Pun-tastic

I went out to lunch the other day with two of my favorite co-workers. It was an excellent lunch outing, even if we did skip the beers that seemed like they should go with our burritos. When we got out of our car on the way there, we passed some men refacing the brick on a building. To keep pedestrians from messing with them, they had put up a couple of those flasher barricades. (Aside: I had no idea those things were so cheap. I figured they somehow cost $1k+. Also, did you know that there's a Flasher Barricade Association? I certainly didn't.) When I looked at one of them I started chuckling almost immediately. One of my compadres asked what the hell I was laughing at. I pointed back at the barricade and said, "See what's printed across the bottom cross-piece?" In block letters on the bottom cross-piece, someone had painted "NEIGHOFF." It's probably the name of the company who sold it or the one who owns it, or some other equally plausible explanation.

"Yeah. So?" She said.

"Well, I'm just wondering if that's what horses say to each other when they're irked."

As you might imagine, she groaned. BUT, she couldn't help but chuckle for quite a while about that one. The best puns always bring out the groan and the chuckle. I loved it.

That incident made me think about what was perhaps the best pun delivery I've ever witnessed. What's odd is that I can't remember exactly when it was. It was either in my late high school or - more likely, since I might not be able to remember back that far - early college years. I went out to dinner with one of my auxiliary families: Lawton, his mom (codename: Marcia), his step dad (codename: Don), and his sister (codename: Jen). This was a common occurrence, as I was under foot enough at a few friends' homes (especially both of Lawton's) that they didn't even notice if I tagged along for dinner. And before you ask, yes, I was quite the mooch.

Anyway, Marcia was telling a story about some woman she encountered somewhere sometime. I have no idea of the details about the woman, other than that Marcia said the woman was wearing a sari.

"Are you sure it wasn't a sarong?" Don asked.

"No, it was a sari. I know the difference between a sari and a sarong, Don," Marcia replied, somewhat testily.

"Well, I don't," Don explained. "I always get them confused. I thought a sari was just a little skirt."

"No, that's a sarong," Marcia said.

"Oh. I'm sorry. I was so wrong."

Wait for it. Wait for it. There it is. Yes, it was marvelous. I had only seen it coming just before it was delivered, and Lawton was blindsided by it. The whole table groaned quite loudly. Then, we chuckled for quite a while. It was pun-tastic.