MASALA JOKE 45

Joke: Signs Iraq is getting used to the bombings

*Owners of Target franchises make plans to open stores back up again. *Instead of saying, “We are under attack, please take shelter,” citizens are now told, “Here we go again, you know the drill.” *Everyone wears sunglasses all the time. *Sarcastic giggling heard just behind live CNN reporters. *Yesterday’s lead headline in most Iraqi newspapers was “NBA Lockout Continues.” *Instead of running for cover at the sound of the air raid sirens, the Iraqis do the “Tomahawk Chop.” *Hussein’s latest address to the nation included the line, “We must resist the Great Satan, yadda yadda yadda…” *Christiane Amanpour is being invited to rooftop bomb watching parties all over Baghdad. *Baghdad High’s senior class has playfully painted a bull’s-eye on the roof of the school. *Iraqi Television Network preempts Hussein’s speech to show “Baywatch.” *Maps of Baghdad being divided into numbered grids and sold on street corners to play “Cruise Missile Bingo.” *Baghdad weather girls point to the map and say, “Scattered B-52 bombings and cruise missile strikes tonight through the early morning, with light rocket attacks tomorrow, clearing off by noon.” *”We could be killed by a bomb any second” no longer an effective pickup line in Iraqi bars. *Every Iraqi citizen has been issued a catcher’s mitt. *Students anxiously listen to the radio each morning to listen for school closings. *Even the ever-hilarious, “Sorry, that was me–must’ve been those BEANS I ate!” jokes are wearing thin. *Gag gift sales soar with the release of the new “Magnetic Hat.”