READERSVOICE.COM presents a few samples from out of print and sometimes forgotten books. This issue features A Funny Thing Happened... by Norton Mockridge (1915-2004), published in 1966 by Fawcett. Mr Mockridge was a New York newspaper columnist and journalist. The book is a collection of true anecdotes of life, mainly in New York, in the 1960s. The book is well worth tracking down to see how he wrote these snappy and funny anecdotes. And they are funny for funny’s sake, which are the funniest kind, funnily enough.
Telephone drama at John F. Kennedy Airport counter: Phone rings. Clerk picks it up. “How long does it take to fly to New Orleans?” asks the caller.
“Just a minute,” says the clerk, reaching for the flight schedule.
“Oh, thanks a lot,” says the caller, and hangs up.
Signs in the BMT subway station at 14th Street say “Passengers not permitted to stand between yellow lines.” But you can walk the length of the station and not find any yellow lines not to stand between.
A Greenwich village waitress bought a suede jacket for $5. When she got it home, she found a scratch on the back, which probably accounted for the low price. In one of the pockets, however, she found a tiny piece of paper containing Japanese writing. Fascinated, she hunted all over the Village until she found a Japanese who could translate it. “The paper,” he said solemnly, “says this jacket has a scratch on the back.”
-continued next page
Discussion
Comments are disallowed for this post.
Comments are closed.