Registered
I am lamenting the extinction of a beloved species of joke, one doomed by advances in technology. Humorous anecdotes about changing lightbulbs will completely disappear within my lifetime. They will be gone forever. Our grandchildren will discover old remnants in books or historical Internet files and ask “Why did people call lights ‘bulbs,’ and why did they have to change them?” It will be like trying to explain old jokes about setting the “points” in a car engine.
Yes, all the light bulb changing jokes will be retired to files in the Smithsonian, to be perused by rare historians of obsolete humor and/or retired lighting systems. Perhaps there will be a few on display in some remote corner for the benefit of the stray octogenarian, searching for cherished remnants of the past. There they will find such wonderful classics as “How many psychologists does it take to change a lightbulb? Just one, but the lightbulb has to want to change.” These jokes simply cannot make the transition to the new universe of lighting. It just does not work to say, “How many preachers does it take to change an LED.” The response will always be, “Why would you change an LED?” Just not funny.
Perhaps the Smithsonian already has a huge warehouse in suburban Maryland packed with cabinets stuffed full to overflowing with obsolete humor. There you could find jokes about slide rules; “The latest government cost figures were calculated with a sly drool.” That is where they house humor about past political figures: “President Ronald Reagan insists upon being awakened for any and all national emergencies, no matter what meeting he is in at the time.” There is probably an entire wing dedicated to wartime humor. “Our uniforms are holes with a few rags around them.” (Civil War) Perhaps there are old jokes about changing wagon wheel spokes, buggy whips, or tomahawk handles. Imagine what treasures we might find in those cabinets.
But I am not there, and my life continues in sadness over loss of the light bulb jokes. I will have to accept the inevitable and take solace where I can find it. Some jokes will never go extinct. Chickens will always cross the road, even if they do it to steal the neighbor’s Wi-Fi.
submitted by /u/MergingConcepts
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Yes, all the light bulb changing jokes will be retired to files in the Smithsonian, to be perused by rare historians of obsolete humor and/or retired lighting systems. Perhaps there will be a few on display in some remote corner for the benefit of the stray octogenarian, searching for cherished remnants of the past. There they will find such wonderful classics as “How many psychologists does it take to change a lightbulb? Just one, but the lightbulb has to want to change.” These jokes simply cannot make the transition to the new universe of lighting. It just does not work to say, “How many preachers does it take to change an LED.” The response will always be, “Why would you change an LED?” Just not funny.
Perhaps the Smithsonian already has a huge warehouse in suburban Maryland packed with cabinets stuffed full to overflowing with obsolete humor. There you could find jokes about slide rules; “The latest government cost figures were calculated with a sly drool.” That is where they house humor about past political figures: “President Ronald Reagan insists upon being awakened for any and all national emergencies, no matter what meeting he is in at the time.” There is probably an entire wing dedicated to wartime humor. “Our uniforms are holes with a few rags around them.” (Civil War) Perhaps there are old jokes about changing wagon wheel spokes, buggy whips, or tomahawk handles. Imagine what treasures we might find in those cabinets.
But I am not there, and my life continues in sadness over loss of the light bulb jokes. I will have to accept the inevitable and take solace where I can find it. Some jokes will never go extinct. Chickens will always cross the road, even if they do it to steal the neighbor’s Wi-Fi.
submitted by /u/MergingConcepts
[link] [comments]
Continue reading...
