tied directly with or at the pain?

I love jokes and hate censorship. But because humor can be offensive and hurtful, one should always be aware of the possible harm mere words can cause.

Lovely gag kid_gilligan. I stopped reading that other thread a while ago. It started to make me feel a little less comfortable around here.

picmr