How often do you laugh?
Besides just being amused, laughing has been shown to help us both socially and emotionally: strengthening our relationships with others, improving our mood, reducing tension and stress, and helping us endure difficult situations. Bob Hope once said, “I have seen what a laugh can do. It can transform almost unbearable tears into something bearable, even hopeful.”
But when sharing a joke, I need to be careful because there is a fine line between funny and offensive, depending on the content, context, and who is telling the joke to whom. That’s particularly true about humor that perpetuates negative stereotypes of older adults.
We should all laugh more, and good role models are our children, who laugh much more than we do — but it’s hard to compete when young children giggle every time they hear the word “poop”!
So, find your inner child and have a good laugh. To help, here are a few jokes to tickle your funny bone — for the first or second time. And I hope they’re not offensive.
1. Banks should do a better job of keeping their ATMs filled. This is the fifth one I have been to that says, “Insufficient funds.”
2. A man walks into a pharmacy. “I’m looking for some acetylsalicylic acid,” he tells the druggist. “You mean aspirin?” Thank you! I can never remember that word.”
3. “Some people have a way with words, and other people...oh, uh, not have way.” Steve Martin
4. “Yesterday I told a chicken to cross the road. It said, ‘What for?” Steve Wright
5. “Ole and Lena were at the drive-in movie. Ole says, ‘Say Lena, you wanna get in the back seat?’ Lena says, ‘Naw, Ole, I’d just as soon stay up here with you.”
And one last one for the road.
Fred and Amanda were watching TV one evening when Fred got up and walked toward the kitchen.
“Honey, are you getting a snack?”
“Yes, I’m still hungry. What would you like?”
“Vanilla ice cream.”
“And would you like anything on that?”
“Good idea. How about strawberries and hot fudge sauce?”
“Coming right up.”
“Hold on, Honey. Don’t you want to write that down? You know how you are forgetting things these days.”
“Don’t be silly! Vanilla ice cream with strawberries and hot fudge sauce.”
Fifteen minutes later, Fred returns to the living room with a plate of bacon and eggs.
“Thanks, honey,” she tells him. “But you should have written it down. You forgot the toast!”
But don’t forget, humor is an indispensable tool as we age. It can help mourners heal, defuse tensions, open friendships, and help us cope with challenging situations by acknowledging the incongruities and absurdities of life.
So, this week, take time to enjoy a good laugh with old and new friends. But if you find that difficult, consider doing what Art Linkletter suggests. “If you can’t think of anything else when you’re my age, take off your clothes and walk in front of a mirror. I guarantee you’ll get a laugh.”
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Brain Tease: This one is a real head-scratcher.
What number comes next: 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, ?
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“Winston tastes good like a cigarette should” was the advertising slogan that created quite the controversy because it was grammatically incorrect. Since I was still in California taking lessons from my grandchild, I needed to submit this column early. I will mention everyone who sent in correct answers next week. Stay tuned.
But last week, while filling up my car at a Texaco station, I missed Kathy Bullock, Linda Frizzell and Patti Munk.
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MAD magazine was a humor magazine launched in the 50’s. It didn’t appeal to everyone, but it was widely imitated and influential, affecting satirical media and pop culture at the time. For this week’s “Remember When” question, what was the name of the magazine’s impish mascot who made his debut on the front cover 70 years ago this year? Email your answer to mcseniorcenter@gmail.com, leave a message at 541-980-4645, or send it with the 1956 issue #30 when he ran for President as a write-in candidate.
And to close, here are a few of his quotes from MAD magazine.
“In retrospect, it becomes clear that hindsight is definitely overrated!”
“The only advantage to living in the past is that the rents are much cheaper!”
“If you don’t care where you are, then you ain’t lost.”
Well, it’s been another week, thinking that I think I can. Until we meet again, as Dave Lutgens shared with me many years back, “Do not take life too seriously. You will never get out of it alive.”
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“Wrinkles should indicate where smiles have been.”
— Mark Twain
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Nutritious home-delivered and in-person meals are available at noon Monday through Friday unless otherwise noted.
Seniors of Mosier Valley (541-980-1157) — Wednesdays with music on second and fourth Wednesdays; Dufur — Wednesdays at noon at 320 NE Second St.;
Hood River Valley Adult Center (541-386-2060); Sherman County Senior and Community Center (541-565-3191); The Dalles Meals-on-Wheels (541-298-8333).
For meal sites in Washington, call Klickitat County Senior Services at the Goldendale office (509-773-3757) or the White Salmon office (509-493-3068), and in Skamania County, call Senior Services (509-427-3990).
April Fools! The answer is 12. Not all riddles are trick questions! Or are they?
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