Absurdity, Allegory and China

“A fishing pole is a stick with a hook at one end and a fool on the other.”
–Samuel Johnson

There’s an old joke I heard nearly three decades ago concerning a Fish and Game warden named Joe, whose jurisdiction included a large, well-stocked lake. (I was living  in Wyoming at the time, and the ‘lake of the joke’ was ID’d as the Buffalo Bill Reservoir, west of Cody, but you can make it any lake you’d like.) Warden Joe knew that one of the locals, Floyd, fished with dynamite – no need for hooks, lines and sinkers when you can toss a stick into the drink, let dynamite do what dynamite does, wait for the dead to float to the top, and then scoop ‘em up with a net. (It used to be a lot easier to get your hands on TNT, especially in mining areas. Not altogether different than it used to be in China. Who can forget Shijiazhuang, 2001. But I’m drifting.) So Joe subtly followed Floyd (don’t ask me how, it’s a joke) and laid in wait. When finally he heard the telltale explosion he sped his government craft up alongside Floyd’s boat, which by then was surrounded by floating fish, and fisherman Floyd was busily gathering in the day’s catch. Warden Joe, in full-blown victory gloat, said, “Ha! I finally got you, Floyd. I’ve knowed you been doing this all along, and now I caught you red-handed.” Floyd, very cool about it, reached for another stick, lit the fuse, and tossed it to Joe, who frantically grabbed it as Floyd dead-panned, “So, what are you gonna do? Fish or bullshit?”

So why did this one float up from the depths today? Not really sure why, though I can tell you it surfaced as I read the following AP report.

A group of more than 20 Chinese lawyers, writers and intellectuals called for a boycott Tuesday of China Central Television, saying it was feeding viewers propaganda — charges that were rejected by the state-owned national broadcaster.

This wasn’t what caused me to remember the old joke. But the response by Wang Jianhong, deputy director of the CCTV general editing department, who was obviously quite ruffled by the “charges” and who had fired off a fax to the Associated Press (nothing like meeting charges head on), did.

“China has more than 1.2 billion TV viewers. Even if 22 people boycott, I personally don’t think it’ll have any effect or harm the reputation of CCTV.”

And from who knows where, clear as today’s Beijing skies, Warden Joe and fisherman Floyd and all the dead fish scooped up in the net rose to the surface. And, oh yeah, the dynamite too. The brain, isn’t it great: an old joke unexpectedly floats up, and, out of nowhere, you just start laughing.