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A joke from Joseph Epstein's entertaining essay, “You Could Die Laughing: Are Jewish Jokes a Humorous Subject?”
“Walking along the beach, Goldstein finds a bottle, picks it up, and–surprise! surprise!–a genie emerges. The genie instructs Goldstein that he will grant him one wish, and one wish only. Goldstein says he wishes for world peace. The genie tells him he gets that wish a lot, but it is impossible to fulfill, so, if he doesn't mind, please try another wish. In that case, Goldstein says, he would like more respect from his wife, who maybe would spend less time and money on shopping and prepare a decent home-cooked meal for him every once in a while and possibly make some attempt to satisfy his sexual desires. The genie pauses, then says, 'Goldstein, tell me what, exactly, it is you mean by world peace.'”
