Wednesday 15 February 2012

A Joke

Telling jokes is one of those things that I do very badly.  It's not the only thing I do badly by any means but as badly goes my joke telling ability is at the top end of the scale.  So why am I about to tell a joke?  Because it is pertinent to the post I wrote entitled "On Rain, Poetry and The Law". Actually it's supposed to be true so it's probably more of a story than a joke and I'm marginally, and only marginally, better at telling stories.  So here goes.

One day in the House of Lords one of the Honorable Members, a Tory, referred to 'The man on the back of the Clapham omnibus'.  One of his opponents in the debate, a Socialist, remarked that the Tory wouldn't know what it was like on the back of any omnibus never mind the Clapham one as his only mode of transport in the City was a taxi.  Stung by this remark the Tory decided to remedy this defect in his life experience (or more probably eliminate this particular weakness in his debating armour).  So after the sitting he asked one of the attendants where he could get a bus.  Having been pointed in the direction of a bus stop (ok, elementary to you and to me) he got on the bus.  When the conductor (it's a very old story) asked him where he was going he asked for a ticket to 6 Warminster Close.  Quod erat demonstrandum: the Socialist won his point.

9 comments:

  1. I am sure that I easily surpass you in the Bad Joke-Tellers' league, therefore you most likely will never find any jokes on my blog :-)

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    1. You'll not find many on mine either, Meike. Now you know why.

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  2. Not really sure I get it. I haven't got a clue where or what anything is... (They still had conductors when I was last on a London bus though!)

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    1. Cat's given the explanation. I think the original story was, if it wasn't actually true, aimed at a particular Member of Parliament.

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  3. I tend to forget the punch line of jokes, so stick to stories. Not sure I get this joke. Is it because he asked for a specific address as you would in a taxi? But I do remember bus and tram conductors!

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  4. Dawn, busses do not take you to your door.
    I thought it was a fun joke, better yet for its dry presentation.

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    1. Thanks Cat. I appreciate your comment.

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    2. Sorry, my brain must have been in slow mode when I read the post. On the other hand - there are two bus stops on my street that are named by the street name and the respective number of the nearest building!

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