At least once, everybody has come across something seemingly mundane and ordinary that they–and only they–found hilarious for a strange inexplicable reason. In my case, I was once reading a science magazine and came across an ad featuring a photo of realistic dinosaur models that was headlined, “THESE ARE NOT TOYS.” For some reason, that struck me as extremely funny.
So, what odd things have you laughed at?
Many years ago, I was working in a vineyard. Other things were growing in the vineyard besides grapevines; miscellaneous weeds – one vineyard had a patch of asparagus. One day I came across a plant; I’ve forgotten now what it was, except that it was a weed familiar to me which I’d never seen more than a few inches tall.
This one was more like four feet tall.
I don’t know why I found this wildly funny, but I did. I sat down on the ground and laughed for about ten minutes; I couldn’t stop. The rest of the crew stared at me as if I’d gone off the rails entirely.
I saw that on the plastic bags as I was checking out at the supermarket. I asked if they had any that were toys. The clerk, a humor-impaired teenager, thought for a bit and said no, she thought all of them were labeled as NOT TOYS.
At the time, I acted oh so disappointed. But now I think back on it and laugh.
Were these dinosaur models or something else? In any case, the magazine ad was likely for dinosaur models meant to be used for educational purposes and were not cheap. Also, I think Gary Larson must’ve seen the same ad and it gave him the idea for this cartoon below.
https://i.pinimg.com/564x/89/ff/cb/89ffcb2d8ab8d3a12dad834c1f61d2c4.jpg
Did you notice the door says Paleontogoly?
I had to see a government official for some reason and their office was in a building that had been much altered since WW2.
The office was used by several people and I was offered a seat in front of a desk. There was the door I had come through and another door opposite which had a large sign on it saying: “THIS IS NOT A DOOR”
They couldn’t understand why I found it funny.
Was it a jar?
mmm
Decades ago, there was a sign on the Baltimore Beltway that read “Exit 19 Future” - which actually meant that one day, they intended to have an exit there. I, of course, interpreted it literally.
Cut me some slack - I was a teenager!
My brother had a work-study job when he was at Gannon University. He sat at a little desk in front of locked doors. His job was to tell anyone who wanted to go through the doors that they weren’t permitted.
It was a great job. Four hours of study time. One human interaction per shift on average. He never learned what was on the other side of the doors.
There are some things we were not meant to know!
That must be the companion turnoff to Sal’s Early Cycle Parts.
I know perfectly well what Sal must be selling. But I’m never going to turn down the side road indicated by the sign and check; because whenever I see it I have way too much fun imagining that there are time travellers from the future trying their best to repair the assorted things going wrong in this (from their point of view) early cycle of civilization, and Sal is supplying necessary parts.
(I hope Sal gets those Anti-Bigotry Adjusters back in stock soon – )
Sometimes students compare odd jobs they’ve had. One had been hired to sex aphids. Another had been hired to mimic sheep grazing with a weed whacker.
The weed whacker one was a study of islanded ecologies. Areas of various sizes and distances apart had been fenced off in a sheep field, to see how small and far apart they had to be to be separated from the overall ecology. Unfortunately, the sheep were also part of someone’s experiment and that experiment ended before the ecology one did. So, for a few weeks or months until the next sheep experiment started they hired a sheep grazing modeler.
Am I the only one disappointed that the tail spikes are not labeled “Thagomizer”?
There was a large Buffalo statue (pretty sure it was Buffalo Bill’s grave) fenced off with a sign that said, “Stay off the Buffalo”.
I thought it was pretty funny, as if it weren’t for the sign, I never would have thought to climb on it.
They are.
Sounds like some wise advice from a former drug addict.
Yes, but not in that particular cartoon.
Every Target store I’ve been in has doors labeled with signs that read:
DO NOT ENTER
AUTOMATIC DOOR
ENTER ONLY
I still chuckle every time I see it.
The signs are on the entry doors. I suppose a “NOT AN EXIT” sign would be better.
NO ENTRY
AUTHORISED PERSONNEL ONLY
So only unauthorised can enter? But aren’t they by virtue of the sign authorised, and so prohibited?
My son, his fiance, their kids and I were coming home from yet another of my son’s appointments at the Mayo Clinic. He was driving and I was sitting up front with him so his fiance could be with the kids in the backseat. As we went past a billboard advertising appliances, my son read it out loud - “Stainless steel appliances only $1500”. For some reason it hit me, and I started laughing. He started laughing. We could not stop laughing. We were laughing so hard that we could barely breathe. I bet we laughed for 10-15 minutes. His fiance kept asking - “what?”.
It was probably caused by all the stress we had built up, but boy did it feel good to laugh so hard and for so long.
