Indian, Coffee, and Representation

[Billie Goodson]

An Indian walks into a cafe with a shotgun In one hand pulling a male buffalo with the other. He says to the waiter: "Want coffee."

The waiter says, "Sure. Coming right up."

He gets the Indian a tall mug of coffee......

The Indian drinks the coffee down in one gulp, turns and blasts the buffalo with the shotgun, causing parts of the animal to splatter everywhere And then just walks out.

The next morning the Indian returns. He has his shotgun in one hand, pulling another male buffalo with the other. He walks up to the counter and says to the waiter, "Want coffee."

The waiter says "Whoa! We're still cleaning up your mess from yesterday. What was all that about, anyway?"

The Indian smiles and proudly says,

"Training for position in United States Congress:
Come in, drink coffee, shoot the bull,
Leave stuff for others to clean up,
Disappear for rest of day."

[Joanne Vergin]

Not trying to be ornery but why can't the joke be told this way:

1. A guy walks into a cafe with a shotgun In one hand pulling a male buffalo with the other. He says to the waiter: "Want coffee."

The waiter says, "Sure. Coming right up."

He gets the guy a tall mug of coffee......

The guy drinks the coffee down in one gulp, turns and blasts the buffalo with the shotgun, causing parts of the animal to splatter everywhere And then just walks out.

The next morning the guy returns. He has his shotgun in one hand, pulling another male buffalo with the other. He walks up to the counter and says to the waiter, "Want coffee."

The waiter says "Whoa! We're still cleaning up your mess from yesterday. What was all that about, anyway?"

The guy smiles and proudly says,

"I’m training for a position in United States Congress:
Come in, drink coffee, shoot the bull,
Leave stuff for others to clean up,
Disappear for rest of day."

It's a very funny joke and I don't think ethnicity is needed to make it funny.

[David Graham]

You're quite right, ethnicity is not required when you have a "budding" politician to make a joke funny.

[Billie Goodson]

Not trying to be ornery but why can't the joke be told this way:

1. A guy walks into a cafe with a shotgun In one hand pulling a male buffalo with the other. He says to the waiter: "Want coffee."

The waiter says, "Sure. Coming right up."

He gets the guy a tall mug of coffee......

The guy drinks the coffee down in one gulp, turns and blasts the buffalo with the shotgun, causing parts of the animal to splatter everywhere And then just walks out.

The next morning the guy returns. He has his shotgun in one hand, pulling another male buffalo with the other. He walks up to the counter and says to the waiter, "Want coffee."

The waiter says "Whoa! We're still cleaning up your mess from yesterday. What was all that about, anyway?"

The guy smiles and proudly says,

"I’m training for a position in United States Congress:
Come in, drink coffee, shoot the bull,
Leave stuff for others to clean up,
Disappear for rest of day."

It's a very funny joke and I don't think ethnicity is needed to make it funny.

That would depend on your view of comical inerrancy. If you are a literalist, then the changes you propose would constitute a violation of the full breadth of the story. If you can tolerate a slightly more linguistically hermeneutical approach, then none of the salient features of the story are altered in a manner that would cause the original intent of the story to be perceived differently. I will leave it for you to decide if you are a comical conservative or liberal. But, thanks for playing!

[Jim Chabot]

Not trying to be ornery but why can't the joke be told this way:

1. A guy walks into a cafe with a shotgun In one hand pulling a male buffalo with the other. He says to the waiter: "Want coffee."

The waiter says, "Sure. Coming right up."

He gets the guy a tall mug of coffee......

The guy drinks the coffee down in one gulp, turns and blasts the buffalo with the shotgun, causing parts of the animal to splatter everywhere And then just walks out.

The next morning the guy returns. He has his shotgun in one hand, pulling another male buffalo with the other. He walks up to the counter and says to the waiter, "Want coffee."
O
The waiter says "Whoa! We're still cleaning up your mess from yesterday. What was all that about, anyway?"

The guy smiles and proudly says,

"I’m training for a position in United States Congress:
Come in, drink coffee, shoot the bull,
Leave stuff for others to clean up,
Disappear for rest of day."

It's a very funny joke and I don't think ethnicity is needed to make it funny.


What if we replace the member of congress with an idiot, but then I repeat myself.

It is nearly impossible to tell a joke completely devoid of insult. PETA is hopping mad about my penguin joke.

[Joanne Vergin]

I'm going to bow out of this Billie. I was offended and you seem to be offended by my offense.

[Billie Goodson]

I'm going to bow out of this Billie. I was offended and you seem to be offended by my offense.

Joanne, I apologize for the offense in the original post. I really did not realize you were offended, but I did think you offered an extremely valid rewrite of the joke. My last post was completely in jest and was picking on the issue of inerrancy in an off handed manner. I took no offense whatsoever from your post. I do seriously apologize for not detecting that you were offended and thus just seeming to pour salt in the wound by my last post. If I was to write the joke again, I would make the change you recommended. The detail you pointed out is completely irrelevant to the joke and probably could/should be avoided.

[Joanne Vergin]

Thank you Billie. I really appreciate it.

[Marg Shurtliff]

I agree that it isn't necassary to malign any culture . It amazed me when I was at CNC in the late 60's and on choir tour that I heard the same " jokes " but the group targeted was a substitution . In the East it was Newfies , in central Canada , frogs ( French) and out west it was Polish . Made me think they weren't really slamming any group but a more generic group would improve things . The little moron jokes did that . But they might be taken wrong as well .

[Billie Goodson]

As I look at the joke more and more, I think the interesting thing is I connect more with the indian being the one who leads in the buffalo. I guess there are really several groups that could be offended by the joke, Indians, men, and buffalos. I guess someone could even be offended for members of congress. As Jim pointed out, it is virtually impossible to tell a joke devoid of insult. That doesn't say we shouldn't still be careful.

[Jim Franklin]

It made me wonder if "the guy" paid for the coffee with an "Indian head nickel" that has a buffalo on the other side, or maybe some of you young folks didn't know there was such a US coin.

Neither "Indian" nor "Native American" are correct anymore as the new correct term is "First Nation."

Columbus called them "Ninos del Deos" which means "Children of God." The idea that he called them "Indian" because he thought he had reached Indian is historically incorrect as the area that is now called India was called Hindustan in that time frame. The term "Indian" is simply a derivation of "Ninos del Deos" which was shortened to "Indios" and then to "Indian." Source: a Sioux editorialist of Rapid City, SD.

[Gina Stevenson]

OK, guys. I just -- meaning 25 October 2010 -- learned of this thread from 19 october 2010, six days late! Well, when it popped up in the "new posts" list, I missed seeing it was in the "Fun" forum. Since Indians, coffee, and buffalo, I didn't "get," guess I passed it up to click on posts that better caught my eye in the "new posts" list.

Sorry we didn't realize there was any "problem" even until today. Our email from here is the one we use that we don't let "junk mail" go to. But then, I realize now, I guess I forget to check it now & then! Oops! Again, sorry.

Will have to agree that, once here, I sort of cringed when reading that, too. Why does it have to be "Indian," I tho't. But then I guess perhaps it wasn't to insult the Indians, just the politicians. And the sort of folks who hung out most with the buffalo in the story (historically?) were the "Indians."

But, hey!! The story says he "shoots the bull," not "shoots the buffalo." So, maybe this could be a "cowboy" instead ... no nationality singled out, since there are/have been such persons within many nationalities. So, maybe "cowboy" and a "bull" rather than a buffalo might make it more of a generic, less ethnic-sounding sort of joke, eh?

Will try to keep my eyes open more, even tho' it is the "Fun" forum ... like a "good moderator should." ;)