To find these "jokes" pathetic?

[comfortmonitor]

Lost in the hospital trying to find a ward so i asked a man who worked there

me - excuse me do you know which way ward 40 is?

him - you've got the wrong hospital that's not here

me - ..... erm

him - HA! i'm only joking! this way..

Another example on my first day at a new job in a shop. Window cleaner comes in and asks to be paid.
I ask how much?
£25.
I go to ask manager and get another big laugh at how funny a joke he made and it's really £2

Wtf? It's only ever men that have done this to me and I really can't imagine them doing it to another man. Is it a power thing? It drives me mad!

I went to a small independent cafe, asked if they were serving food. Not on Wednesdays, I was told. I looked confused and annoyed - then he gleefully pointed out that they served food every day and in actual fact is was Tuesday, not Wednesday. Twat.

Oh the other hand, I am an expert in the ultra-sarcastic response. Agree with pp that this is where a clearly nonsensical response, rather than a plausible one, is given. Some people may not find it funny, but it is definitely not the same.

This kind of shit used to happem to me when I was aged about 16-30. I find now at 40+ and also being quite tall, built and imposing, it no longer happens. But I think these idiotic “pranksters” know the demographic who are unlikely to talk back and feel embarrassed. Long ago I decided never to be embarrassed if I did not understand or hear something or fell victim to stupid “jokes”.

Plus this shit never happened to my dh.

@KillSwitch

Interesting response. I have been pissed off with these "jokers" but I have never threatened violence.

I bet that guy was angry because he likes to wrong foot others.

Not quite the same, but my (not so) DF once took a picture of my SM having a wee behind a tree. And he showed it to EVERYONE, clearly enjoying her discomfort. I'm not surprised my DM divorced him.

I looked him dead in the eye and said "Try it" but not going to lie, as an 18 year old confronting a 40 odd year old bloke I was kinda shitting myself at the time! Now I only give awkward responses like that to my best friend, who after twenty years knows exactly when I'm doing it and responds in kind!

I vividly remember as a child being sent to the local shop by my bastard stepfather and my submissive mother to ask for a 'long weight/wait'. I was about 8, I knew something was up but we didn't disobey him. He thought he was so fucking funny - very clever to effectively order a child off to be humiliated.

I only have an issue with stupid jokes if there's a deliberate attempt to be a dick with it or it's utterly inappropriate for the situation

I've had a few people crack silly, not funny jokes to diffuse awkward situations (e.g. So Mr Brown, how do you think Timmy has been getting on because you and i botj know he's being a pain .. well mrs pops, i was hoping you'd be telling us that. chuckles to themselves. I don't mind that.

My DH and a few of our friends seem to delight in getting dad jokes out. They are horrendous and not funny, but seemingly the worse the joke is, the funnier it must be. They're being silly with each other so I leave them to it.

I only have an issue with stupid jokes if there's a deliberate attempt to be a dick with it or it's utterly inappropriate for the situation

I agree... Some of the examples show a clear lack of understanding of a sensitive situations where joking is inappropriate, but posters on here do seem to be overly serious and be incapable of being gently teased.

coconuttella
Exactly. Some jokes aren't that funny. They're stupid dad jokes but if intended to be mildly cringeworthily amusing then who
cares? I've got friends of both sexes who have stupid one liners.

One today:
Me - 'Charlotte, could you grab the door for me (as I'm struggling with a box of exercise books)
Charlotte - I could... ...
Me - you're fucking useful arrn't you
Charlotte - well if you insist on carrying so much (both laugh and she grabs the door)

No power trip. No dick behaviour. Just a stupid joke that's not wildly funny but hey. Life is too short.

I hate that crap so much, as other posters have said it lessens when you get older, which just goes to show its a power thing.

Some of these aren't bad but some show a complete lack of understanding of what's ok. The NDN who allowed a mum to be frantic about her "missing" DC for example.

I hate people who make this type of 'joke', thinking that they're being so funny and clever when actually they're thick as shit.

But does everyone who makes stupid jokes actually think they're clever?
The only people I know who make stupid jokes are entirely aware they are rubbish jokes (and that is sort of the point).

I get the strange middle aged man teasing a younger woman or man trying to off foot female clients etc. They have that smug 'I'm hilarious' thing. But most people aren't like that are they?

I had never identified how much of a thing this is until I just read this thread. I have experienced this so many times.

One highlight being when I went to the garage to get my car seen to. I turned up and a man came out and asked me if I was ok, I explained that I had rang in advance and had booked in to have this and that done. He asked a few questions which I answered then he said thanks for telling me all that rubbish, I don't even work here! He was a customer who was leaving. All the real mechanics were pissing themselves laughing and I had to walk over and repeat what I'd just said while they mimicked along knowing my (pre-rehearsed because I was nervous enough already) speech.

How incredibly hilarious. My dad and my boyfriend at the time both thought I was being ridiculous to find this anything but the absolute height of comedy. It was merely evidence of women not 'getting' such sophisticated humour and being uptight and hysterical.

I hadn't realised other women got this as much; I swallowed the myth that I was a bit of an uptight harpy

I fucking hate the whole ‘can you do X?’ ‘I could, but will I?’ Dp knows I hate this so does it all the fucking time! I do however enjoy catching him off guard with stupid responses to stuff in return, there is no power play in our relationship, we just enjoy winding each other up.

I think there is a difference to someone you know doing this and a stranger. And I really don’t get the ‘they aren’t here’ sort of jokes, they make so sense to me.

It's totally different someone you know making a bad/dad joke. It's strangers purposely trying to make you feel uncomfortable or show you up that's not funny. It's not being overly serious it's not wanting to be laughed at @MaisyPops @coconuttella

God I hate these tedious fuckers. Off the top of my head, one year my boiler broke down just before Christmas. Finally the repair man came out and after an hour said, 'sorry love it needs a part ordering, it won't be in until new year' cue me looking gutted, then he added, 'only joking! It's fixed'. I was so relieved I just laughed.

These are sad pathetic men with no real power.

My 4 uncles would do this to me as a child, and I had high anxiety. Horrible.

Eugh! This has reminded me about a guy who was employed to meet me with keys at my new rental flat and do the inventory before I moved in. I arrived early and said “Hi, I’m That Girl, I’m moving in today”, to which he replied “Right, and what do I have to do with that?”... he then laughed at another man that was nearby.

He continued to make stupid comments throughout the whole inventory, until my boyfriend arrived funnily enough and then he suddenly seemed a bit more professional.

An ex boyfriends mum did this too though, about the second time I met her she asked me if I wanted a cup of tea, I said “yes pleas and she said “well you know where the kettle is, hahaha!”. That isn’t a funny joke. Apparently she was a bit of a bully in general so I guess that’s the kind of jokes bullies like.

Dh used to do this until I explained how totally unfunny it was. So he'd make a statement that was totally untrue but not particularly interesting, I would think.it was true because I had no reason not to, then who would reveal it wasn't true and I'd be confused. There was one about money once: 'I've got 13,000 in a secret savings account', me: 'wow well done, that will come in useful', him: 'Not really' but he kept going on about it, that he had and he hadn't until i told him I couldn't care less either way. For context he has a habit of squirrelling away money without saying anything which we have used for holidays and things in the past I suspect drug dealing so it wasn't totally unlikely. So annoying, and bit about enjoying controlling someone's emotions.

It’s sadistic. Pure and simple. Power trip and laughing at another person’s discomfort. Also weirdly flirtatious. So lecherous as well. Double whammy.

I was thinking about posting something about this the other week after an infuriating interaction with DD's softball coach during her game that got me thinking about all the times this happens.

He gave a piece of paper and goes, "I was told to give you this." I went, "what?" all confused. "They told me to give you this." It was the running order for the day's games. I said, "who told you to give it to me?" and he goes "Hahaha! Got ya! I don't have a pocket, can you hold that?"

I mean, really. World's worst joke. Just ask me to hold the fucking piece of paper or put it in your bag, you twat. I watched him with the other dads there, it was all "mate, pass me that would you?" and other normal interactions. He did it again later to me with something else, going "look at that" and pointing behind me. I did not look. I pretended I hadn't heard or seen him.

It's about putting women on the back foot, making us slightly uneasy or uncomfortable. And if we don't laugh at these hilarious gags we are deemed humourless.

When my son was born I became quite seriously mentally ill, I had awful anxiety and would stay awake even as my son slept peacefully to watch him and ensure nothing happened - not a moments sleep and of course with a newborn you don't get to eat or take care of yourself. My closest friend came to visit and gasped when she saw my son and shouted 'Oh my God Tribble, he has eleven toes!!!' But the way she said it was properly alarmed/panicked ifyswim? I thought he was hurt, I grabbed him and checked him all over. Naturally my closest friend pissed herself laughing and made me feel like an absolute dick, I was a wreck and she was gleeful 'OMG you ACTUALLY looked lololol' Dick.

"Some of the examples show a clear lack of understanding of a sensitive situations where joking is inappropriate, but posters on here do seem to be overly serious and be incapable of being gently teased."

I think teasing's different though. Gentle teasing is for when both parties are already in on the joke. If it's a stranger, and you're disguising your "teasing" as a normal interaction, you're deliberately wrong footing them, which is rude and unpleasant.