This is really really weird, but somehow this lovely post got corrupted so that it looks really weird in Firefox. Internet Explorer doesn’t seem to be affected. I’ve had to delete the entire post - and ALL the comments to fix it. Sorree…
So now I’m going to try adding the comments back in, because I saved them all. Cunning, eh? It’s going to look like I’m talking to myself, but there you go… *grump*
I’ve never thought much about why people forward jokes, but a friend sent me this beautiful message the other day, and the lights went on. 
Read this and you’ll never think of a message that starts FWD: Three men walked into a bar…. quite the same way again.
A man and his dog were walking along a road. The man was enjoying the scenery, when it suddenly occurred to him that he was dead.
He remembered dying, and that the dog walking beside him had been dead for years. He wondered where the road was leading them.
After a while, they came to a high, white stone wall along one side of the road. It looked like fine marble. At the top of a long hill, it was broken by a tall arch that glowed in the sunlight.
When he was standing before it he saw a magnificent gate in the arch that looked like mother-of-pearl, and the street that led to the gate looked like pure gold. He and the dog walked toward the gate, and as he got closer, he saw a man at a desk to one side
When he was close enough, he called out, ‘Excuse me, where are we?’
‘This is Heaven, sir,’ the man answered.
‘Wow! Would you happen to have some water?’ the man asked.
‘Of course, sir. Come right in, and I’ll have some ice water brought right up.’ The man gestured, and the gate began to open.
‘Can my friend,’ gesturing toward his dog, ‘come in, too?’ the traveller asked.
‘I’m sorry, sir, but we don’t accept pets.’
The man thought a moment and then turned back toward the road and continued the way he had been going with his dog.
After another long walk, and at the top of another long hill, he came to a dirt road leading through a farm gate that looked as if it had never been closed. There was no fence.
As he approached the gate, he saw a man inside, leaning against a tree and reading a book.
‘Excuse me!’ he called to the man. ‘Do you have any water?’
‘Yeah, sure, there’s a pump over there, come on in.’
‘How about my friend here?’ the traveller gestured to the dog.
‘There should be a bowl by the pump.’
They went through the gate, and sure enough, there was an old-fashioned hand pump with a bowl beside it.
The traveller filled the water bowl and took a long drink himself, then he gave some to the dog.
When they were full, he and the dog walked back toward the man who was standing by the tree.
‘What do you call this place?’ the traveller asked.
‘This is Heaven,’ he answered.
‘Well, that’s confusing,’ the traveller said. ‘The man down the road said that was Heaven, too.’
‘Oh, you mean the place with the gold street and pearly gates? Nope. That’s hell.’
‘Doesn’t it make you mad for them to use your name like that?’
‘No, we’re just happy that they screen out the folks who would leave their best friends behind.’
***
So…
Sometimes, we wonder why friends keep forwarding jokes to us without writing a word. Maybe this will explain.
When you are very busy, but still want to keep in touch, guess what you do? You forward jokes.
When you have nothing to say, but still want to keep contact, you forward jokes.
When you have something to say, but don’t know what, and don’t know how, you forward jokes.
Also to let you know that you are still remembered, you are still important, you are still loved, you are still cared for, guess what you get?
A forwarded joke.
So, next time if you get a joke, don’t think that you’ve been sent just another forwarded joke, but that you’ve been thought of today and your friend on the other end of your computer wanted to send you a smile.
You are all welcome @ my water bowl anytime.
I can’t imagine an afterlife worthy of the name where my old friends wouldn’t be welcome. Not when they gave me so much in their comparatively short lives. A part of the family.
It’s rather a different take on jokes, isn’t it? What’s your first thought when you see a forwarded joke in your email? Anticipation or irritation? Perhaps you run a joke list. If so, why? What do you gain from it?
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MONICA said
I love to get forwarded jokes, because I know that the person sending it to me is normally someone who knows my sense of humor (which can be quite warped at times). If I receive something that I think will brighten someone’s day, I send it to them. I do try to weed out the material I send though. Some people are more receptive than others and I never want to upset my friends or associates.
But your are definitely right that it is a good way to remind someone that you do think of them, and sometimes you can remind someone you haven’t talked to in a while that you love them.
Thanks for sharing, as always, Denise!!! You’re DEFINITELY welcome at my watering bowl any time!!!
Little Lamb Lost said -
What a beautiful post. I couldn’t just read and not comment on such a wonderful thought. And you are welcome at my water bowl, too.
mary de said
You made me think differently.And brought a smile to my lips. I have an aversion to being one of five hundrd forward-on-ee’s on someones list.
Actually I do read most but I delete straight away those that say disater will befall me if I don’t carry out the orders within 3&1/2 minutes after recieving their memorandum.
Eleni said -
Lovely Denise! I tend to forward on messages of jokes or inspirational stories/quotes. I try to avoid the doom and gloom ones but like you said, we forward them for so many reasons, namely that we think of family or friends even if we are not in day-to-day contact. It is a way of leaving the water ball out so noone’s left behind.
Eleni said -
hee hee - that was meant to be water bowl
Elaine said -
I like getting forwarded jokes. I think it’s a great way for busy people to stay in touch and share part of themselves - their sense of humour. I forward them to people I think will also appreciate them and I save them for future enjoyment.
What I don’t like is the forwarded joke with my email address and the email addresses of a hundred other people either in the ‘to’ section or left in the forwarded email. It really doesn’t take much effort to put all the new email addresses in the bcc row (to protect their privacy) and to delete all the others so the people you care about and want to keep in touch with actually see the joke and not three or four screens of strangers’ email addresses.
While I’m on my soap box: I really hate chain letters - of any kind. They all sound vaguely threatening to me. It’s the old ‘if you don’t pass this on within 24/36/72 hours you won’t get the good luck/good thoughts/whatever it promises’. What’s the alternative? Obviously bad luck/the opposite. That’s threatening in my books. Once at work everyone received a chain letter that went through a long-winded explanation of what would happen if you didn’t respond within varying amounts of time. The last one was after three weeks of non-response, a child would die. The fact that one child dies every three seconds from preventable causes is irrelevant in this case - that letter implied a child’s death would be directly attributable to my lack of action on that letter. btw - the letter wasn’t asking for charitable donations to help save children. I responded by sending a note to all staff stating I thought that sort of circulation at work was unprofessional in the extreme and I took a copy of the chain letter to the police. That’s how strongly I feel about chain letters.
That’s my soap box for the day. The jokes are good but they need to be a deliberate act, a thoughtful thing, not a lazy forward to everyone in the ‘friends’ group in the address book.
Jenny said -
I like jokes to for the reason you have - it means they at least thought of me. I ALWAYS take the chain wording off before I forward it. If it can’t be removed, I won’t forward it. And unless I am super busy I always add a little intro — sems less impersonal that way.
Nina said -
It’s so true. My MIL sends me stuff all the time, just because she doesn’t have the time to sit and write a newsy email. But I appreciate it, because I know she’s thinking of me. Denise, I love your blog so much I included you in my award “blogs with a purpose”. Feel free to scoot over to Around the Writer’s Block and take a peak. You can play along if you’d like … or not … the choice is yours.
Monica, I have to admit I do a fair bit of eye-rolling at some of them. I’m always careful about what I pass on too. But, just occasionally, there’ll be a joke that makes me chuckle or laugh out loud, or moves me - like this one did. And then I feel all warm and fuzzy and smiley. It’s nice.
Hi there, Little Lamb. Lovely to hear from you! I thought it was wonderful too, so glad you enjoyed it.
I agree with all your commenters. I received the above mail a couple of times and sent it on myself. I do trade jokes, and make sure the ones I send on are not offensive, although, that said, there are a couple of people I know who really appreciate the off-colour jokes, and they receive those. But I refuse to pass on anything that could offend somebody’s dignity or beliefs.
I too dislike chain letters. Why do friends consider that sending on threatening missives they are doing me a favour. I press a firm delete. I do not believe in ugly threats of that sort and will not be bullied into sending them on to upset anyone I know.
I keep an archive of good jokes. After a number of years it is, to say the least, bulging. There are a lot of entirely visual ones that are great as well.
Hi Mary, Don’t you HATE seeing that looooong list of recipients? With your email exposed in there somewhere too. Betcha someone’s already written the Emily Post book of etiquette for joke mail. If they haven’t, they should!
I like that image, Eleni - leaving the water bowl out (or even the ball!)
Elaine, I’m climbing right up on that soapbox with you! Move over.
I find the the threatening chain mail messages deeply offensive. They infuriate me! Not only are they rude, they’re juvenile and imbecilic - make no sense. What on earth is their purpose?? I delete them immediately and unfortunately, I tend to think the less of the person who forwarded them.
And while I’m being grumpy here, I’m not much of a one for cutesy-pie kittens and flowers and sunsets and babies either. Anything that makes my molars ache from too much sugar and - WHOP! it’s gone! This doggie one is about as “nice” as I can stand, I’m afraid. I did like it.
Ah Jenny, courtesy and plain ole thoughtfulness goes such a long way. Good on ya, mate!
Aw, Nina… *shuffles feet*
Seriously, thanks so much for noticing. I love our little blog community, but the operative word is little, I fear. So recognition like this makes it even more worthwhile.
Guys, if you want to tell everyone in your world about Under and Over, feel free!
Great minds, Susan… I keep an archive too. Occasionally, you’ll find I use one for a blog post. When I’m tired and stuck for an idea. I have no shame, but so what? A little humour brightens everyone’s day.
Yeah it did look weird, The comments had posted on word at a time from the top of the page to the bottom….looks better now.
And I loved the FWD…a wonderful sentiment, I could never leave my furbabies behind.
I enjoy when family/friends think of me and send emails that keep my brain tuned-up with laughter, knowledge and challenges. I agree with everyone’s comments on the chain letters. It drives me nuts when advertisements, crazy margins and miscellaneous bits of computer droppings are left on the message. Also, I check truthorfiction.com and snopes.com to verify if the content of certain emails is true or false before forwarding. While I prefer the warmth of human contact, whenever possible, be it a phone call or getting together, I think about a friend’s comment who was serving outside the USA in the military: Send me emails, send them often, they’re the only thing keeping me sane where insanity is prevalent. I’d seen the anecdote of the man and his dog many moons ago. Liked it then and it’s still good now. By the way, you’re always welcome at my water bowl. That’s where I keep my cakes, cookies, tarts and other assorted goodies.
Sometimes I enjoy forwarded e-mails, and sometimes they just annoy me. It depends on how well they’re written, if they demand I send it on, or if there are no demands made on me except enjoyment. My father often sends me amusing chain e-mails, and I like his because they are often visual and whimsical.
That’s cute, Meg. Furbabies… Aaaaw…
Marina, that snopes site is terrific, isn’t it? Let’s you check all those urban myths. Good on you for taking the time and the trouble.
As for email, when the Net first started, long before it got all graphic and pretty (yeah, the Dark Ages, I know!), it was email that was the so-called “killer app”. The functionality that people took to in their millions. I can’t imagine life without it now. It’s how I do business, how I build a community, keep in touch with friends. Make friends even, like Joey, who I’ve never met, but who is such an essential part of my life and writing. No wonder the soldiers crave an email from home!
Jen, your dad sounds great. And I bet his emails don’t threaten his darling daughter with disaster if she doesn’t forward them on!
Thumbs up Denise, ya did it!
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