5 ms·

Very old joke. Here’s the role-independent version: “Blame your predecessor” “Blame the reorg” “Make three envelopes”

by efitz 3y ago

deleted 3y ago
[deleted]
CharlesW 3y ago
So old that it's weird that the author would seemingly self-attribute it.
- xmprt 3y ago
  I guess it's hard to be a "NY Times bestselling author and keynote speaker" when you have to come up with all original ideas.
  - gowld 3y ago
    Anyone who publishes a book with a marketing budget is a NYT bestseller. It means nothing.
    - importantbrian 3y ago
      Being able to get your book published and having the publisher spend enough on marketing to get you on the NYT Bestseller list means something.
      - hiatus 3y ago
        What does it mean? Rich parents?
        aslfjiasf 3y ago
        It means a publisher ranked possibility of a positive return on investment for that book to be higher than the books they decided not to publish.
      - g-b-r 3y ago
        There are plenty of techniques to reach the NYT bestseller list; new internet matketers pay famous internet marketers to tell their followers to quickly buy their new book, hopefully in many copies, often with the cost fully or largely refunded. The book is usually about how to reach the NYT bestseller list.
- Terr_ 3y ago
  To add supporting evidence, here's something from 41 years ago where the butt of the joke was the leadership of Soviet Russia, and the inheritance was 2 letters: https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1982/01/15/a-tale-of-two-letters/e1f65aa4-66ce-4991-8a1b-840fc6956766/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1982/01/15/a...
  - jfoutz 3y ago
    A couple years ago I went looking for soviet jokes. They're amazing. I imagine google can find you some. A bunch of them were great. One I recall, American: The U.S. is the best! I can stand in front of the Whitehouse and yell, Ronald Regan is the worst president ever! Soviet: Comrade, I can stand in front of the Kremlin and yell the same thing! There's a bunch, with varying levels of grim. If you're ever bored, it's a rabbit hole that's worth poking around in.
    - RecycledEle 3y ago
      That was then. In 2023, in the USA, try standing in front of your local police department and explaining the simple, statistically likely, fact that they have at least one sexual predator working there. They will physically abuse you until you leave. If you refuse to leave, they will send you for a mental evaluation. If you still resist, they will kill you.
      - jfoutz 3y ago
        Even more reason to look them up. Soviet standing in red square handing out blank pieces of paper. Police come, and tell him to stop distributing protest flyers. Protestors: Protest? they're blank paper! Police: Comrade, everyone knows what's wrong. I might have messed it up a little, but, you get the gist.
        aslfjiasf 3y ago
        Humor imitates life: Russia arrested anti-war protesters holding blank signs: https://www.newsweek.com/russia-ukraine-war-invasion-protests-police-arrest-activists-holding-blank-signs-paper-1687603 https://www.newsweek.com/russia-ukraine-war-invasion-protest... But apparently this a thing in many countries, and there's even a Wikipedia article about this form of protest: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blank_piece_of_paper https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blank_piece_of_paper Ah, to be in America: >In 1970, Anna Halprin organised a "Blank Placard Dance" by members of her San Francisco Dancers' Workshop. They paraded, dressed in white, while holding blank placards. She explained, "...there were so many protests going on and this way each person watching us could just imagine whatever protest slogan they wanted on the placards." It's nice to be able to protest with blank signs because you want to make a joke, and not because of fear of arrest.
wiml 3y ago
I think the other version I'm familiar with is a Navy captain or new minted admiral - especially in the age of sail - someone who has to operate on their own for a long stretch. Looking around I see a bunch of variations: - the CEO or other corporate leader - a government leader (sometimes specifically Soviet or British) - a pastor or abbot - military officers of various ranks - a distinctly non-leadership corporate role that can catch a lot of flak (sysadmin) I wonder how old it is? How far back would envelopes have made sense? Do you suppose Ea-Nasr left three bullae to his successor?
mathgeek 3y ago
I heard a similar version years ago as “blame someone, blame something, take the blame”.
lencastre 3y ago
I first heard that in a movie. Something about politics, blame on me, blame on society, write 3 envelopes…
- FeteCommuniste 3y ago
  There's a version in the movie Traffic (2000) that uses "two letters": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3gmpyjSW6WQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3gmpyjSW6WQ
- mynameisnoone 3y ago
  This is how MBA bloggers get all of their "material".
heresie-dabord 3y ago
/1/ Say something humane, play for employees' and shareholders' trust. /2/ Lay off thousands of workers. Squeeze out a blandly sorrowful text and a few cold tears. /3/ Take the money and run, don't trouble yourself about leaving any envelopes. But if you have a pang of regret and must leave something, leave your little plastic bottle of cold artifical tears.
xtiansimon 3y ago
It’s a story and punch line.

Very old joke. Here’s the role-independent version: “Blame your predecessor” “Blame the reorg” “Make three envelopes”

by efitz 3y ago

Very old joke. Here’s the role-independent version: “Blame your predecessor” “Blame the reorg” “Make three envelopes”

deleted 3y ago

[deleted]

CharlesW 3y ago

So old that it's weird that the author would seemingly self-attribute it.

xmprt 3y ago
I guess it's hard to be a "NY Times bestselling author and keynote speaker" when you have to come up with all original ideas.
- gowld 3y ago
  Anyone who publishes a book with a marketing budget is a NYT bestseller. It means nothing.
  - importantbrian 3y ago
    Being able to get your book published and having the publisher spend enough on marketing to get you on the NYT Bestseller list means something.
    - hiatus 3y ago
      What does it mean? Rich parents?
      - aslfjiasf 3y ago
        It means a publisher ranked possibility of a positive return on investment for that book to be higher than the books they decided not to publish.
    - g-b-r 3y ago
      There are plenty of techniques to reach the NYT bestseller list; new internet matketers pay famous internet marketers to tell their followers to quickly buy their new book, hopefully in many copies, often with the cost fully or largely refunded. The book is usually about how to reach the NYT bestseller list.
Terr_ 3y ago
To add supporting evidence, here's something from 41 years ago where the butt of the joke was the leadership of Soviet Russia, and the inheritance was 2 letters: https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1982/01/15/a-tale-of-two-letters/e1f65aa4-66ce-4991-8a1b-840fc6956766/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1982/01/15/a...
- jfoutz 3y ago
  A couple years ago I went looking for soviet jokes. They're amazing. I imagine google can find you some. A bunch of them were great. One I recall, American: The U.S. is the best! I can stand in front of the Whitehouse and yell, Ronald Regan is the worst president ever! Soviet: Comrade, I can stand in front of the Kremlin and yell the same thing! There's a bunch, with varying levels of grim. If you're ever bored, it's a rabbit hole that's worth poking around in.
  - RecycledEle 3y ago
    That was then. In 2023, in the USA, try standing in front of your local police department and explaining the simple, statistically likely, fact that they have at least one sexual predator working there. They will physically abuse you until you leave. If you refuse to leave, they will send you for a mental evaluation. If you still resist, they will kill you.
    - jfoutz 3y ago
      Even more reason to look them up. Soviet standing in red square handing out blank pieces of paper. Police come, and tell him to stop distributing protest flyers. Protestors: Protest? they're blank paper! Police: Comrade, everyone knows what's wrong. I might have messed it up a little, but, you get the gist.
      - aslfjiasf 3y ago
        Humor imitates life: Russia arrested anti-war protesters holding blank signs: https://www.newsweek.com/russia-ukraine-war-invasion-protests-police-arrest-activists-holding-blank-signs-paper-1687603 https://www.newsweek.com/russia-ukraine-war-invasion-protest... But apparently this a thing in many countries, and there's even a Wikipedia article about this form of protest: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blank_piece_of_paper https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blank_piece_of_paper Ah, to be in America: >In 1970, Anna Halprin organised a "Blank Placard Dance" by members of her San Francisco Dancers' Workshop. They paraded, dressed in white, while holding blank placards. She explained, "...there were so many protests going on and this way each person watching us could just imagine whatever protest slogan they wanted on the placards." It's nice to be able to protest with blank signs because you want to make a joke, and not because of fear of arrest.

wiml 3y ago

I think the other version I'm familiar with is a Navy captain or new minted admiral - especially in the age of sail - someone who has to operate on their own for a long stretch. Looking around I see a bunch of variations: - the CEO or other corporate leader - a government leader (sometimes specifically Soviet or British) - a pastor or abbot - military officers of various ranks - a distinctly non-leadership corporate role that can catch a lot of flak (sysadmin) I wonder how old it is? How far back would envelopes have made sense? Do you suppose Ea-Nasr left three bullae to his successor?

mathgeek 3y ago

I heard a similar version years ago as “blame someone, blame something, take the blame”.

lencastre 3y ago

I first heard that in a movie. Something about politics, blame on me, blame on society, write 3 envelopes…

FeteCommuniste 3y ago
There's a version in the movie Traffic (2000) that uses "two letters": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3gmpyjSW6WQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3gmpyjSW6WQ
mynameisnoone 3y ago
This is how MBA bloggers get all of their "material".

heresie-dabord 3y ago

/1/ Say something humane, play for employees' and shareholders' trust. /2/ Lay off thousands of workers. Squeeze out a blandly sorrowful text and a few cold tears. /3/ Take the money and run, don't trouble yourself about leaving any envelopes. But if you have a pang of regret and must leave something, leave your little plastic bottle of cold artifical tears.

xtiansimon 3y ago

It’s a story and punch line.