[FRIAM] Thread bender

[thompnickson2 at gmail.com]

All - 

 

Your discussion of the Santa Fe Plaza riots - 13 dead, 27 wounded  -- for
some reason reminded me of the following.  Since I could think of no
connection between the two, I did NOT append it to the thread.  See, I am
learning. 

 

Though my father told few jokes, he told them frequently, and we kids always
urged him to tell them even more, because they made absolutely no sense,
what so ever.  I guess we thought at each new telling that this would be the
time we would finally get the joke.   Here's one of my favorites, best
attached to some historical conversation and told in a deep, sonorous,
reflective tone, as if voicing a documentary. 

 

As you know, when George Washington was fighting the battle of Valley Forge,
he was often billeted  in the homes of local farmers, hence the fact that
all over south eastern Pennsylvania, old houses are decorated with signs
that say, "George Washington Slept Here."  Now on this particular occasion,
dinner had been consumed  and the general was standing by the open fire,
puffing on his pipe, when he happened to espy a large cat, dozing on the
hearth.  Without hesitation, Washington strode across the hearth and kicked
the living  daylights out of the cat.  Awed by this display, the master of
the house inquired, "General Washington, why did you kick that cat?"   Now,
as you know, Washington was idolized by the citizens and thought to be a man
of great wisdom, so the family gathered around, ready to hear what the great
man said.  He said (and I quote):

 

I always kick a cat when I get a chance because, whenever I want to kick a
cat, there's never a cat around to kick.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nicholas Thompson

Emeritus Professor of Ethology and Psychology

Clark University

ThompNickSon2 at gmail.com <mailto:ThompNickSon2 at gmail.com> 

https://wordpress.clarku.edu/nthompson/

 

 

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://redfish.com/pipermail/friam_redfish.com/attachments/20200603/76a810c1/attachment.html>