I have to believe political correctness destroyed Polish jokes. They were the rage thirty years ago. I spent one year teaching in Wisconsin near Milwaukee. Beer, brats and Poles were a Milwaukee staple and it's citizens didn't mind telling jokes on themselves. "A guy goes up to his priest and says, Father, did your hear the story about the Polish Pope"? The priest said, "Be careful what you say. Remember, I'm a Polish priest". The man then says, "That's okay, Father, I'll say it slowly". You see, that would get a chuckle in most circles, especially in South Milwaukee where the most common name is Wisnewski. In today's society it's permissible to say the joke but immediately after an apology is mandatory. Either that or permission has to be asked prior to the joke. What's the old Steve Martin line: "Mind if I smoke"? "No, mind if I fart"? Ethnic jokes must be regional in nature. Sven an Ole are still around. "Dey live up nort in Minnusoda". I've a friend who lives in Hamilton, Ontario. The only jokes I've heard him tell are Italian and Pakistani ones because so many Hamiltonians come from those areas. I have yet to hear a really good Osama bin Laden joke. (But who wants their own personal Fatwah) Bubba jokes are only told 'up north'*. Would you tell a guy who weighs 350 lbs. in bib overalls a story about never having used an indoor toilet? The first time I ever went to West Virginia I mentioned how surprised I was that so many people were wearing shoes. And can you believe it, the man I told the quip to became upset. If a person is in California does he, when telling a story, have to make it about LGBT's or Hispanics? My speculation is they'd be about straight residents from Iowa. Oink, oink.
*'Up Nort' is anywhere above the Minnesota and Wisconsin southern border.
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