Occupational Joke

“My dad is a doctor, so he always tells these ridiculous and corny doctor jokes.  They’re really cheesy, but he is really nice and has a good sense of humor, so people usually laugh or giggle (or so he says.)  One of his favorite jokes that I know he uses a lot, and has used on me, is when if a patient is injured, he’ll do an action and ask the patient to imitate that action.  After having done so, he asks if that hurt the injured area.  When the patient says yes, he goes “Well then don’t do that!”

This joke is an example of occupational folklore because its context relates specifically to an occupation that is involved (here, doctor.)  While the joke is not aimed at, or about doctors, I would still classify it in this category because it is still humor that relates to sickness, injury, etc.  It is clear that Jeff has a good sense of humor and uses these jokes regularly to try to cheer patients up.  This is reasonable and to be expected from a man with a sense of humor because when a patient comes to an office with an issue, they are most likely upset about the issue and a joke would cheer them up.

This particular joke is a witty play on logic.  When Jeff asks the patient to do an action and then proceeds to ask if that hurt, he is performing what seems to be a typical procedure that doctors follow in order to attempt to figure out specifically what kind of issue a patient may be having.  However, if the patient does the action, and responds to Jeff that yes, that hurt the injured area, he uses this to make a joke.  When he responds “Well then don’t do that!” he is playing with logic in multiple ways.  First of all, he makes it seem as if the patient chose to willingly perform the action on their own without having been asked to.  Secondly, he also makes it seem as if the patient is the one creating the pain as opposed to an injury itself that he/she could no longer control.  Lastly, the joke is ironic because the patient only goes to the doctor in the first place to get the injury fixed, and saying “Well then don’t do that!” is hardly a way to fix an injury.

This joke seems to be humor that most patients should be able to appreciate.  As Dolyn says, “or se he says,” (about the patients appreciating the humor) she implies that the joke has a corny tone to it and maybe not everyone would really find it to be that funny.  Also, some patients may simply lack a strong sense of humor while in an injured state, and wouldn’t appreciate it for that simple reason.  However, this joke is still representative of an array of occupational jokes that doctors probably use to try to ease the pain of the patients and encourage them to cheer up despite their injuries.  Whether the humor is appreciated or not, it is apparent that jokes like these are often told by doctors to make patients feel more comfortable in their presence as well we making their own personality seem more likeable so that the patient is likely to return in the future after remembering the good cheer that he provided.