Charles Leroux of the Chicago Tribune interviewed Professor James Leary, who's spent years gathering ethnic jokes. Every group has its jokes, but far and away the most famous are about Ole and Lena.
"Ole walks into work, and both of his ears are bandaged up. The boss says, 'What happened to your ears?' Ole says, 'Yesterday I vas ironing a shirt ven da phone rang and I accidentally answered da iron.' The boss says, 'Well, that explains one ear, but what happened to your other ear?' Ole says, "I tried to call da doctor.'"
There's a goodness from God when we get together and laugh. David Reid told about a young Scottish minister who spent all his time studying theology and no time socializing with normal people. "When asked how he like his new parson, an old Scot said that he supposed he was all right, in the main, but six days he was invisible and the seventh day he was incomprehensible" (in For All the Saints, II, 776). Far better to while away some time in idle chatter and laughter. God created us for community.
Speaking of community, Ole and Lena are planning a trip to New York. They're going to look for the big apple (Chicago Tribune, January 8, 2003; Sec 2).
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