February 12, 2021. Playa Royale, Mexico. Humor.

My friend Lahn did not understand American humor. On the way home from an event when a joke was told, she laughed along with everyone else. But on the way home she asked her husband Mark what was funny in the joke. Her parents are Chines and left for Vietnahm to avoid the Communists. Lahn and her sister were born there. The family emigrated to New York to stay ahead of the Communists. Lahn does not understand American culture and humor so she needs explanations for the jokes. Commentary, a Jewish magazine, wrote a joke each week and asked readers to explain the joke. Joseph Epstein, a Chicage writer, gave a short explanation on the joke in the next issue, giving the history and origination. The problem for me was that I never thought any of those Jewish jokes were funny. I enjoyed the responses and the explanations but I still did not find those jokes funny. Wonderful Wendy sent me a cartoon which she said was funny. I looked at the cartoon for a long time but I could not find the humor. After a few hours I went back to the cartoon. But I still did not see what was funny. The next day I finally asked Wendy. And she explained the cartoon. My problem was that in the South, people turn on seat warmers all the time. In the cartoon, popcorn started popping because the seat warmers were turned on because they were in an open car in a warm climate. My vision is not good so I did not notice the popcorn, which of course was the whole joke. I also think that the older I get the more jaded I am with humor. So perhaps I miss many jokes. This cartoon was beyond me but Wendy set me straight. Humor is tricky as both Lahn and I understand.