Yeah. Why "Bless You?"
August 26, 2010 3:52 AM Subscribe
The Atlantic's Conor Friedersdorfer summarizes around 200 answers to this question: "What widely accepted practice, custom or societal norm do you regard as irrational, absurd, offensive, silly, nonsensical, counterproductive, or morally wrong?"
This post was deleted for the following reason: One slight blog post is generally not a good metafilter post. -- cortex
I thought this was going to be top 200, or 200 answers from interesting people.
posted by atrazine at 4:01 AM on August 26, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by atrazine at 4:01 AM on August 26, 2010 [1 favorite]
In other news, readers of The Atlantic tend to be less religious and more progressive than average.
Film at 11.
posted by valkyryn at 4:06 AM on August 26, 2010 [2 favorites]
Film at 11.
posted by valkyryn at 4:06 AM on August 26, 2010 [2 favorites]
"What widely accepted practice, custom or societal norm do you regard as irrational, absurd, offensive, silly, nonsensical, counterproductive, or morally wrong?"
I find it counterproductive that so many people try to signal their intelligence by exposing what they think are other people's irrational, absurd or offensive customs, and by doing so unwittingly promote cultural homogeneity, present-ism, and the neocolonialism of the autistic intellectual classes. There is a deep ecology of human society, and though you may not understand the function of every social practice or belief you encounter, they have evolved as part of a complex system to maintain equilibrium, and you meddle with them at your peril.
posted by Faze at 4:07 AM on August 26, 2010 [24 favorites]
I find it counterproductive that so many people try to signal their intelligence by exposing what they think are other people's irrational, absurd or offensive customs, and by doing so unwittingly promote cultural homogeneity, present-ism, and the neocolonialism of the autistic intellectual classes. There is a deep ecology of human society, and though you may not understand the function of every social practice or belief you encounter, they have evolved as part of a complex system to maintain equilibrium, and you meddle with them at your peril.
posted by Faze at 4:07 AM on August 26, 2010 [24 favorites]
Religion. Is this a trick question? And yeah, that blog post is a little less than filling.
posted by dbiedny at 4:07 AM on August 26, 2010 [2 favorites]
posted by dbiedny at 4:07 AM on August 26, 2010 [2 favorites]
Business suits.
posted by yesster at 4:16 AM on August 26, 2010 [2 favorites]
posted by yesster at 4:16 AM on August 26, 2010 [2 favorites]
What an idiotic waste of time that article was. Talking about "God Bless You"?
Er, let's deal with the Etoro and their practice of having the youngins quaff jism . . . then we'll be getting somewhere.
As Wikipedia puts it delicately:
All Etoro believe themselves to contain a certain amount of life force, the highest concentrations of which is supposedly contained in semen. This life force is believed to pass between members of the group through sexual relations. As mentioned, when young, males have it passed to them through sex.
posted by gnossie at 4:24 AM on August 26, 2010
Er, let's deal with the Etoro and their practice of having the youngins quaff jism . . . then we'll be getting somewhere.
As Wikipedia puts it delicately:
All Etoro believe themselves to contain a certain amount of life force, the highest concentrations of which is supposedly contained in semen. This life force is believed to pass between members of the group through sexual relations. As mentioned, when young, males have it passed to them through sex.
posted by gnossie at 4:24 AM on August 26, 2010
I find it counterproductive that so many people try to signal their intelligence by exposing what they think are other people's irrational, absurd or offensive customs...
Exactly this. It feels like the grown-up version of the mean girls in high school cornering me at my locker and asking me what I really thought about Suzanne ("C'mon, who does she think she's kidding with her distressed jeans? They're so stupid!").
(involuntary bad high school memory shudder)
posted by dzaz at 4:30 AM on August 26, 2010 [1 favorite]
Exactly this. It feels like the grown-up version of the mean girls in high school cornering me at my locker and asking me what I really thought about Suzanne ("C'mon, who does she think she's kidding with her distressed jeans? They're so stupid!").
(involuntary bad high school memory shudder)
posted by dzaz at 4:30 AM on August 26, 2010 [1 favorite]
Did you go to the high school for students who were abstract customs anthropomorphized and embodied in human flesh?
Oooh, Neil Gaiman / Stephanie Meyer mashup opportunity!
posted by adipocere at 4:34 AM on August 26, 2010 [3 favorites]
Oooh, Neil Gaiman / Stephanie Meyer mashup opportunity!
posted by adipocere at 4:34 AM on August 26, 2010 [3 favorites]
I say "gesundheit" because it makes me sound pretentious cultured.
posted by Riki tiki at 4:37 AM on August 26, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by Riki tiki at 4:37 AM on August 26, 2010 [1 favorite]
No, but my kids go to the same high school that Amanda Palmer attended and got to meet him. So bragging rights there.
(I need better bragging rights, I know, I know...)
posted by dzaz at 4:38 AM on August 26, 2010
(I need better bragging rights, I know, I know...)
posted by dzaz at 4:38 AM on August 26, 2010
I say "gesundheit" because it makes me sound pretentious cultured.
Gesundheit ist besser als Krankheit...
posted by TedW at 4:45 AM on August 26, 2010
Gesundheit ist besser als Krankheit...
posted by TedW at 4:45 AM on August 26, 2010
While this short blog post is still here, I'd like to point out I am opposed to cremation on thermodynamical grounds: I find it particularly selfish to hasten the heat death of the universe by unnecessary combustion when you could be providing a tasty tasty meal to the worms.
posted by Dr Dracator at 4:46 AM on August 26, 2010 [3 favorites]
posted by Dr Dracator at 4:46 AM on August 26, 2010 [3 favorites]
though you may not understand the function of every social practice or belief you encounter, they have evolved as part of a complex system to maintain equilibrium, and you meddle with them at your peril
But if you're right, aren't you merely doing the same thing—singling out a particular mechanism for derision, when it's part of a greater whole that you do not understand?
posted by fleacircus at 4:46 AM on August 26, 2010 [6 favorites]
But if you're right, aren't you merely doing the same thing—singling out a particular mechanism for derision, when it's part of a greater whole that you do not understand?
posted by fleacircus at 4:46 AM on August 26, 2010 [6 favorites]
When I was a Christian I habitually said "God bless you" very clearly. After I became an atheist, for almost a year I would still say bless you although it was awkward because it didn't mean anything to me. Laughed about it with a girl I dated for a short while, who suggested I switch to Gesundheit, which I've used ever since.
These days my wife, amused by my atheism, says "Bless you...even though you don't believe in it" when I sneeze.
posted by graymouser at 4:47 AM on August 26, 2010
These days my wife, amused by my atheism, says "Bless you...even though you don't believe in it" when I sneeze.
posted by graymouser at 4:47 AM on August 26, 2010
There is a deep ecology of human society, and though you may not understand the function of every social practice or belief you encounter, they have evolved as part of a complex system to maintain equilibrium, and you meddle with them at your peril.
Ah, but then isn't the desire to meddle with the practices of others itself a practice that has "evolved as part of a complex system to maintain equilibrium", and by warning others not to meddle, you are in fact meddling in their practice of meddling? If we are to honestly subscribe to this deep ecology, then we have to admit that the "neocolonialism of the autistic classes" is itself a belief system that has evolved as part of a complex whole, and that it too plays a vital and necessary role in maintaining equilibrium.
posted by Pyry at 4:50 AM on August 26, 2010
Ah, but then isn't the desire to meddle with the practices of others itself a practice that has "evolved as part of a complex system to maintain equilibrium", and by warning others not to meddle, you are in fact meddling in their practice of meddling? If we are to honestly subscribe to this deep ecology, then we have to admit that the "neocolonialism of the autistic classes" is itself a belief system that has evolved as part of a complex whole, and that it too plays a vital and necessary role in maintaining equilibrium.
posted by Pyry at 4:50 AM on August 26, 2010
I am agonistic, but I'll take any sort of blessings people wish to give and will continue to dispense as many as I can.
posted by nomadicink at 4:52 AM on August 26, 2010 [3 favorites]
posted by nomadicink at 4:52 AM on August 26, 2010 [3 favorites]
I'm going to go with "letting your feelings out", or the Hydraulic Model of Emotions.
Evidence suggests that the more you indulge an emotion, the more likely it is to recur. If you let yourself shout at your kids when you're angry at them, in future this makes you angrier at them, and more likely to shout at them. There is a cycle of positive feedback between expressing the emotion and feeling the emotion.
But most people believe the opposite: that emotions build up like a fluid, and once you've "released" or "vented" your anger, you'll be less likely to be angry in future.
posted by TheophileEscargot at 4:53 AM on August 26, 2010 [10 favorites]
Evidence suggests that the more you indulge an emotion, the more likely it is to recur. If you let yourself shout at your kids when you're angry at them, in future this makes you angrier at them, and more likely to shout at them. There is a cycle of positive feedback between expressing the emotion and feeling the emotion.
But most people believe the opposite: that emotions build up like a fluid, and once you've "released" or "vented" your anger, you'll be less likely to be angry in future.
posted by TheophileEscargot at 4:53 AM on August 26, 2010 [10 favorites]
Dear Carmel and Lisa,
You will really hate this.
Also my friend Drew-boy Ray wants to be stuffed when he dies and in the event his death precedes mine I have agreed to display him as long as he is arranged in a useful position such as a combination coat rack and umbrella stand. What is your stance on this matter?
Thanks,
vapidave
posted by vapidave at 4:58 AM on August 26, 2010
You will really hate this.
Also my friend Drew-boy Ray wants to be stuffed when he dies and in the event his death precedes mine I have agreed to display him as long as he is arranged in a useful position such as a combination coat rack and umbrella stand. What is your stance on this matter?
Thanks,
vapidave
posted by vapidave at 4:58 AM on August 26, 2010
Oooh, Neil Gaiman / Stephanie Meyer mashup opportunity!
When you say "mashup," I fear you mean "slashfic." Please do not go there.
posted by GenjiandProust at 5:01 AM on August 26, 2010
When you say "mashup," I fear you mean "slashfic." Please do not go there.
posted by GenjiandProust at 5:01 AM on August 26, 2010
In parts of the Amazon, tribes practice what is called Linguistic Exogamy, which basically means you can't marry someone who speaks your own language. It is really bizarre...until you realize that the way these people view language is one that is deeply tied to culture and kinship. It's a fascinating practice, and because the society is completely structured around it with customs and ideas and manifestations of this down to the very word form and morpheme, well, it's about as odd as praying someone doesn't die when they unexpectedly expel snot from their nose. Which is to say, not at all, under a society that exalts religion like we do.
posted by iamkimiam at 5:07 AM on August 26, 2010 [2 favorites]
posted by iamkimiam at 5:07 AM on August 26, 2010 [2 favorites]
Ah, but then isn't the desire to meddle with the practices of others itself a practice that has "evolved as part of a complex system to maintain equilibrium", and by warning others not to meddle, you are in fact meddling in their practice of meddling?
No. I the practice reflected in this post is an exotic, imported from the methodology of the hard sciences and applied inappropriately to a non-controlled situation.
posted by Faze at 5:12 AM on August 26, 2010
No. I the practice reflected in this post is an exotic, imported from the methodology of the hard sciences and applied inappropriately to a non-controlled situation.
posted by Faze at 5:12 AM on August 26, 2010
gnossie: Er, let's deal with the Etoro and their practice of having the youngins quaff jism . . . then we'll be getting somewhere.
Wiki:
posted by Throw away your common sense and get an afro! at 5:12 AM on August 26, 2010
Wiki:
Women are seen to waste the life force if they do not get pregnant through sex. As people get older and their bodies weaken this is attributed to a depletion of their life force [...] A woman who enjoys sex too much is seen as a witch trying to steal the life force from a man. Similarly, boys who grow too quickly are assumed to be sapping the life force from other boys. Seen as too sex-hungry, he might be shunned as a witch.Somehow, I get the feeling that they aren't so different after all.
posted by Throw away your common sense and get an afro! at 5:12 AM on August 26, 2010
I simply don't see the need to put the deceased 'on display' in this matter, if only out of respect. I myself have told my husband and kids in no uncertain terms that they are NOT to do this to me when the time comes. Closed casket, cremation, donation to science, whatever...but no traditional 'viewing.'
Not to be the first to actually address the content of the post or anything... but...
I've made it pretty clear to my loved ones that I will come back from whatever afterlife may or may not exist and personally haunt anyone who is involved with giving me an open casket funeral. I don't really want anyone's memories of me to be what I looked like as a corpse, thanks.
posted by sonika at 5:13 AM on August 26, 2010 [2 favorites]
Not to be the first to actually address the content of the post or anything... but...
I've made it pretty clear to my loved ones that I will come back from whatever afterlife may or may not exist and personally haunt anyone who is involved with giving me an open casket funeral. I don't really want anyone's memories of me to be what I looked like as a corpse, thanks.
posted by sonika at 5:13 AM on August 26, 2010 [2 favorites]
Er, let's deal with the Etoro and their practice of having the youngins quaff jism . . . then we'll be getting somewhere.
Is there a connection here with certain strains of Catholic priesthood?
posted by Liquidwolf at 5:16 AM on August 26, 2010 [1 favorite]
graymouser: "When I was a Christian I habitually said "God bless you" very clearly. After I became an atheist, for almost a year I would still say bless you although it was awkward because it didn't mean anything to me. Laughed about it with a girl I dated for a short while, who suggested I switch to Gesundheit, which I've used ever since.
These days my wife, amused by my atheism, says "Bless you...even though you don't believe in it" when I sneeze."
Try "Non-Entity you." It's good for laffs and works just as well.
posted by KevinSkomsvold at 5:18 AM on August 26, 2010
These days my wife, amused by my atheism, says "Bless you...even though you don't believe in it" when I sneeze."
Try "Non-Entity you." It's good for laffs and works just as well.
posted by KevinSkomsvold at 5:18 AM on August 26, 2010
I've made it pretty clear to my loved ones that I will come back from whatever afterlife may or may not exist and personally haunt anyone who is involved with giving me an open casket funeral. I don't really want anyone's memories of me to be what I looked like as a corpse, thanks.
What if they throw in animatronics?
posted by biffa at 5:28 AM on August 26, 2010
What if they throw in animatronics?
posted by biffa at 5:28 AM on August 26, 2010
Regarding the "bless you" thing, I recall reading that excessive sneezing was a symptom of the last stages of the bubonic plague and that hearing someone sneeze was often taken as a sign that death was imminent. Hence "God bless you." I have no cites, so might just be an old husbands' tale.
While I don't particularly want to be embalmed and put on display post mortem (and the issue of embalming fluid leaching into the soil was new to me), I think it's a bit silly to expect rational behavior on the part of grievers. Death ceremonies are one of the oldest facets of human culture, right? Come on, it's to be expected that people do weird illogical "ceremonial" things like put the body on display or burn it in a big-ass pyre or leave it in a tower for vultures to eat. It's not exactly waste management here, it's a ritualized group mourning event. Throwing up your hands and claiming that you have NO IDEA why anyone would do ANYTHING so BIZARRE is either disingenuous or naive.
Same goes for weddings and meat-eating, and I say this as a vegetarian bachelor. If you really can't see any reason whatsoever why people would engage in such activities, you have gone overboard with the dogma and need to remove your blinkers. Doesn't mean you have to condone or engage, but don't claim utter bafflement.
posted by DLWM at 5:29 AM on August 26, 2010 [1 favorite]
While I don't particularly want to be embalmed and put on display post mortem (and the issue of embalming fluid leaching into the soil was new to me), I think it's a bit silly to expect rational behavior on the part of grievers. Death ceremonies are one of the oldest facets of human culture, right? Come on, it's to be expected that people do weird illogical "ceremonial" things like put the body on display or burn it in a big-ass pyre or leave it in a tower for vultures to eat. It's not exactly waste management here, it's a ritualized group mourning event. Throwing up your hands and claiming that you have NO IDEA why anyone would do ANYTHING so BIZARRE is either disingenuous or naive.
Same goes for weddings and meat-eating, and I say this as a vegetarian bachelor. If you really can't see any reason whatsoever why people would engage in such activities, you have gone overboard with the dogma and need to remove your blinkers. Doesn't mean you have to condone or engage, but don't claim utter bafflement.
posted by DLWM at 5:29 AM on August 26, 2010 [1 favorite]
I find it counterproductive that so many people try to signal their intelligence by exposing what they think are other people's irrational, absurd or offensive customs, and by doing so unwittingly promote cultural homogeneity
Surely criticising societal norms is, or could be, a defense of minority positions, and cultural heterogeneity.
posted by greymullet at 5:30 AM on August 26, 2010 [6 favorites]
Surely criticising societal norms is, or could be, a defense of minority positions, and cultural heterogeneity.
posted by greymullet at 5:30 AM on August 26, 2010 [6 favorites]
Yeah, I don't see why atheism has to mean that we must erase all traces of our intellectual tradition from our language. People are still perfectly fluent in the ideas and images of religion, and these are often the best or most convenient way of expressing ourselves. "Jesus wept", for example, or "go to hell", can be said in all sincerity by non-believers. And how exactly is saying the German word for "health" any more rational?
posted by creasy boy at 5:30 AM on August 26, 2010
posted by creasy boy at 5:30 AM on August 26, 2010
Father Beese imparted to me his sense that open casket funerals are a goyische barbarity. When he died, his goyische second wife gave him one. I hope he was able to appreciate the irony somewhere.
But though I still wish she hadn't, I sort of got the idea. His death had been unexpected. So seeing him in the casket did provide a small help in accepting, "Yep. He's really dead."
posted by Joe Beese at 5:39 AM on August 26, 2010
But though I still wish she hadn't, I sort of got the idea. His death had been unexpected. So seeing him in the casket did provide a small help in accepting, "Yep. He's really dead."
posted by Joe Beese at 5:39 AM on August 26, 2010
Yeah and on top of all that -- these people don't seem to have thought far enough to question the rationality of the practice of saying something to acknowledge when someone sneezes. But they hear the word "God" and reflexively decide that it must be stupid, and it must be smarter to say "Gesundheit". But why say anything?
posted by creasy boy at 5:42 AM on August 26, 2010
posted by creasy boy at 5:42 AM on August 26, 2010
On a different note: anyone know where dresses vs. pants came from? Ease of peeing? Prevention of infection via airflow? Differentiated uniforms to go with differentiated social roles?
posted by DLWM at 5:46 AM on August 26, 2010
posted by DLWM at 5:46 AM on August 26, 2010
Well, that was a short blog post.
Man, if I had 200 people write in answers to my question, and then condensed that to a fairly bland three or four paragraphs, could I be a big shot Atlantic blogger too?
posted by Meatbomb at 5:47 AM on August 26, 2010
Man, if I had 200 people write in answers to my question, and then condensed that to a fairly bland three or four paragraphs, could I be a big shot Atlantic blogger too?
posted by Meatbomb at 5:47 AM on August 26, 2010
An echo of Lucan in the blogpost title?
"Tabesne cadavera solvat. An rogus, haud refert"
Nice.
posted by hydatius at 5:53 AM on August 26, 2010
"Tabesne cadavera solvat. An rogus, haud refert"
Nice.
posted by hydatius at 5:53 AM on August 26, 2010
I bless myself when I sneeze -- otherwise the devil will get up my nose.
posted by jb at 5:54 AM on August 26, 2010
posted by jb at 5:54 AM on August 26, 2010
I don't see why of all the customs that people could be upset about, "God bless you" after a sneeze would be at the top of the list. It might be unusual, or mildly annoying at worst.
To me, one of the biggest customary pains in the ass is when two or more people are walking together abreast on a narrow sidewalk and refuse to move over if you're alone and walking behind them or in the opposite direction toward them.
posted by blucevalo at 6:02 AM on August 26, 2010
To me, one of the biggest customary pains in the ass is when two or more people are walking together abreast on a narrow sidewalk and refuse to move over if you're alone and walking behind them or in the opposite direction toward them.
posted by blucevalo at 6:02 AM on August 26, 2010
I think we should have cute irrational sayings for all our odd body functions. Like whenever I fart in public, my wife always says, "God damn you!". Still undecided about a proper response to burping, though.
posted by GhostintheMachine at 6:05 AM on August 26, 2010 [2 favorites]
posted by GhostintheMachine at 6:05 AM on August 26, 2010 [2 favorites]
On a different note: anyone know where dresses vs. pants came from?
I'm going to go out on a limb here and speculate that pants require more labor to manufacture and fit yet are more comfortable and practical for outdoor activities, at least if your local climate requires that you go about with clothes on. In earlier societies with roles strongly segregated by sex, men saw advantage to taking the trouble to wear pants but women didn't bother.
posted by Dr Dracator at 6:14 AM on August 26, 2010
I'm going to go out on a limb here and speculate that pants require more labor to manufacture and fit yet are more comfortable and practical for outdoor activities, at least if your local climate requires that you go about with clothes on. In earlier societies with roles strongly segregated by sex, men saw advantage to taking the trouble to wear pants but women didn't bother.
posted by Dr Dracator at 6:14 AM on August 26, 2010
GhostintheMachine: "Still undecided about a proper response to burping, though."
"Good one!"
posted by notsnot at 6:15 AM on August 26, 2010
"Good one!"
posted by notsnot at 6:15 AM on August 26, 2010
"Still undecided about a proper response to burping, though."
A sarcastic "Thank you" works pretty well.
I also yell (and I do mean yell) "THANK YOU!" whenever I hear one of my cats puking.
posted by sonika at 6:16 AM on August 26, 2010 [1 favorite]
A sarcastic "Thank you" works pretty well.
I also yell (and I do mean yell) "THANK YOU!" whenever I hear one of my cats puking.
posted by sonika at 6:16 AM on August 26, 2010 [1 favorite]
Reading Andrew Sullivan....
Oh wait, we aren't still answering the question.
I do agree with the answers presented in the blog post, however.
posted by MCMikeNamara at 6:17 AM on August 26, 2010
Oh wait, we aren't still answering the question.
I do agree with the answers presented in the blog post, however.
posted by MCMikeNamara at 6:17 AM on August 26, 2010
There are enough stealth-crusty guys walking among us -- guys who aren't filthy on first glance but who, for example, walk out of bathrooms without washing their hands -- to make me wish we would give up this business of shaking hands.
posted by pracowity at 6:18 AM on August 26, 2010
posted by pracowity at 6:18 AM on August 26, 2010
This post has talked me out of open-casket funerals and embalming.
Also: I've had friends (and girlfriends) get upset with me because I chose not to acknowledge their sneezes.
posted by l33tpolicywonk at 6:20 AM on August 26, 2010
Also: I've had friends (and girlfriends) get upset with me because I chose not to acknowledge their sneezes.
posted by l33tpolicywonk at 6:20 AM on August 26, 2010
Still undecided about a proper response to burping, though.
I always use an enthusiastic "Well said!"
posted by TedW at 6:21 AM on August 26, 2010
I always use an enthusiastic "Well said!"
posted by TedW at 6:21 AM on August 26, 2010
Regarding the "bless you" thing, I recall reading that excessive sneezing was a symptom of the last stages of the bubonic plague and that hearing someone sneeze was often taken as a sign that death was imminent. Hence "God bless you." I have no cites, so might just be an old husbands' tale.
I heard that when you sneezed your soul got scared and left your body and someone had to say "God bless you" in order to get it back. If no one said it, then your now-empty body would be at risk of being inhabited by the devil.
posted by bitteroldman at 6:25 AM on August 26, 2010
I heard that when you sneezed your soul got scared and left your body and someone had to say "God bless you" in order to get it back. If no one said it, then your now-empty body would be at risk of being inhabited by the devil.
posted by bitteroldman at 6:25 AM on August 26, 2010
On a different note: anyone know where dresses vs. pants came from?
A man in trousers can pull his willy out and piss without getting anything on himself or his clothing.
A woman in trousers has a bit more trouble, but in a skirt (with nothing underneath) she can hoist her skirt, squat, and piss pretty easily without getting anything where it doesn't belong.
posted by pracowity at 6:25 AM on August 26, 2010
A man in trousers can pull his willy out and piss without getting anything on himself or his clothing.
A woman in trousers has a bit more trouble, but in a skirt (with nothing underneath) she can hoist her skirt, squat, and piss pretty easily without getting anything where it doesn't belong.
posted by pracowity at 6:25 AM on August 26, 2010
The Atlantic's Conor Friedersdorfer summarizes around one answer to this question: "What widely accepted practice, custom or societal norm do you regard as irrational, absurd, offensive, silly, nonsensical, counterproductive, or morally wrong?"
FTFY
posted by Naberius at 6:36 AM on August 26, 2010
FTFY
posted by Naberius at 6:36 AM on August 26, 2010
There are enough stealth-crusty guys walking among us -- guys who aren't filthy on first glance but who, for example, walk out of bathrooms without washing their hands -- to make me wish we would give up this business of shaking hands.
A Marine and a Navyman are taking a piss.
The Marine goes to leave without washing up.
The Navyman says, "In the Navy, they teach us to wash our hands after pissing."
The Marine turns to him and says, "In the Marines, they teach us not to piss on our hands."
posted by MCMikeNamara at 6:41 AM on August 26, 2010 [1 favorite]
A Marine and a Navyman are taking a piss.
The Marine goes to leave without washing up.
The Navyman says, "In the Navy, they teach us to wash our hands after pissing."
The Marine turns to him and says, "In the Marines, they teach us not to piss on our hands."
posted by MCMikeNamara at 6:41 AM on August 26, 2010 [1 favorite]
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