”What’s the difference between a waitress and a toilet?

A waitress only has to deal with one asshole at a time!”

“I originally heard this one from my Mom, she worked as a waitress and would even tell this joke to customers sometimes! It always makes me laugh, because it’s true!”

Jokes are often shared among those in the same occupation, often as a way of connecting about shared experience. In this instance, the joke seems to reference two integral parts of working as a waitress: the possibility of getting unruly or rude customers, and the need to balance multiple customers at once.

I found the fact that the informant’s Mom could even share this joke with customers interesting. The universal plight of the waitress is well known even to those outside the liminal, and as such the humor can be appreciated even by those to whom it is pointed at.