# who should be the butt of this joke? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 9, 2000, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-should-be-the-butt-of-this-joke/40477 "2000-11-09T17:08:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2000, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-should-be-the-butt-of-this-joke/40477/1 "2000-11-09T17:08:39Z")
I receive the following joke via e-mail. But when I read it, I felt strangely unsatisfied, like a man driving home with his takeout burger and realizing with his first bite that they forgot the pickle slices. So I’m soliciting opinions, which profession / social group / other human classification would make this joke funny, yet polite enough that Miss Manners would laugh at it. > [@](#): > > A man had fallen between the rails in a subway station. People were all crowding around trying to get him out before the train ran him over. They were all shouting “Give me your hand!” but the man would not reach up. > > Ralph elbowed his way through the crowd and leaned over the man. “Friend,” he asked, “what is your profession?” > > “I am a(n) \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_,” gasped the man. > > “In that case,” said Ralph, “take my hand!” > > The man immediately grasped Ralph’s hand and was hauled to safety. Ralph turned to the amazed by-standers. “Never ask a(n) \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ to _give_ you anything, you fools.” P.S. to encourage greater impartiality, I removed the original profession mentioned in the e-mail I received. ---
**Author:** ![Crunchy\_Frog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ebca7d/32.png) [@Crunchy\_Frog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crunchy_Frog)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2000, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-should-be-the-butt-of-this-joke/40477/2 "2000-11-09T17:13:49Z")
My first two thoughts seem rather obvious: a lawyer or an IRS agent. ---
**Author:** ![Rasa](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rasa/32/3578_2.png) [@Rasa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rasa)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2000, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-should-be-the-butt-of-this-joke/40477/3 "2000-11-09T17:52:46Z")
Republican? That kinda fits. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Montfort](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Montfort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Montfort)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2000, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-should-be-the-butt-of-this-joke/40477/4 "2000-11-09T17:54:10Z")
A moderator? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Gravity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gravity/32/14322_2.png) [@Gravity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gravity)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2000, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-should-be-the-butt-of-this-joke/40477/5 "2000-11-09T19:52:36Z")
Well, to be honest, the first thing that I thought of was ‘Politician.’ ---
**Author:** ![Drew\_Blade](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/958977/32.png) [@Drew\_Blade](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drew_Blade)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2000, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-should-be-the-butt-of-this-joke/40477/6 "2000-11-09T20:04:03Z")
My first thought was “Organ Donor”. True, that’s not a profession, but so what? ---
**Author:** ![Bumbazine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bumbazine/32/362_2.png) [@Bumbazine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bumbazine)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2000, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-should-be-the-butt-of-this-joke/40477/7 "2000-11-09T21:08:12Z")
My first thought was ‘lawyer’, too. Aren’t most politicians lawyers? ---
**Author:** ![MysteryFellow63427](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e4f/32.png) [@MysteryFellow63427](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MysteryFellow63427)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2000, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-should-be-the-butt-of-this-joke/40477/8 "2000-11-10T00:12:29Z")
A leper. I think that would really work. [sub]or possibly a viralogist[/sub] ---
**Author:** ![orion007](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/e480ec/32.png) [@orion007](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/orion007)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2000, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-should-be-the-butt-of-this-joke/40477/9 "2000-11-10T18:50:23Z")
A kleptomaniac? Although i don’t think that counts as a profession… ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2000, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-should-be-the-butt-of-this-joke/40477/10 "2000-11-10T18:54:11Z")
Perhaps a gynecologist or a proctologist? I wouldn’t let either profession shake my hand. ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2000, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-should-be-the-butt-of-this-joke/40477/11 "2000-11-10T21:24:11Z")
Well, Crunchy Frog hit the nail on the head, when I read the joke, the profession mentioned was “tax collector”, but as C.F. says, I thought that was too obvious. So far I like the idea of “kleptomaniac” or maybe “virologist” or “leper”. As far as **Montfort** ’s suggestion goes, I think he’s quite wrong. As moderators, we are quite willing and able to give you a serious load of grief for dissing one of our august tribe. :mad: ---
**Author:** ![richman2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b9e5f3/32.png) [@richman2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/richman2)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2000, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-should-be-the-butt-of-this-joke/40477/12 "2000-11-11T02:45:47Z")
Nothing personal, but this sounds like it was once a Jewish slur. One test **Miss Manners** has stated for whether a joke is offensive or not is to put your own group into the blank. If it’s no longer funny to you, then it’s not really funny. So, since Moderator won’t fit, Miss Manners would never laugh at it. ---
**Author:** ![MysteryFellow63427](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e4f/32.png) [@MysteryFellow63427](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MysteryFellow63427)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2000, 9:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-should-be-the-butt-of-this-joke/40477/13 "2000-11-11T09:53:06Z")
“Advice columnist.” 😃 It’s almost as good as leper. ---
**Author:** ![Gollum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/85f322/32.png) [@Gollum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gollum)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2000, 10:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-should-be-the-butt-of-this-joke/40477/14 "2000-11-11T10:02:25Z")
I thought the same as richman. It sounds like a shakespearian moneylender. Banker? ---
**Author:** ![SPOOFE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c5a1d2/32.png) [@SPOOFE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SPOOFE)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2000, 11:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-should-be-the-butt-of-this-joke/40477/15 "2000-11-11T11:23:54Z")
> [@](#): > > One test Miss Manners has stated for whether a joke is offensive or not is to put your own group into the blank. Well, that’s crappy logic. People are different. You’d be hard pressed to find a joke that makes fun of theatre people or artists that offends me. Most of those jokes are true. 😃 Anyway, how about “Unemployed”? “What is your profession?” “I’m unemployed!” Or “Movie Star”. ---
**Author:** ![Escanaba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c77e96/32.png) [@Escanaba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Escanaba)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2000, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-should-be-the-butt-of-this-joke/40477/16 "2000-11-11T20:50:07Z")
The unemployed do have to take more than they can give, obviously, but most are generous with what they have. The rich are a lot stingier.