Silas, Chicken Whisperer tried to tell me a joke last night that he made up.  As soon as he told me he made it up, I began to be concerned.  He is good and kind and holy and so full of love,  every mother should have a son like him.  But funny, not so much.

I suspect he tried his hand at making up a joke for the soul purpose of having a joke that he understands.  He often doesn't get jokes.  He is a smart boy, don't get me wrong.  Problem solving is not his strong suit, though and he is well aware of the fact.

So, here is the joke, verbatim.

"So, there are like these three guys.  They are stranded on a desert island.  Together.  Like all on the same island.  One of them finds a lamp.  Why do they call it a lamp?  I mean it's not exactly a lamp, it's more like a, well a sort of a, I'm not really sure but not a lamp.

[I don't actually know why they don't call it a lamp, bit for the purpose of the joke, let's just use the word lamp because I know what you mean.]

Okay, so the first guy, he rubs the lamp.  And then the second guy gets a turn but for some reason the third guy doesn't get a turn.  Anyway.  He rubs the lamp, the first guy and a genie comes out.  You probably knew that was going to happen.  The genie says, you get one wish.  So the guy wishes to go home and then he is gone.

So then there are two guys left.  The genies tells the second guy that he gets two wishes, but the other doesn't get any.  The second guy says, why?  The genie says just because. So, anyway, the second guy wishes to get off the island too.  And then his second he wishes that the third guy gets a wish.

So the third guy gets a wish.  But he's pretty mad by now.  So he just says to the genie, you're a stupid idiot.  And then the genie turns into a stupid idiot and the third guy is stuck on the island for the rest of his life with a stupid idiot.

Is that funny?" 

hmm.  What do I say to satisfy the truth and yet not hurt his feelings?  Well, I say, it could : of course! It might be funny-ER if you said the third guy wished the genie was a stupid idiot.

What do you mean? He has no idea what I mean.
Pretty funny.  Do you want to hear a blond joke, says Polly.  Baling me out with an inordinate amount of tact for a seventeen year old.