A Computer Gender Lesson

"A Computer Gender Lesson"
{For Brielle in N.J.}

A Spanish teacher was explaining to her class that
in Spanish, unlike English, nouns are designated
as either masculine or feminine.

"House" for instance, is feminine: "la casa."

"Pencil," however, is masculine: "el lapiz."

A student asked, "What gender is 'computer'?"

Instead of giving the answer, the teacher split the
class into two groups, male and female, and asked
them to decide for themselves whether "computer"
should be a masculine or a feminine noun.

Each group was asked to give four reasons
for its recommendation.

The men's group decided that "computer" should
definitely be of the feminine gender ("la computadora"),

because:

1. No one but their creator understands their internal logic;

2. The native language they use to communicate with
other computers is incomprehensible to everyone else;

3. Even the smallest mistakes are stored in long term
memory for possible later retrieval; and

4. As soon as you make a commitment to one, you
find yourself spending half your paycheck
on accessories for it.

(THIS GETS BETTER!)

The women's group, however, concluded that
computers should be Masculine ("el computador"),
because:

1. In order to do anything with them, you have to turn
them on;

2. They have a lot of data but still can't think for themselves;

3. They are supposed to help you solve problems,
but half the time they ARE the problem; and

4. As soon as you commit to one, you realize that if
you had waited a little longer, you could have gotten
a better model!

The women won!

***********************************************

"First Day Of Psychiatry Class"

The aspiring psychiatrists were attending their
first class on emotional extremes. "Just to
establish some parameters," said the professor
to the student from Arkansas, "What is the
opposite of joy?"

"Sadness," stated the student.

"And the opposite of depression?" he asked of
the young lady from Oklahoma.

"Elation," she replied.

"And you sir," he said to the young man from
Texas, "How about the opposite of woe?"

He said, "Sir, I believe that would be giddy-up."
Received on Sat Aug 25 09:39:30 2007