Not good, but slow

Main Piece: Not good, but slow

“I may not be good, but I am slow”

Background Information:

When my dad was younger and was working construction in Alaska, one of his friends who worked the same job grew up in the Soviet Union where everybody was provided a job. Because of this, it did not matter how hard you worked on the job because the job was guaranteed. Because of this, if someone was a hard worker they would make everybody else look bad because you did not need to work hard to keep a job.

Context of the Performance:

This was a joke with some truth that you would say to your employer in the Soviet Union, according to my dad’s friend, because hard workers were not well liked due to the fact that they would make others look bad.

My Thoughts:

Without the context for this joke, it is not understandable. However, once the context is filled in it becomes understandable and funny. I find it very interesting that this mentality was apparently fairly common within the Soviet Union.

Sorrow

Main Piece: Sorrow

“Sorrow shared is sorrow halved” 

“צער משותף הוא צער בחצי”

Background Information:

This was a proverb that my mother grew up with in Israel. Her mother would say it to her in situations where it was applicable.

Context of the Performance:

This is said to somebody when they are experiencing sorrow when others also feel the same sorrow. It tells them that they are not alone in their sorrow and that they have support through others. Going through a sad situation alone is much more difficult than experiencing it with somebody else because there is somebody to talk about it with that shares the same experience.

My Thoughts:

I have not encountered this proverb before, but it is a very applicable one. It is always better to have somebody to talk about a sad situation with and this proverb summarizes that truth very well.

Corpse

Main Piece: Corpse

“Bleeding a dead corpse”

Background Information:

The informant has heard that bleeding the living people was done a long time ago to help cure people of diseases. It never had any scientific backing and does not actually cure anybody of any diseases. So, if bleeding an alive person to cure them of a disease does not work, then surely bleeding a dead corpse will not work either.

Context of the Performance:

This is normally said to somebody who is trying to complete a task that is not possible or that is unnecessary. It is said to them because it implies that they should rethink the task that they are trying to complete.

My Thoughts:

This is a phrase that I want to use in the future because I can think of many situations where I could say this and it would hold true. However, I am unsure about how many people know what the phrase “bleeding a dead corpse” will imply because they are unaware of the historical context that is a prerequisite to understanding the phrase.

Catch, but not throw

Main Piece: 

“What can you catch but not throw?”

“A cold!”

Background Information:

This riddle is a series of short riddles that are told for fun that are not that difficult to figure out. These riddles are mainly made up by the students themselves or occasionally found in joke or riddle books that some students have acquired during childhood. 

Context of the Performance:

This riddle, along with other riddles that are of a similar difficulty level are often told in elementary school through high school. They are normally told by the students themselves and are aimed at stumping the other students for fun. They occur within the classroom or passing periods and are used as a way to pass the time. 

My Thoughts:

I have heard this riddle before, but I have not heard it again since high school. I never really enjoyed these types of riddles, but that is mainly because I could never get the correct answer. I am also aware that there are many other riddles that take on a similar form and are at a similar level of simplicity.

Imagine

Main Piece: Imagine

“Imagine you’re in a room with no windows, doors, or any openings. How do you plan an escape?” 

“Stop imagining!”

Background Information:

This riddle is one of a series of riddles where you have to imagine yourself in a particular scenario that usually takes place in a type of nebulous room that you have to escape from. Oftentimes in these sorts of riddles, there are objects within the room that you can use to escape from the room. These are often challenging puzzles that require creativity and careful thought to figure out. However, this riddle is a play off of those riddles because there is nothing you can do to escape the hypothetical room other than stop imagining yourself within that room.

Context of the Performance:
These riddles, and riddles with the same premise as this one, are often told in a group of friends to try to stump people. There are many situations that the telling of this riddle is appropriate and there is no set time where this riddle should be performed. It is up to the teller of the riddle to decide when to tell it. However, due to the fact that this riddle is lighthearted, there are certain situations where it may not be appropriate, such as a funeral. 

My Thoughts:

I have heard countless variations of this style of riddle where you are stuck in a room and have to escape using the explanation of the layout of the room and what is inside of it. I was not able to solve this riddle because I was used to hearing the other riddles where there really is a way that you can escape the room using the tools and scenarios outlined by the speaker. With this riddle, you must think outside the box and essentially dismiss the riddle completely and stop imagining the scenario in order to arrive at the correct answer.