Michael D. Davis

Alright, my humor isn’t for everyone. And frankly, most of the things that amuse me I try to keep to myself.

Ya see, just a few of the words that can describe my sense of humor are: weird, dark, and just plain stupid. I have gotten in trouble for my sense of humor more times than I can count. I mean, telling a dead clown joke in the middle of a church won’t make you as many friends as you think. (What did the guy say when he found the dead clown? At least he died with a smile on his face.)

So, naturally, in certain situations, I try to keep everything in my head. This also sometimes backfires into me giggling like a freak, but no solution is perfect. The good thing and the bad thing is my ability to find humor nearly everywhere; I don’t think I have ever gone to a funeral without laughing a little. And oh boy, do I have a funny funeral story, well I’m getting off topic; I’ll have to tell that next week.

I digress, the reason I’m talking about this is because it just nearly got me into trouble. I’ve been doing stuff for the paper here what? Six months? One of the things I do is go to the weekly meetings: county supervisors, and Tama and Toledo city council. Now, if there was ever a place not for my humor it’s there. If I let a joke rip or a one-liner slip, I doubt it will be the end of my reporter days, but nonetheless.

It was this Monday’s meeting, and the discussion was on naming a new street. Council members were supposed to come up with possible names. I, myself, had a name in mind for the street; that I thought was hilarious, stupid yes, but it made me laugh. Discussion progressed with a few historical names thrown out and a couple joke ones, here and there too. The Mayor casually asked for opinions around the room, going from person to person. The name in my head refused to go away but instead got louder and louder as the discussion continued. Eventually, Mr. Mayor looked at me and said, “Mikey, any ideas?” I wanted to say it, I needed to say it, it was burning its way through my brain. I mustered up a, “Nope.” The Mayor said something like, “No opinion?” I just shook my head and bit my lip.

I know for a fact if I would have said it, it would have gone over like a lead balloon. Now, I will tell you my name idea. The stupid, ridiculous, and I think funny, street name idea. The only reason I will tell you is because I am sure no council member nor Mr. Mayor himself reads my column. I truly doubt any of them gets the paper and thumbs through it to see what magic this Mike has been up to.

Okay. Ya ready? Butt@#!* Boulevard.

Oh, yeah. You may call it stupid, even not funny. However, on Monday, that street name to me was hilarious, and I am amazed that I found the strength not to suggest it at the council meeting. Then again, you may think I should’ve suggested it, because who wouldn’t want to live at 101 East Butt@#!* Boulevard.