The Bible Doesn’t Whisper
A Shadowed Open Road
As always, more can be found here.
Jokes I Like to Tell
One time a motorist was driving down a stretch of road right on the edge of town, and the road happened to run by a mental hospital. When he was right next to the hospital, his right rear tire blew out, and he pulled angrily over to the side of the road, right next to the fence that enclosed the hospital grounds. He was already having a bad day, and so he got out angrily, muttering and swearing under his breath, and started to change the tire. Not surprisingly, some of the inmates came over to watch him, and a small crowd gathered. Not surprisingly, this made the motorist even more irate.
Because he was getting so agitated, a number of little things started to go wrong, which exasperated him further. That’s how bad days operate, right? But the worst came when he got up after putting the new tire on, and accidentally kicked the hub cap where he had placed the lug nuts. The whole thing flipped over and all four lug nuts sailed in a nice little arc and right down a storm drain that was conveniently right there. The motorist swore loudly, hit the ground with the tire iron a couple of times, kicked the offending hub cap again, and began the long walk to the auto parts store. The day could scarcely get any worse.
As he started off, one of the inmates yelled after him, “Hey, mister!”
He stopped, still angry, and turned around. “What?!” he said.
“Why don’t you take a lug nut off your three other tires, and put this tire on with those three, and then you can drive to the auto parts store?”
The motorist stood there, flummoxed, and was quite for a moment. Then he said, “That’s a great idea . . .” and began to walk back to the car. “Thanks!” he said.
When he got back to his car, he started to take off the first lug nut, but then stopped, stood up, and turned around. He made eye contact with the inmate who had made the helpful suggestion, and said, “Look, if you don’t mind my asking . . .”
At this the inmate grinned, and cut him off. “Oh, I’m in here for being crazy. Not for being stupid.”
Worth Your Time
This article is really worth your time.
As Seen on the Web
The problem of Schrödinger’s plates . . .
Product Placement
So take a little trip to the Mablog shop.
Letters of Marital Counsel
This book is the third in a series of counseling books, all of them made up of fictional letters. In this book, letters are addressed to an array of married couples who are struggling with different challenges.
Next time I’m in a mental hospital, Imma tell that joke. (Yes, I really was in a mental hospital.)
This could have been funny if it didn’t help perpetuate the stigma and lies people with mental illness face. I teach students with special needs and know the pain many of them face daily. They didn’t choose this illness, deserve respect and compassion. To use the word “crazy” shows a lack of respect, compassion, and ignorance. I’m sure this post will get some ugly insults so I’d like you to know I’m not a Karen and I DO have a sense of humor but I won’t add to these people’s pain and they are not inmates, they would be called… Read more »
You do realize that you just equated your special needs students with the crazies at the asylum, right? Yup, that’s some real compassion and respect you’re showing right there…
I read her comment three times and I fail to see your point.
Given some of your drive-by comments, that’s not surprising. But keep trying. The fourth time is a charm I hear.
Hint: John Hinckley–who should never have been released and who should be punished 1000X more severely than anyone on Jan. 6–was in a mental hospital. I can’t imagine any special needs teacher equating their students with a would-be president killer and bad folk singer.
John Hinckley Sings “It’s Like a Dream” Original Song – YouTube
You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make him think.
It seems to me the joke actually fights one stigma, and I can’t see how it propagates or supports other stigmas or tells lies about people with severe mental problems.
Now, sure, telling it to someone with ADHD and saying “see, I know you can stay focused” — that would be a real problem. But that’s because most “students with special needs” are far from crazy; for one thing, they’re not involuntarily committed to a mental facility. (Oh wait, they have dedicated mental health professionals taking care of their needs much better than they can, there’s strict rules against having anything dangerous in the facility and a constant danger of suicide or self-harm, and they’re not allowed to play hooky since the police will round them up if they do. Perhaps I see your point.)
Also, surely you can’t possibly be unaware of how problematic “special needs” is as a term? It just lumps very different disorders and challenges together under a catch-all category that’s tailor-made for use as a slur, which a decade or more of schoolkids have thoroughly exploited.
“Special needs” reminds me of the awful “people of color (POC)” term, a favorite of the wokesters. POC assumes blacks, Hispanics, Jews, Asians, Middle Easterners and all other non-whites want to be lumped together as an oppressed group unified against whitey. Knowing many so-called POCs, nothing could be further from the truth.
Hi! No Plodcast for 6/23? I hope you are all well in Moscow!
….although Bleating Bacteria is a two-fer! Looking forward to that playing out. Thanks!