On my first day in prison, my cellmate said to me “If you ever come close to me, I’ll skin you alive. When we’re sleeping, you don’t touch me. You hear me? Don’t ever talk to me, either.”
“Great.” I thought, “First day in here and I’m already married.”
Jake and Joe are in prison, in separate cells, some distance away from each other. Sad little jail cells really, with only a solitary, tiny window to peek into the outside. So they pass the time as best they can by telling each other jokes.
One day, Jake asks, “Got any new jokes, Joe?”
“Sorry,” Joe says. “I told you every joke I know months ago. You got any more new jokes?”
Jake thinks for a moment and says, “Well… I do have one more joke. But it’s one of those jokes you gotta write down. It’s not funny when you say it out loud. Gotta draw a picture and stuff.”
Joe suggests, “Why don’t write it on a piece of paper, and throw it over here?”
Jake agrees, and spends all week collecting the perfect materials, rewriting the perfect joke, drawing the perfect accommodating picture, and shaping that joke into a perfectly aerodynamic and balanced paper plane.
On Friday evening, when the lights go out, and the guards are changing shifts, Jake tells Joe, “Okay! Here comes the joke!”
He tosses the paper plane, it sails across the prison hallway, slips between the prison cell bars, and glides directly towards Joe’s awaiting hands.
Just as Joe is about to grab the paper plane, it gets caught in an updraft. It bounces again the ceiling, and then glides out the tiny cell window.
“Did you get the joke?” Jake asks.
“No, sorry!” Joe responds. “It went right over my head.”
Several years ago, Andy was sentenced to prison. During his stay, he got along well with the guards and all his fellow inmates. The warden new that, deep down, Andy was a good person. So, the warden made arrangements for the inmate to learn a trade while doing his time.
Some three years later, Andy was recognized as one of the best carpenters in the local area. Often, he would be given a weekend pass to do odd jobs for citizens of the community. And, he always reported back to prison by early Sunday evening. Andy was a model inmate.
One day, the warden considered remodeling his kitchen, though he lacked the skills to build a set of kitchen cupboards and a large counter top. So, he called Andy into his office and asked him to do the job for him. To the warden’s surprise, Andy simply refused to help.
“But, you’re an expert. Andy, I really need your help,” said the warden.
“Gosh, warden, I’d really like to help you, but counter fitting is what got me into prison in the first place.”