Jake asked Kathy the counter gal for a plastic bag. She went behind the door and returned the bag over her head and a grin on her face. I let out a laugh and turned to see that Jake's reaction wasn't quite as amused as Kathy's and mine. Kathy instantly knew that she had offended him.
Jake said, "Yeah, I know you are just fooling around but it isn't so funny to me and my family because my young nephew died when he accidently smothered himself."
Yikes.
Which got me to thinking that my brother and I used to tell dead baby jokes but no longer can we hear them and nor do we think them funny.
Saw a T-shirt once that said "I am already imagining you with tape over your mouth" and laughed out loud. About a week later, my friend told me the story of her pal that, you guessed it, was abducted, taped up, raped and left to die. Guess her pal would not like to see that T-shirt.
Remember the English punk group wore Auschwitz prisoner uniforms and created such controversy? They were going for the shock factor but had underestimated the vehemence of the survivors and the power of the Anti-Defamation League.
The older you get, the more life experiences you have and more opportunities to be offended at humor or lame attempts to it. And sure, we shouldn't take ourselves so seriously and I love irreverent humor but sometimes wonder if truly biting dark humor is just for the young, the immature and the insulated.
I hope not.
I think.
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