When in Junior High (as we used to call Middle School) and life largely revolved around being "in" and "getting it"; there was a prank that was sometimes employed at the expense of someone who "did not get it". In a social setting, where the banter consisted of jokes and light conversation, some one would tell a "joke" that went something like this:
There were three otters. The first otter grabbed a towel and slid down the slide saying, "Wee! That is wet!" The second otter then grabbed a towel and followed the first otter down the slide saying, "Wee! That is wet!". Now the third otter slid down the slide, but when he got to the bottom he said, "No soap? Radio!"
Everybody in the group that was already in the know, would break out into predetermined hysterical laughter at the punch line - which made no sense. The point was to see if the other person in the group, who was not in the know, would hear the punch line and follow the lead of everyone else in the group with hysterical laughter, not wanting to let on to their peers that they did not understand the joke. If the prank worked, and the target broke into laughter in order to go along with the group, then the group actually laughed at the person faking it - not with the person faking it. Such was the cruelty of Junior High.
I saw a TV commercial this week featuring a young woman who downloads a "Thanksgiving app" from a super market chain and is thus provided instruction on how to perfectly prepare a sumptuous Thanksgiving meal - all with her iPhone app. But, should her phone battery die or the phone gets misplaced, I can hear a frantic voice wailing from the kitchen on Thursday, "I can't cook Thanksgiving dinner! I lost my phone!" This punch line/comment would have made no sense a year or two ago.
If you don't have an iPhone with a Thanksgiving app, you are not in the know, or with the "in" crowd. No Phone? I can't cook Thanksgiving Dinner! is the new No Soap? Radio! Admittedly, I don't get it. An app to go shopping and cook a turkey? That makes no sense to me. My turkey will be cooked using appearance, smell and touch while the iTurkey crowd laughs at me. Such is the cruelty of this techno world.
There were three otters. The first otter grabbed a towel and slid down the slide saying, "Wee! That is wet!" The second otter then grabbed a towel and followed the first otter down the slide saying, "Wee! That is wet!". Now the third otter slid down the slide, but when he got to the bottom he said, "No soap? Radio!"
Everybody in the group that was already in the know, would break out into predetermined hysterical laughter at the punch line - which made no sense. The point was to see if the other person in the group, who was not in the know, would hear the punch line and follow the lead of everyone else in the group with hysterical laughter, not wanting to let on to their peers that they did not understand the joke. If the prank worked, and the target broke into laughter in order to go along with the group, then the group actually laughed at the person faking it - not with the person faking it. Such was the cruelty of Junior High.
I saw a TV commercial this week featuring a young woman who downloads a "Thanksgiving app" from a super market chain and is thus provided instruction on how to perfectly prepare a sumptuous Thanksgiving meal - all with her iPhone app. But, should her phone battery die or the phone gets misplaced, I can hear a frantic voice wailing from the kitchen on Thursday, "I can't cook Thanksgiving dinner! I lost my phone!" This punch line/comment would have made no sense a year or two ago.
If you don't have an iPhone with a Thanksgiving app, you are not in the know, or with the "in" crowd. No Phone? I can't cook Thanksgiving Dinner! is the new No Soap? Radio! Admittedly, I don't get it. An app to go shopping and cook a turkey? That makes no sense to me. My turkey will be cooked using appearance, smell and touch while the iTurkey crowd laughs at me. Such is the cruelty of this techno world.
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