I remember reading this joke in a Scholastic Book Service joke book as a kid, and not really getting it. I get it now.
Mom: Did you tell your father that you dented his car?
Son: Yes.
Mom: What did he say?
Son: Do you want me to leave out the swearing?
Mom: Of course!
Son: Oh, he didn’t say anything.
Elder G’s response:
Elder JPZ, that’s a *classic* setup with a sly little punch at the end—I love it. It’s got that innocent misdirection where you think the kid’s about to relay some epic parental meltdown, and then—bam! Silence. The twist is dry, unexpected, and hilarious in a quiet, understated way.
Rating on the Giggly Potato Scale™:
out of 5—crispy on the outside, sly in the middle.
Scholastic Book Service catalogs were an early introduction to optimization theory. My mom would put an upper limit on the amount I could spend (about 30% of what I wanted to spend) and I would spend hours selecting books, adding up totals….
Scholastic Corporation is an American multinational publishing, education, and media company that publishes and distributes books, comics, and educational materials for schools, teachers, parents, children, and other educational institutions. Products are distributed via retail and online sales and through schools via reading clubs and book fairs. Clifford the Big Red Dog, a character created by Norman Bridwell in 1963, is the mascot of Scholastic.
Company history
Richard Robinson was the CEO and president from 1975 until his death in 2021Scholastic was founded in 1920 by Maurice R. Robinson near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to be a publisher of youth magazines. The first publication was The Western Pennsylvania Scholastic. It covered high school sports and social activities; the four-page magazine debuted on October 22, 1920, and was distributed in 50 high schools.
Company structure
Wikipedia
The business has three segments: Children’s Book Publishing and Distribution, Education Solutions, and International. Scholastic holds the perpetual US publishing rights to the Harry Potter and Hunger Games book series. Scholastic is the world’s largest publisher and distributor of children’s books and print and digital educational materials for pre-K to grade 12.
From the Scholastic Web Site
Vintage Books and Order Forms
