I like irreverent politically incorrect jokes. They make me laugh. Sometimes when watching Sarah Silverman, I laugh so hard I almost lose consciousness.
However, as with any form of humor, even politically incorrect humor has some lines that just should not be crossed. One of those lines is jokes at the expense of homeless people.
In the last 24 hours I have seen two such jokes on twitter from different comedians. I don't recall seeing any others in a long time, I hope it is not a new trend that is starting in the comedy world.
There just is not anything funny about homelessness. It's not funny that someone has to sleep on the ground, under a bush, under an overpass, exposed to the elements and bugs and spiders. It's not funny that they are subject to the elements, such as wind and rain and heat extremes. It is not funny that they have to dig through garbage cans looking for enough plastic bottles to make a little money. It's not funny that they can not afford to have their teeth cleaned, and do not have facilities at their disposal to adequately brush their teeth, let alone wash their hair or even remove the most basic body odor from themselves. It's not funny how many are homeless simply because during this recession, some employers are automatically rejecting applications from anyone not employed elsewhere at the time of the interview. It's not funny that some are homeless because they have a mental illness, which may even be the result of post traumatic stress resulting from things they saw or had to do while wearing a uniform serving this country. It's not funny that some are homeless because they grew up in the poor part of town with crappy schools that did not even teach them to adequately read, let alone prepare them for college or even trade school. It just is not funny.
If you insist on writing or telling jokes at the expense of the homeless, please do me this one favor:
Pick a night, and go to your local soup kitchen. Volunteer to help serve the food. Once you have helped serve the food to them, serve some to yourself, find a spot at a table, sit down, and eat with them. Talk with them.
Then see how eager you are to write or spread jokes at their expense.
