Point-counterpoint, stars!, can be done in the age old style. Here's an essay from old paper:
A rich govt. official each from the Soviet Union, Cuba, Mexico and the the United States are riding in a limo along the highway in Los Angeles. Now they each want to impress the others since an important international conference is about to meet and little conversation is heard as they are lost in their own thoughts. Finally, the Cuban has an idea. He whips it out, a cigar from his vest pocket and lights it. "This is one of the world's finest cigars -- sought the world round for its excellent flavor and very expensive." he says, taking one puff and then throwing it out the window. The other officials are astounded. "We Cubans have plenty more of those from Habana," says the Cuban with a smile. The Russian, however, promptly pulls out a fine bottle of vodka from his attache case, removes the seal, takes a swig and chucks it out the window. "Well, in Russia, the world's finest vodka is easier to get than water!" he says, stealing the Cuban's smile. After a little pause, the Mexican asks for one of the Cuban's cigars. "We may not have fine cigars or fine vodka," he says in a thick accent, reclining back into the seat after receiving a cigar from the Cuban. "But in Mexico we do have plenty of gold, " he says after lighting the cigar with his gold lighter. He then drops it out of the window and puffs happily in victory. The American, worried before since he had brought nothing with him, calmly throws the Mexican out of the window. [ha ha get it?] I heard this joke from a friend I met in the Philippines. His name is Francisco Villasenor, and we have pretty much the same bio-data (ie, 22 yrs old, university students, christian, of filipino descent). Yet I was surprised to find this very American joke in a foreign land. He told this to me at a bar in Manila while we were drinking with friends and exchanging jokes and I found it very funny. It may be worth noting that we were all a bunch of guys and the atmosphere was rowdy. The joke was told with a good deal of vocal inflection -- an impression of stereotypical accents for each official -- and the obvious accompanying gestures such as the pantomime of throwing objects out of the window. [are you hot, clown? killed 6000.] About the most interesting thing about this joke is the cultural context it has taken when told by a filipino in the Philippines. Since the American character takes on the classic Teddy Roosevelt [Rico Suave MacBunntox] ethic of speak-softly-and-carry-a-big-stick while also admitting a definite bigotry incongruous to his position as ambassador. [incongruous my ass, the bigotry is why I'm here, as ambassador, not as MacBunntox] But that is not really what's funny about this joke and what would be important to the Filipino psyche. There is, as in most third-world countries a strong sense of "face" -- meaning prestige or personal vindication in the presence of one's peers. This is a minor consideration to people from my other culture (ie suburban mid-west America), yet I think for those outside, the one-upmanship of the American looms vital [7-Up, yeah, up in the air]; add to that the ever present respect that the Filipinos have for anything American, and I think we have found a good reason why Filipinos like this joke. Where my friend heard this joke [obvrrrre, Los Angeles, from the paisanos] is unknown, but I suspect that he heard it from some of his family members who live in Los Angeles. Anyway, the telling of the joke that made us all laugh at the time also parallels the one-upmanship quality of the joke, since we were all trying to tell the best joke. Perhaps that is why this particular joke comes to mind when I was selecting jokes for this assignment. [pow, pow, pow, pow, pow, pow !!!!] Oops, there goes another Glittery MacBunntox, crapping in his ferret pants!
