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Moderated by : Eva Rosenberg mailto:eva@workinghumor.com
Assisted By : Gunjan Saraf mailto:gunjan@workinghumor.com
http://workinghumor.com
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25th December 2002 # Issue
91
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"Many merry Christmases, friendships, great accumulation of
cheerful recollections, affection on earth, and Heaven at last
for all of us."
~ Charles Dickens
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IN THIS DIGEST :
Moderator's Comment -
~ Gunjan
_____________________
CONTINUING DISCUSSIONS
Ideas to ponder over .... and Discuss
~ Chacha Joe
~ Gunjan
Later
~ Gunjan
Speaking Tip
~ from Tom Antion
NEW DISCUSSIONS
Christian Generosity
~ Gunjan
THIS WEEK'S HUMOR
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Moderator's Comments
-------------------------------------------------
Dear Laughmates,
Sending out a newsletter of 25th of December is hard.
You are expected to say something Christmassy and if
you don't know too much about the subject then it is
hard work ( and lots of fun too !!)
Searching for the true meaning of Christmas I found and
article in the Salt Lake Tribune about eccentric John W
Taylor. The subject is something on which I've had many
an argument and so thought it was perfect to bring to this
forum. It's the first post in New Discussions.
Secondly, Sunil that horrible friend of mine who always seems
to have just that bit more information on any given subject than
yours truly was telling me about Christmas trees and how there
was nothing really Christmassy about them. That they were part
of ancient (lot of people use the word pagan) customs related to
the winter solstice, sympathetic magic to help the sun, something
to do with druids and fertility etc. I found more details on the
subject at http://www.ladybridget.com/r/deci001.html
.
What I found amusing was finding out that a lot of people don't
like to have Christmas trees etc because of these origins. How silly !
Have them for whatever reason is right for YOU !! If you land up
helping the sun too in the bargain would it really be so bad ?? ;-)
Lastly, I'm thinking of dashing down to Pondy for a quick holiday.
Eva suggested that I skip the next issue. But I donno if I can stay
away from you Laughmates for that long ;-), so maybe you'll receive
a short and delayed issue around Friday, if possible. In any case
we'll be back to normal routine by 8th Jan.
So before you go rush off to enjoy yourself with
I-Laugh #91 let me take the opportunity to wish each
one of you a Merry Christmas and Happy, Joyful, Gleeful,
Magical and Prosperous 2003 !! ;-)
With best wishes,
Gunjan
Many a true word is spoken in Jest
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===== Continuing Discussions =====
===> Ideas to ponder over .... and Discuss
Gunjan,
Since you have fingered me I have to confess to the time lost
watching the late incomparable Paul Eddington interpret the
role of Jim Hacker in the TV series Yes, Minister
(later Yes, Prime Minister).
It, and the spin-off books were written by - now all I can
remember is the surname Jay - a very talented pair.
As with all the best comedy there is more than an element
of truth in the writing. Is there, indeed, a political system
anywhere, that is truly run by the elected?
And how many readers have witnessed their bosses being
manipulated in just that way?
Chacha Joe (a.k.a. Joseph Harris)
Moderator's Comments - When I mentioned 'right up Chacha Joe's
alley' that was supposed to be a clue to everyone that it had
something to do with Britain (in this case the BBC). I'm surprised
that nobody else had the answer. Was this TV series not televised
or rerun in the US as it has been in India ?
If it hasn't and you haven't seen or read Yes Minister and then
Yes Prime Minister I recommend that you get yourself a copy.
Not only are they most humorous books and great pastimes but
a real eye-opener in a lot of ways.
I remember reading about opinion polls.
Hacker (the Prime Minister) had just received the result of a
poll which told him that voters were in favor of bringing back
National Service. Humphrey ( The Secretary of the Cabinet
and Head of the Civil Service) advises Bernard (the PM's
private secretary) to get another poll conducted which showed
that people were against National Service being reintroduced.
Bernard (like me) was stumped and couldn't understand how
people could be both for and against National Service.
Humphrey demonstrates to Bernard Woolley how it's done....
"Mr. Woolley, are you worried about the rise in crime among
teenagers"
"Yes"
"Do you think there is a lack of discipline and vigorous training
in our Comprehensive Schools?"
"Yes"
"Do you think young people welcome some structure and leadership
in their lives?"
"Yes"
"Do they respond to a challenge?"
"Yes"
"Might you be in favour or reintroducing National Service?"
"Yes"
The second set of questions ...
"Mr. Woolley, are you worried about the danger of war?"
"Yes"
"Are you unhappy about the growth of armaments"
"Yes"
"Do you think there's a danger in giving young people
guns and teaching them how to kill?
"Yes"
"Do you think it wrong to force people to take up arms
against their will?"
"Yes"
"Would you oppose the reintroduction of National Service?"
"Yes"
I remember reading that passage again ... and again. The beauty
of it was even after you knew what they were set up to do, you
couldn't help answering in the same way as Woolley. Think about
it.... Would you stop to think and say .... "No, I think blah, blah,
Blah..."
It also made me realise that a lot of times when you were not able
to convince a committee or a board (even an individual) it wasn't
because your idea was screwed up but because the set up before
introducing it wasn't right. And THAT was VITAL !! ;-)
Personally I think both the books (BTW - The authors are
Jonathan Lynn and Antony Jay) are an absolute must on your
BUSINESS bookshelf (right next to Sun Tzu's Art of War ;-).
Amazon says they are out of print, but used copies are available
aplenty ... from 3$ upwards at
http://snurl.com/ymold
Gunjan
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====> Later
In response to the Fine-Tuning your memories post in the last
issue The Doc sent me a post containing over 1150 words.
(That's 1000 words for the picture and around 150 words
message ! ;-) Unfortunately, I can't include the picture in the
newsletter (our newsletter is text only format) and there were
some problems with the site so I couldn't upload it and give you
a url. Hopefully next week or the next, or .......
;-)
Gunjan
=== > Speaking Tip
LYING by Tom Antion
Lying can be fun and a great learning experience too. One time I
created a program based on the Jim Carey movie "Liar, Liar."
My job was to lie my way through the program. I designed the
program so that my lies coincided with learning points that the
sales people were already responsible for. The first person that
caught me in each lie won a prize.
I can't really explain all the laughter that occurred, but there
was lots of it. People were jumping up out of their chairs trying
to be the first to catch me. They were running up and grabbing
the prizes out of the winners hands (good naturedly of course).
They were screaming FOUL if my lie was too close to the truth
which made it a half lie or half truth whichever way you looked
at it. It was a blast!
The method was also applauded by the sales manager who never
dreamed that all this new information could be emphasized in such
a fun manner. The sales people really came away with a great
learning experience which was far better than simply quizzing
them on the material.
I used lying in a different way during speeches I gave as an
impostor. I was introduced as some big guru from Europe and made
up a bunch of ridiculous stuff that again coincided with
information the audience should know. The difference in these
cases was that no one told the audience it was a joke. You could
just see the cogs in their heads turning as I told them things
completely opposite of what they knew to be true.
Oh, one note of caution. If you are like me and have the
imagination to get really bizarre with your comments, make sure
no
one gets out of the room thinking you were for real. Believe it
or not, their are people out there so gullible or oblivious that
they don't even realize you are pulling a joke.
from Tom Antion's Great Speaking Newsletter
You can subscribe FREE to Tom's newsletter 'Great Speaking'
To subscribe why not use our affiliate link (given below) ]
http://www.listpartners.com/cgi-local/subscribe?2606
Comments or if have you a tip to share -
mailto:posts@workinghumor.com?Subject=speakertips
===== New Discussions =====
====> True Christmas Generosity ...
Taken from The Salt Lake Tribune - Sunday 22nd December
Eccentric John W. Taylor Knew the True Meaning
of Christmas Generosity
By Will Bagley
Taylor's daughter Rhea told her brother Sam about an experience
she had while working as her father's secretary at his offices in
Salt Lake City's Judge Building early in the 20th century. As he
juggled big deals during one holiday season, her father was
pressed for cash -- a not unusual situation.
Two days before Christmas, one of Taylor's many deals went
through and produced $5,000, the equivalent today of more
than $100,000. Taylor immediately went to work disposing
of his windfall.
"First off," he told Rhea, "I want each of my wives to have
a
new dress for Christmas, and every child to be outfitted from
top to toe."
As Rhea finished writing checks to cover the gifts, her father
emerged from his office with a visitor and told her to write
another for Brother Oldroyd. His next visitor was a widow,
who left with a check to forestall a hard-hearted landlord
who had threatened her with eviction.
None of the despondent people who visited John W. that
day went away empty handed, and a constant stream of
friends with hard-luck stories continued throughout Christmas Eve.
As the day ended, Taylor told his daughter to write Sister Sorenson
a check for $250. Rhea had to tell her father his bank account was
down to $183.71. "Well," he said, "Then make it for
$183.71."
"Perfect weather for Christmas Eve," Taylor observed as he
escorted
his daughter through the crisp, cold evening to the streetcar stop.
"We
have indeed been blessed to give all members of the family new
outfits."
"Yes," his daughter agreed. "And it was a blessing to be
able to help
so many others," but she could not keep a certain edge out of her
voice.
Her father missed it entirely.
"Oh," he said as helped Rhea onto the street car, "do you
have a
nickel?"
She gave him his fare and her father waved farewell, "a big smile on
his face and the borrowed nickel the only money possessed by a
man who had just yesterday come into $5,000."
~~~~~~~~~~
I have a few friends who believe in this kind of charity too.
Personally I feel that it's important you after look after yourself
too and don't indulge in such generosity that you finally land up
troubling others. Being so helpful that you finally need to borrow
money yourself, or where you fall ill (I've seen people with terrible
backs who'll show off their chivalry and carry something for a
strange lady and then cry and fuss at home and make the ladies
at home look after them for a week.) or become a pain just
doesn't sound right to me. If taking care of yourself before you
reach out is being miserly ..... well in that case maybe I am a
miser.
What do you think... how far should you stretch yourself out
in being charitable ?
~ Gunjan
Comments -
mailto:posts@workinghumor.com?Subject=charity
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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electronic marketing business from "square one" into a
five-figure . . . six figure . . . even a million dollar asset.
Adds Tom Antion "I don't have a tremendous amount of
basic computer knowledge. The technical stuff doesn't even
interest me. . . .
I like to write deposit slips, not programs.
I do know where to "click" to make money and this E-book
was designed to make it easy for you to click in the right place.
Adds Gunjan "Start by Clicking here" :-)
http://snurl.com/click
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
=========== This week's Humor ==============
(I like this joke cause it shows the importance of saying
something in a great roundabout way. Saying it straight
would have caused great offense.)
Who Knocked Up My Bear?
An 80 year old man was having his annual checkup when
the doctor asked how he was feeling. "I've never been
better!" he boasted. "I've got an 18 year old bride
who's pregnant and having my child! What do you think
about that?"
The doctor considered this for a moment, then said,
"Let me tell you a story. I knew a guy who was an avid
hunter. He never missed a season. But one day he went
out in a bit of a hurry and accidentally grabbed his
umbrella instead of his gun." The doctor continued, "So
he was in the woods and suddenly a grizzly bear
appeared in front of him! He raised up his umbrella,
pointed it at the bear and squeezed the handle. And do
you know what happened?" the doctor queried.
Dumbfounded, the old man replied, "No, what?"
The doctor continued, "The bear dropped dead in front
of him."
"That's impossible!" exclaimed the old man. "Someone
else must of shot the bear."
"That's kind of what I'm getting at," replied the
doctor.
(From the Daily Joke Post)
Comments :
mailto:posts@workinghumor.com?Subject=humor
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I
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