Joke I Shouldn’t Laugh At, But I Did

Last night I was talking with my 14-year-old son, who has a very quick wit and an odd sense of humor. This is a kid who has been reading Far Side since he was 7 or 8, and understanding most of the jokes. Lately, almost everything out of his mouth is a pun or joke of some sort. Sometimes he makes me laugh, other times he’s just an annoying teenager.

Before I go on, let me just say I am sorry if any men or women are offended by this joke. But let’s be realistic – men and women are different and though these jokes are based on stereotypes, there is a grain of truth in them. But they are really meant to just be funny.

Okay, so last night, my son made me laugh so hard he had to tell me to stop and breathe. I can’t remember how the conversation started, but we ended up talking about a t-shirt my husband has, which I quoted, “If a man speaks in the forest when there is no woman around to hear him, is he still wrong?” This saying has always made me chuckle a bit. As soon as I said it, my son immediately countered with his own original saying, “If a woman speaks in the forest when there is no man around to ignore her, is she still nagging?”

About now, you are either laughing hysterically (like I did), or you are thinking about writing a comment about how a nice Christian woman on a nice Christian blog shouldn’t be repeating such things. And I certainly shouldn’t be encouraging my son by laughing at what he said.

My reply: God has a sense of humor – just consider the platypus. God also created laughter and He gave my son his quick wit and sense of humor. It has been a blessing to me and I like to share my blessings.

I also might point out that if men didn’t ignore us, we wouldn’t have to nag. Just a thought.