For the most part, a name is just a name. It is one of the ways that you are identified to the world, but anytime you have a name that is also a common word it becomes a joke that takes on a life of its own.
Growing up, my father was a coal miner. I know the spelling is different, but Mike Minor the Miner tickled a lot of people.
"Mike, you were born for this job."
I do see the humor in the joke and enjoy a clever pun, but for some reason, every person who told this joke seemed to think they were the first person to think of it. In reality, they were the 378th person to think of it that day. The jokes never stopped coming. I've heard thousands over the course of my life. However, it was actually only about three jokes told over and over and over and over again.
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| I can't ever walk past one of these signs without it being pointed out to me. |
I don't think I have ever been in a bar without someone pointing out, "Hey, you're not supposed to be in here."
Back in the days when I would still get carded, the occasional bartender would say, "Sorry. Can't serve minors" and then laugh himself half to death as he showed my ID around.
Now, I love a good joke and understand that it is just good-natured ribbing. It's what guys do to each other. The only reason I have a problem with these jokes is because I have been hearing them for almost 50 years now and they haven't changed at all. For me, they are so old. Everybody groans at the guy who says, "Working hard or hardly working?" because the joke has been played into the ground and the person telling it should know better. However, with my name, they haven't all heard it thousands of times. It's new to them, so I just play along.
It wasn't until I got married to Red that I heard a new take on my name. She comes from a very musically inclined family, so their jokes are based on minor keys or chords. It was refreshing to hear new jokes about my name finally.
For the first year.
No Minor jokes from me, I promise!
ReplyDeleteThank you, thank you. Although, I will be happy to hear them if they are new ones.
DeleteAnd you are a legitimate musical key - B-minor!
ReplyDeleteI was so tickled when I started getting the music jokes when my work email changed. "Wow. New name. Are you musical?" "Why yes, I am, thank you!" Sometimes I would take it too far. They were just joking, but I took it too far: "I actually prefer D-minor, but what can you do?" and the person was probably not musical at all, so didn't have a reply.
I remember sending you a picture of the "all minors must stay behind this line" sign in a winery, shortly after we were married. I loved it. Sadly, the MINOR joke is lost in China... WAIT! That's why you wanted to move to Asia, isn't it??
Yes. The jokes stopped as soon as we arrived here.
DeleteHi! I enjoyed reading your post! :)
ReplyDeleteThank you. I enjoyed reading your comment.
DeleteHello fellow A-to-Zer! Also, yeah, I bet you do get pretty sick of the same jokes coming at you all the time. I can imagine the minor-key jokes coming as a relief at first. Great stuff!
ReplyDeletethe new jokes were very refreshing. I'll still welcome new ones if there are any left.
DeleteAs a teacher, one of my few classroom rules was to not make personal comments to anyone. I had few rules because the blanket statement "You know how you are supposed to act in a classroom" was in effect at all time.
ReplyDeleteAs a waitress in an earlier life, I got used to hearing the same joke all night long, everyday for the life of that short career. I laughed at the time to be polite. But a tip made it funnier. lol
I've read articles about jokes that every waiter or person in retail hears 30 times a day. It gets old fast, but you always have to be polite. Especially when that tip is on the line.
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