111 – April 21
“Money is better than poverty, if only for financial reasons.”—Woody Allen
The Rabbi said to my friend, Shelley, “You shouldn’t work so hard. You should be dating, meet a nice man, get married.”
Shelley is happily single and works hard because she wants to. A trifle annoyed at him for “shoulding” on her, she looked at him thoughtfully and inquired, “Are you offering to fix me up with someone?”
“Oh, well, I don’t know,” he replied, “What kind of a man are you looking for?”
Shelley answered, “He has to be 5’8,” make $200,000 a year, and he has to be Jewish.”
The Rabbi laughed. “Are you flexible about that?” he asked.
She thought a moment, then said sweetly, “Okay. He has to be 5’8,” make $200,000 a year, and he doesn’t have to be Jewish.”
That was the last time the Rabbi mentioned dating to Shelley.
Today’s Affirmation:
“I create my life just the way I like it.”
I laughed so hard when Shelley told me this story. Sharp little wit, there, eh? I love it when people have the perfect come back on the spur of the moment. Humor is just one of the best things in life.
Every now and then, just the right phrase or quip occurs to me, too, and it makes me so happy to make people laugh.
Back in the day, I was rehearing a USO show with a college theater group. We called it ”The Cohan Company” and we did a lot of Cohan tunes and other American themed skits and songs. We did a tour of army bases in California – my first experience of “Bus-and-Truck” touring.
We’d get up early, pack up our personal belongings, sets, and costumes, and drive to the next base. Unpack, set up for the show, have lunch at the commissary, do the show, meet the officers afterward for a reception (always including a lovely white sheet cake decorated with “Welcome Cohan Company”), pack up, drive to the next base, set up for the show, have dinner at the commissary, do the show, and meet the officers afterward for a reception. We got a little sugar-crazed from all the white cake and started hoping they’d skip it at the next base, but they never did. And we had to eat it, you know?
There were two guys in “The Cohan Company”, Mike and Ken, who were terrific punsters. They had a running patter every day filled with supremely groanable puns.
One day these two guys and I were talking together in the rehearsal hall when our musical director, Craig, came walking in.
“Look, here comes our musical arranger, Craig,” said Ken.
“Yes, and he’s all alone,” said Mike.
“He’s the Lone Arranger!” I quipped, and they cracked up. It was my crowning moment of that summer. Hee.
Take a break today and laugh. Watch a comedy, listen to a comedian, tell someone a funny story. Humor is the best part of being human.
