GEORGE CARLIN light the fire. So we’re gonna have a contest. The first h get a fire goin’, and keep it goin’, wins a prize. It’s a 1 Nothin’ fancy. Just a regular hat. The kind with the earlap,

“OK, next item. We’re startin’ to get some complai t from the women about dating procedures. This mainly c( ^ cerns the practice of clubbin’ the women on the head u^d draggin’ ‘em back to the cave by the hair. They would like. to i discontinue this practice, especially the hair part. It se&ms some of them go to a lot of trouble and expense to fix UD their hair for a date, and they feel the draggin’ has a nega_ tive effect on their appearance. As far as the clubbin; js concerned, they’d like to elminate that too, because ^^ happens is a lot of ‘em have an enjoyable date, and then tw $ can’t remember it in the mornin’.

“Movin’ right along. As you all know, it’s been our practice when we find a new plant that looks good to eat, we test it on the dogs to see if it’s poison. Does everyone the berries we tested last week on the big brown dog? many ate the berries simply because the dog didn’t die that ^ day? Quite a few. Well, I got bad news. The dog died last rqght. Apparently it was a slow-actin’ poison. Yes, Laszlo? You didn’t eat the berries? But this mornin’ you ate the dog. \Vell, Laszlo, ya got about a week. Food chain! How many tim&s do A. I gotta tell you people? Food chain! By the way, anyone %ho’s gettin’ into that new cannibalism crap—I won’t mention any names—I’d strongly suggest not eatin’ Laszlo—or anyone else for that matter.

“All right, now we gotta talk about the Hated Ba%d of Enemy People Who Live in the Dark Valley. As some (of ya

brain droppings might know, they snuck into camp last night and stole a bunch of our stuff. They got those sticks we were savin’. They got the rocks we piled up near the big tree. And they also took sixteen trinkets; the ones we got in a trade with the Friendly Bent-over People from the Tall Mountain Near the Sun. I think it was them. It was either them or the Guys with the Really Big Foreheads Down by the River. Anyways, as I recall, we came off a cool two hundred animal skins for those trinkets, and frankly, the Chief and I think we got screwed. By the way, speakin’ of screwin’, they also stole several of our women last night. Along with a couple of those sensitive men we’ve been usin’ as women.

“OK, a new problem has come up that we’re gonna have to deal with. It concerns the growin’ menace of people chewin’ the leaves of the dream plant. It’s gotten completely outta hand. At first it wasn’t so bad. After a long day of huntin’, or gatherin’—whatever—people would chew a coupla leaves to relax. Recreational chewin’. No harm, no foul. But then some guys couldn’t leave it alone. They would chew way too much and lose control. Some of them became verbally abusive. Of course, they couldn’t help what they were sayin’. It wasn’t them talkin’, it was the leaves. But, hey, nevertheless!

“Then we found out some people were chewin’ on the job. Not only endangerin’ the lives of their co-hunters or co-gatherers—whatever—but also lowerin’ the amount of food we acquire, while somehow, at the same time, greatly increasin’ the rate of consumption of their own food. One of the gatherers, a short guy with bushy hair, I think it was Norris, got whacked outta his skull on leaves last week, and

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“Anyway, this new custom is quite different, and it might k come as somethin’ of a surprise to ya, so make sure you’re Or at least leanin’ on somethin’ firm. You peo dift ove C A R L I N A GEORGE he came in from gatherin’, with a grand total

a grand total of six berries and one nut. And this been out in the bushes for eight days! a<*

n v

“But now we’re runnin’ into an even more serious that affects the safety of everyone. It seems that some are chewin’ the leaves and then runnin’ around in Cic high speed. As a result we’re startin’ to get a huge increase ‘ the number of accidents. People are crashin’ into each othe Please! Try to remember. Chewin’ and runnin’ around in circles at high speed don’t mix. If you’re gonna run around in circles don’t chew; and if you’re gonna chew, for God’s sake, don’t be runnin’ around in circles. Designate someone.

“So try to be aware of the signs of leaf abuse. If you’re chewin’ in the mornin’, you got a problem. If you’re chewin’ alone, you got a problem. It’s no disgrace. Get some help. Say no to leaves. ” K

“OK, now, like I said earlier, we got a new thing we’re gonna be doin’, and I wanna announce it today. It’s gonna be a custom. Remember customs? Who can name a custom?

Nat? Goin’ to sleep at night? Well, that’s close, Nat. That’s almost like a custom. Who else can name a custom? Killing the animals before we eat them? OK, actually, Jules, that’s more like a necessity, isn’t it? More like a necessity. Lookin’

for a custom. Another custom. Dwayne? Washin’ the rocks and dryin’ them off before you throw them at the enemy durin’ a rock fight? Is that what you been doin’, Dwayne? Really! Well, I guess that would explain the disproportion ately high number of rock injuries in your squad, wouldn’t it? ,;-:-?> ;«-. >-*.<,??, -.??.. .,

come as somethin’ of a surprise to ya, o^ ^__. sittin’ down. Or at least leanin’ on somethin’ firm. You people standin’ over near the cliff, you might wanna drift over this way a little.

“Now. I want ya to remember that no matter what I say, this is gonna please the Corn God. OK? [Slowly, as if to children] The new custom … is gonna help . . . with the corn. Remember a coupla years ago we had no corn, and we hadda eat the trees? And a lotta people died? How many wanna go back to eatin’ the trees? OK, I rest my case. Yeah? Dwayne? You thought the trees were pretty good? Ya never disappoint me, Dwayne, ya know that? Folks, ya don’t have to look very K far for a tragic example of abusin’ the dream plant, do ya? “All right, here’s the new thing we’re gonna do, it’s called a human sacrifice. Each week, to appease the Corn God, we’re gonna kill one member of the tribe. All right, calm down! C’mon, sit down! Hey! Hold on! Hear me out on this, would . ya? Just relax and hear me out on this. We’re gonna start « havin’ a human sacrifice every week, probably on Saturday night. That’s when everybody seems to loosen up pretty good. So startin’ next Saturday night, about the time we run outta berry juice, we’re gonna pick one person, probably a ^ young virgin, and we’ll throw her in the volcano. All right, girls! Please! Siddown! Please! Stop with the rocks!! Calm down, ladies. We’re not gonna do it today. I promise. Relax. “OK, so we throw the virgin in the volcano. By the way, how many remember the volcano? Remember the fire? Remember the lava? What word comes to mind when we think

brain droppings GEORGE CARLIN about the volcano? Hot! Right. The volcano is hot. What’s that h Dwayne? No. No way. If this idea’s gonna work at all, it’s gotta be done while the volcano is actually erupting. I don’t think the Corn God is gonna be impressed if we throw some chick in a dormant volcano. It’s meaningless. I think he’s lookin’ for ^ somethin’ with a little more screamin’ involved. “OK, so we throw the virgin in the volcano. What’s that? i How does this help with the corn? Good question. Look, Morley, I just make the announcements, OK? I’m not involved with policy. It came down from the high priests, that’s all you gotta know. This is one of those things you just gotta accept on faith. It’s like that custom we started last year of cuttin’ off a guy’s head to keep him from stealin’. At first it seemed ^ severe, am I right? But ya gotta admit, it seems to work. “OK, one last point: You say, Why does it have to be a young virgin; why can’t we throw a wrinkled old man in the volcano? Lemme put it this way. Did y’ever get a real good, close look at the high priests? OK. Once again, I rest my case. “Now, the only problem we anticipate with this new cus-® torn is the distinct possibility of runnin’ out of virgins. Ya gotta figure best case scenario we’re not gonna see any corn till late next year, so it looks like we’re gonna be waxin’ virgins at quite a clip. And hey! . . . girls, don’t take this the k wrong way … but we don’t have that many virgins to begin with, do we? Ha-ha-ha-ha!! No offense, girls! Really! No, hey, you’re very lovely.