“So, this taxi driver used to be a lawyer, and he was a really successful lawyer until one day he screwed up in court. For whatever logistical reasons, he lost his lawyership. He became a taxi driver. But you know, once you become a lawyer, you get a radar for lawyers. So every time he sees a lawyer, he tries to run them down with taxi. (He gestured as if he was driving a taxi and running someone over). One day, a priest got in his car. He saw a lawyer, and he was getting excited to hit him. He remembered there was a priest in the car though so he changed his mind, and he swerved at the last minute. He heard a clunk, and the lawyer was dead. He turned around and whispered, ‘I’m sorry father. I didn’t mean to.’ The priest replied, ‘That’s okay. I got him with the door.'”
The informant learned the joke at Boy Scout camp over one summer. He said it was one of the jokes they would tell around the campfire. He doesn’t tell the joke regularly, but he was really entertained as he told it to me.
The joke plays to a lot of different groups. It makes fun of lawyers in a way while also reaching out to taxi drivers and priests. The joke finds its humor from the fact that the priest who is supposed to be good purposefully hurts the lawyer instead of the ex-lawyer who had previously been bad. The joke takes on religion and purity in a humorous manner, but it can also just be seen as a good funny narrative joke. I found the joke funny myself because the ending is so unexpected.