Bud Grossmann’s Words of the Week for the Week of October 4, 2015 Previously unpublished political commentary. © 2015 by Bud Grossmann. All Rights Reserved.   Boy With His Parents’ Eyes (1980) © 1980 by Bud Grossmann THIRD-GRADE JOKE CHINESE man marry JAPANESE woman they have BABY! Did you hear that joke in school, too, or shall I explain it now? If you remember it, tell it to me, and let’s get it right, because I’m watching closely. When I was a little kid, in the late 1950’s, attending a school for children of American service personnel in Japan, some students would sometimes use the tips of their index fingers to pull down the corners of their eyes as they declared in a sing-song rhythm, “CHINESE man ...,” and they’d hold that pose for a beat until they said, “...marry JAPANESE woman ...,” and when they said the word “Japanese,” they’d pull the corners of their eyes UPward to look Japanese, AND THEN, the punchline: “they have BABY!” and they’d leave one slanty eyelid up while they brought the other slanty eyelid down. Ha, ha! Third grade, and we were already demonstrating our knowledge of heredity and dominant and recessive traits! It was really funny to see the Chinese and Japanese kids do this joke. Would you think I was being racist if I claimed some white kids couldn’t remember when to make their eyelids go up and when to make them go down? Oh, all those years gone by! Gosh, it’s wonderful to live, in 2015, in post-racial America! ♦         ARCHIVES         Click for a list of other Words of the Week I would welcome your thoughts on this page (or any of my others).  Write to me at the following address.  Please be sure to spell Grossmann with two n’s and mention what page you are writing about. Thanks!  BUD GROSSMANN Top of this page | HOME | Fine Photography | Picture of the Day | Writings | | Words of the Week | Mom & Pop Prop. Mgt. | FAQ |

This page was updated Fri, Oct 2, 2015, 11:17PM CDT