An Unfortunate Choice Of Words

I grew up in a household where we made jokes about cancer. There's not much that I consider off-limits for comedic purposes. However, there are areas where I didn't think I'd ever go with this blog. Some things, although they may be funny to some people, could be quite hurtful to others, at least at certain times in their lives. In that spirit, since I have no control over who reads this, or when (once something's on the Internet, it's pretty much out there effectively forever), I have chosen to avoid jokes on some subjects.

Other areas are left untouched because even I, whose sense of humour is among the blackest, can't find anything funny about them. Anything involving children being harmed generally falls into this category.

This is not a new policy since becoming a dad myself. Although I can find something to laugh about, however twisted, in even the most tragic news stories, the ones involving harm befalling children simply don't lend themselves to satire. My emotional reactions to some things have changed since fatherhood; movies on the theme of parental devotion, like Life Is Beautiful, or even Finding Nemo, have much more resonance nowadays.

What I'm trying to say is that it's tough to make jokes about things like pedophilia.


Thus today I find myself at the edge of a precipice, peering down into the chasm below.

Deep breath to settle the nerves, count to three....

And..........

Jump.



This is from a story about a man recently found guilty of possession of child pornography, According to the article, his attorney "said the situation involving his client was on the minor end of the scale".

OK, new rule for defense attorneys. If your client is charged with any form of pedophilia, it's imperative - I cannot stress this enough - to avoid the word "minor" when arguing your case.


(OK, the wording may very well have originated with the reporter who wrote the article, not the attorney. But that interpretation isn't as funny.)

Enough rambling. Here's a picture of my pants walking away.