Today at the swimming pool hot tub, Charlotte listened to a man tell a joke that she had also just read on the internet (synchronicity!) so we decided to pass it on.
The punch line works because growing up in a hierarchical society, we would expect the bottom of the hierarchy (in this case the woman) to adjust to and take the brunt of the wants of the top (in this case the man). In this story, unexpectedly the husband is forced to be held accountable for and absorb the negative effects of his decision, when he had assumed that his wife would be the one to change her life to suit his whims.
A couple had been married for 40 years and were also celebrating their 60th birthdays. During the celebration, a fairy godmother appeared and said that because they had been such a loving couple all those years, she would give them one wish each. Being the faithful, loving spouse for all these years, naturally the wife wanted for her and her husband to have a romantic vacation together, so she wished for them to travel around the world. The fairy godmother waved her wand and boom! She had the tickets in her hand.
Next, it was the husband's turn and the fairy godmother assured him he could have any wish he wanted, all he needed to do was ask for his heart's desire. He paused for a moment, then said, "Well, honestly, I'd like to have a woman 30 years younger than me." The fairy godmother picked up her wand and boom! He was 90.
http://www.jokebuddha.com/Wand/recent/2#ixzz1l9YGGmHF
