whatareyouthinking

Tripp heard a joke.  Tripp knew that it was a joke, but he could not figure out what made it funny.  There were others around him who also heard the joke and Tripp noticed they were all laughing.  Not wanting to look out of place, Tripp found himself laughing too.  Tripp didn’t get the joke, but he figured there must have been something to it in order for everyone around him to find it so funny. 

Since it seemed to make everyone else laugh, Tripp decided to repeat the joke.  Everywhere Tripp went, he would tell people the joke and many would laugh, even though Tripp himself never understood the joke. 

After some time Tripp wondered whether anyone really did get the joke, or if the others were merely laughing for the same reason that he had been laughing. 

Tripp’s wife was watching their four-year-old niece one weekend but had much difficulty controlling her.  To Tripp’s wife’s horror, the young girl picked up Tripp’s tobacco pipe and pretended to smoke.  Tripp’s wife yelled at the girl, saying, “If you don’t put that pipe down right this minute, I am going to blow up the house!” 

The girl did not respond to her threat, so several minutes later Tripp’s wife agressively seized the pipe from her neice’s hand but did not end up blowing up the house that day.  Then Tripp’s wife said, “I just can’t seem to get this girl to listen to me.”