Telling jokes to old people...

... really sucks. I finally realized that once a person reaches 80 years old, you can't tell them jokes any more.

A typical exchange between me and my mother:

me: What do call a fly with no wings?
her: ha ha ha ha ha!!!!
me: Mom... I haven't told the joke yet.. what are you laughing at??
her: Oh..ok, say it again.
me: What do call a fly with no wings?
her: What?
me: A walk
her: A wok?
me: No.. a walk... you know a walk, like walking along
her: oh.. sorry, what was it again?
me: What do call a fly with no wings?
her: What?
me: A walk.
her: Oh... a WALK. I thought you said WOK. You sound too American.
me: yeah ...but... oh never mind.
her: I don't get it.. it's a fly?
me: arghh...never mind!!

Oh man, I can relate to this. Add this to the mix, my mother is almost deaf and my father is extremely hard of hearing. They both wear hearing aids and my father mumbles. I spend dinner at their house acting as a U.N. translator. As far as jokes go, they have great senses of humor but by the time I've repeated the joke a half a dozen times I just lack the gusto to give the punch line any enthusiasm at all.

It ends up with me just looking at them and smiling which they then use as a cue to laugh.

On the plus side, I don't have to work too hard for a laugh when I'm with them.

Yup... I can totally relate.
Listening to my parents is like watching an Abbott and Costello routine.

i agree...even me trying to tell my 50 yr old mom jokes is already frustrating...mainly cos she doesnt get most of it...its lame jokes she digs

True... But that would also depend on a person itself... Not all old people loose their wits at very old age. Plenty of them do, but still. Anyhow, it is not nice to critisise them on that mater. You too will at some age grow old and won"t be able to fit into world anymore. You ought to bare with old people, and try to understand them. My grandfather passed away few years back. I had quite a few quarels with them (I use a plural here cause it is a custom in our language to adress someone in plural when you want to show them respect.)
cause we were both hot-headed. Blood ain"t water, I guess. Well, few days before they passed away I took them to a country in my car, we were driving and I was just listening... About their youth and stuff... That is one of my best memories of them.
Ok, old people are old. But try to understand them just a bit. You won"t be young forever buddy. Just posting an opinion here, no harm ment. :)

Originally Posted by: KrunekTrue... But that would also depend on a person itself... Not all old people loose their wits at very old age. Plenty of them do, but still. Anyhow, it is not nice to critisise them on that mater. You too will at some age grow old and won"t be able to fit into world anymore. You ought to bare with old people, and try to understand them. My grandfather passed away few years back. I had quite a few quarels with them (I use a plural here cause it is a custom in our language to adress someone in plural when you want to show them respect.)
cause we were both hot-headed. Blood ain"t water, I guess. Well, few days before they passed away I took them to a country in my car, we were driving and I was just listening... About their youth and stuff... That is one of my best memories of them.
Ok, old people are old. But try to understand them just a bit. You won"t be young forever buddy. Just posting an opinion here, no harm ment. :)

Point well taken but please allow me the opportunity to rebut.

I joke with my folks just as they joke with me. They know they're hard of hearing just as I know I'm bald. They bust on me about that and my poor excuse for a social life as I joke with them about their hearing loss. It's all done with love and respect. We don't say anything hurtful to each other. Heck, in my family, if we're not teasing you, we don't really like you. That's how it works.

I lost my birth father to suicide when I was 18 months old. My birth mother died 3 years later from disease. I was seperated from my sisters and my brother at that time. 5 years later I was adopted by these truly wonderful, giving and loving people.

I do love and respect them. More than I can articulate. I would gladly give up my life for them without question. Please don't think that my joking with them or about them to be something akin to disrespect as nothing could be further from the truth. You're right. We won't always be young. Heck, I'm not young now. :)

I can't speak for the others but I would imagine that they feel much the same way.

Yeah, same here.
They laugh at it the same as me. They can always get even with me by telling me things I don't remember doing when I was drunk anyways.

I fear growing old and losing the little wit and sharpness I've been lucky enough to have. In fact, I'm friggin' terrified of it.

Quote off a card I sent my Dad:

"Everybody tells you you'll lose your mind when you grow old... What they don't tell you is that you won't miss it very much."

Originally Posted by: Jolly McJollysonI fear growing old and losing the little wit and sharpness I've been lucky enough to have. In fact, I'm friggin' terrified of it.

If I grow to the same age as my dad (86), I can see exactly what I'll turn out like.
The scary thing is, he doesn't even realize how much of his mind is gone.
I tried to nicely tell him once a few years ago that he's having trouble remembering things and he refused to believe me.
Now, it's more obvious though. I can have complete conversations with him and he's forgotten the whole thing by the next day.
Or half way through telling him something, I'll realize he's lost track of what I was saying because he's forgotten what I was talking about.

Originally Posted by: schmangeIf I grow to the same age as my dad (86), I can see exactly what I'll turn out like.
The scary thing is, he doesn't even realize how much of his mind is gone.
I tried to nicely tell him once a few years ago that he's having trouble remembering things and he refused to believe me.
Now, it's more obvious though. I can have complete conversations with him and he's forgotten the whole thing by the next day.
Or half way through telling him something, I'll realize he's lost track of what I was saying because he's forgotten what I was talking about.

That's never easy. I can start to see some of that in my own father. He's got some medical issues that are complicating things for him. But I always try to remember that no matter what, that same person is still there.

Still doesn't make it any easier, I know.

Originally Posted by: schmangeIf I grow to the same age as my dad (86), I can see exactly what I'll turn out like.
The scary thing is, he doesn't even realize how much of his mind is gone.
I tried to nicely tell him once a few years ago that he's having trouble remembering things and he refused to believe me.

Maybe he believed you too well. Wouldn't you deny it if you'd lost something of your sharpness? It's lonely, to lose yourself, and no one wants to admit it.

My dad just bought a brand new VHS/DVD player this morning.
Have pity on me.
By the end of the day, my head is gonna explode.

My dad sounds pretty much like yours, Schmange, but he's only 52 or something. Plus, his mom just died of Alzheimers, so you know it's only gonna get worse. And seeing as it's hereditary and all, I'll probably get it too. C'est la vie.

As for the joking around, I can say literally anything I want to my parents and they'll clue in that it's a joke. In fact, I attribute much of my sense of humour to my dad, and the fact that he insisted I watch shows like the Simpsons from birth, when many parents would have considered it too adult-themed or whatever for a child.

Originally Posted by: earthman buck
As for the joking around, I can say literally anything I want to my parents and they'll clue in that it's a joke. In fact, I attribute much of my sense of humour to my dad, and the fact that he insisted I watch shows like the Simpsons from birth, when many parents would have considered it too adult-themed or whatever for a child.

It's funny, cause i never knew those shows were bad...until other peoples parents got pissed when i watched them at their houses.

As for the humour. I have a very dry sarcastic humour that most are too stupid to pick up on. Me and the keyboard player in my band have these great conversations using this humour and people listening to us think we're fighting or something.

As far as old people, they'll just humour you by laughing. I HATE that. If i say something that isn't funny, dont laugh.