So we traveled South (we live North) and visited family (my
sister and some cousins). It was a 10 hour drive we did overnight there and
back. Yes, it required Red Bull, Starbucks and 2 hour shifts driving between my
wife and I, but we got there and back. The good thing about overnight trips is
that the kids are usually sleeping – unless of course your mom gives her old
iPad to her grandson Junior (thanks Mom).
On the way back I decided to listen to some comedy tapes.
Now, with a 4 kids aged 1-7 (yes, we somehow gained a kid on the way back –
thanks Sis), you have to be choosy. Junior is already asking me what @!%# or
*#() or even #&*# means. I’m not ready to give that answer. So choose your
comedian carefully.
My cousin played Jim Gaffigan’s “Obsessed” from
last year for us when we were on the trip and I caught the end of it. So I
decided to listen to it on the way home thinking everyone was asleep. Junior
was awake though, but thankfully, no random question was asked of me that I
wasn’t prepared to answer.
So then I decided to introduce him, since he was awake to
Brian Regan, specifically his classic “Brian Regan Live” from 1997.
He now listens to it everyday, not really laughing too much, but more so, at
least in the beginning, trying to make sense of the jokes:
Brian (quote from “Brian Regan Live”):
“Erwin, what’s the plural for an ox. Oxen, the farmer used his oxen.
Brian. What? What’s the plural for a box? Boxen. I bought two boxen of
doughnuts”
Junior: “That not how you say boxes!”
Way to ruin the joke Junior. But hey, he is seven; and at
the very least, asking me to explain the joke instead of what *#(@ means.
I know, Charles Barkley, you’re not a role model; it’s my
responsibility as a parent to teach my kid the values I want them to learn and
not anyone else. I don’t necessarily blame comedians just so you know; swearing
can be funny as George Carlin explained. However, is it wrong for me to want to
laugh a good joke as opposed to a well placed curse word? Please note this is
not a plea for the world to go back to comedians not swearing at all; I know
how to change the channel. I do think it was just as funny though when we
learned “a man who
was attempting to walk around the world…drowned today.” Of course Junior
will still probably ask for an explanation.
Reinvent the Lightbulb 