Sunday, November 22, 2020

Laugh with me

This starts like a quote from the Bible, but uses only the first part of it:
"As for me and my household, we will serve the Lord."
— Joshua 24:15
But then the familiar verse veers off to become a pun:
"As for me and my house, we will stay where we at."
— 1st Isolations 24:7
"First Isolations."  Yes, we've been there, haven't we?  Did you notice the reference to 24/7 (which is almost, but not quite, chapter and verse from the Bible)?  I've stayed in my apartment 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, except when I go down to check my mail every two or three days or meet the grocery delivery person at our entrance so we don't have strangers wandering through our buildings.  The good news is that no one at the Crown Center has gotten the coronavirus, as far as I know.  Following the advice to stay home, wear a mask, and social distance from others seems to be working.

When I posted this on Facebook, I asked if I should correct "where we at" to "where we are."  My friend Kathy said, "Leave the typo alone, Bonnie.  It’s the language of the people."  She showed a laughing emoji, but I still wondered, is it the language of the people?  Which people?  I responded to Kathy with a sort-of question, "It's where we at these days, huh?"  Sorry, but that sounds so wrong to me.  I guess I can't change 80 years of trying to learn the right words and use correct grammar.  Is "where we at" okay with you?  Or not?  Maybe as part of a joke?

Calvin's mind was wandering.  His teacher yells, "Calvin, pay attention!!  We're studying geography!"  Then she asks him what state he lives in, and Calvin says, "Denial."  She can't argue with that.  How many non-maskers are living there with Calvin?  (Click to enlarge the illustrations.)

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