He spotted a woman ahead and asked,
“Excuse me, could you help me? I’m not sure what hole I’m on.”
She smiled politely and said,
“You’re one hole behind me. I’m on the 7th; so you’re on the 6th.”
Relieved, he thanked her and went back to his game. A short while later, he got lost again. He saw the same woman and asked once more,
“Sorry to bother you, but I’m lost again. Can you tell me what hole I’m on?”
She chuckled and replied,
“You’re still one hole behind me. I’m on the 14th; you’re on the 13th.”
Grateful again, he thanked her and finished his round.
Later in the clubhouse, he saw her and decided to thank her properly.
“Can I buy you a drink for helping me out there?” he asked.
She agreed, and they chatted over drinks. As the conversation flowed, he asked,
“So, what do you do for a living?”
“I’m in sales,” she said with a shy smile.
“No way! Me too!” he said. “What do you sell?”
She hesitated, “Well… it’s a little embarrassing.”
“Come on,” he said. “I promise I won’t laugh.”
She sighed and said, “Alright… I sell sanitary napkins.”
He held a straight face—for a moment. Then he burst into uncontrollable laughter, nearly falling off his chair.
“You promised not to laugh!” she shouted.
Still laughing, he choked out,
“I’m sorry… but I can’t help it. I sell toilet paper… and I’m still one hole behind you!”
Joke Poo: The Intern’s Regret
A software engineer was debugging code late one night when he realized he was hopelessly lost in a tangle of functions. He spotted an intern hunched over a monitor nearby and asked,
“Excuse me, could you help me? I’m not sure what module I’m in.”
The intern, eyes glazed, muttered,
“You’re one module behind me. I’m in the authentication service; you’re in the user profile service.”
Relieved, he thanked the intern and went back to his coding. A short while later, he was even more lost than before. He saw the same intern and asked again,
“Sorry to bother you, but I’m completely lost now. Can you tell me what module I’m in?”
The intern sighed wearily and replied,
“You’re still one module behind me. I’m deploying the payment gateway; you’re still stuck in that user profile service.”
Grateful again, he thanked the intern and finally managed to fix his bug.
Later in the break room, he saw the intern and decided to get to know him.
“Can I buy you a coffee for helping me out there?” he asked.
The intern agreed, and they chatted. As the conversation continued, he asked,
“So, what are you working on this internship?”
“I’m in the testing department,” the intern said with a tired smile.
“No way! Me too!” he said. “What are you testing?”
The intern hesitated, “Well… it’s a bit of a mess.”
“Come on,” he said. “I promise I won’t judge.”
The intern slumped in his chair and said, “Alright… I’m writing unit tests for the entire database management system.”
The engineer held a straight face – for a moment. Then he burst into uncontrollable laughter, nearly spilling his coffee.
“You promised you wouldn’t judge!” the intern exclaimed.
Still laughing, he choked out,
“I’m sorry… but I can’t help it. I’m writing integration tests… and I’m still one hole behind you!”
Okay, let’s dissect this joke and then build something new from it.
Joke Dissection:
- Setup: A man gets lost on a golf course and repeatedly asks a woman for help, establishing her as consistently one hole ahead.
- Misdirection: The expectation is that the humor will continue stemming from the golf course situation or perhaps a romantic connection between the two characters.
- Punchline: The woman’s profession (selling sanitary napkins) is revealed, juxtaposed with the man’s profession (selling toilet paper) and the callback to the “one hole behind” gag. The humor derives from the unexpected connection of their products to the golf course phrase and the inherent bathroom-related humor.
- Core Elements:
- Golf (location, activity)
- Lost/Direction
- Toilet Paper/Sanitary Napkins (products, related to hygiene)
- “One hole behind” (recurring phrase, double entendre)
Humorous Enrichment: Did You Know?
Here are a few ideas:
-
Playing on the “Hole” Idea with Golf Fact:
- Did you know? The lowest score ever recorded on a par-5 hole in a professional golf tournament is two. It’s called an albatross, or a double eagle. Which just goes to show, sometimes even the pros are further ahead on the course than you think. Almost makes you wonder what they do with their toilet paper… or sanitary napkins… if they’re that fast!
-
Elevating the “Toilet Paper” Humor:
- Did you know? The average person uses 57 sheets of toilet paper per day. Imagine how many “holes” that translates to in a golf game! It also explains why the man in the joke was always one hole behind. He probably needed a bathroom break.
-
A New Joke Related to the First One.
A man walks into a bar and orders a drink.
“Say,” he says to the bartender. “I met the oddest woman on the golf course today. She sells sanitary napkins, and I sell toilet paper.”
The bartender raises an eyebrow. “So?”
The man replies, “I’m always one hole behind her! It’s embarrassing, I try to get ahead in the course but it’s like she already knew where I was going to go.”
The bartender grins. “Buddy, I think you’ve found your hole mate. You should wipe that embarrassment off.”
-
Playing on the Sales Element:
- Did you know? During the early days of toilet paper marketing, some companies faced a unique challenge: people were hesitant to admit they needed the product. Imagine the sales pitch: “So, you know that thing? Well, we’ve got something for it!” Perhaps a more honest approach would have been saying: “Hey, are you on the course and behind the rest? Because we got a product for you!”
Explanation of choices:
The key is to take an element of the original joke and push it further in a humorous direction. The “Did You Know?” format provides a vehicle to introduce interesting (and often absurd) facts related to golf, toilet paper, or sales, which then create a comedic juxtaposition. The joke utilizes the pun of hole, while keeping the nature of the original story intact. I believe it is the best way to approach the task.