For his birthday, David received a parrot as a gift. This parrot was fully grown with a bad attitude and worse vocabulary. Every other word was an expletive. Those that weren’t expletives were, to say the least, rude.
David tried hard to change the bird’s attitude and was constantly saying polite words, playing soft music, anything that came to mind. Nothing worked. He yelled at the bird, the bird got worse. He shook the bird and the bird got even madder and ruder.
Finally, in a moment of desperation, David put the parrot in the freezer. For a few moments, he heard the bird squawking, kicking, and screaming and then, suddenly, all was quiet.
David was frightened that he might have actually hurt the bird and quickly opened the freezer door.
The parrot calmly stepped out onto David’s extended arm and said: “I’m sorry that I offended you with my language and actions. I ask your forgiveness. I will try to change my behavior…”
David was astounded at the bird’s change in attitude and was about to ask what changed him when the parrot continued, “May I ask what the chicken did?”
From Alan King’s Great Jewish Joke Book, by Alan King
