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I like trains (piefedimages.s3.eu-central-003.backblazeb2.com)
 

Alt text
this reminds me of a joke.
so theres this bulgarian guy right? loves trains, has
loved trains since he was a kid. one day, the
bulgarian railroad association hires him to be the
driver of one of their trains.
he is ECSTATIC! our train boy is so excited, in fact,
that on his first day driving, he... derails the train
and kills one person.
this, of course, gets him the death penalty.
(bulgarian law is weird.) as he's sitting in the
electric chair, the executor asks him what he
wants for his last meal.
"One banana."
the executor finds this odd, but gives him his
banana, and when he finishes, the executor straps
him in.
she pulls the switch, and....
nothing. the guy lives, and is let free. bulgarian law
is, as stated previously, pretty weird, and if
someone survives the electric chair it is deemed
and Act of God and the criminal is set free.
considering the bulgarian railroad association is
desperate for employees, our guy is hired once
again, and is driving the next day. as you can
probably assume, he is exceedingly nervous, and
due to this.... he crashes the train again. this time,
two people die.
hes sent back to the execution chamber, as
obviously, killing two people requires the death
penalty as well. the executor scratches her head,
scoffs, and says, "Well, uh... welcome back? What
do you want for your actual last meal?"
"Two bananas."
she sighs, and gives him his bananas. he eats
them, is strapped in, and the executor pulls the
switch to-
-nothing. the chair buzzes, but the man is fine.
once again, he is let free, and once again, hes
back on the train the next day.
now he is REALLY careful. like, incredibly careful.
whenever the train is stopped, he reads the
handbook. never gets distracted, takes extra
coffee... he's really doing his best.
well, that is until he sneezes, knocks over his
scalding hot coffee onto his foot, and crashes the
train again, kilking THREE people this time.
off he goes to the executioner, and she is a little
more than peeved. she sits him down, and says
sternly, "l swear to God, if you ask for three
bananas, I will strap you in without your meal."
without hesitation- "Three bananas."
the executioner roars in anger, straps the man in,
and slams the switch down, finally ready to finish
this weirdo off.
...nothing. once again, the chair activates, but the
man is fine.
this, of course, just confuses her. she fumbles
over her words, asking the man why he didn't die if
he didn't have his bananas. it just didnt make
sense!
the man replied, "Oh, the bananas had nothing to
do with it. I'm just an awful conductor."

top 15 comments
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[–] Rentlar@lemmy.ca 71 points 2 days ago (3 children)

Since I like trains I have to nitpick. The driver of the train is called the engineer, where the conductor is like the lead attendant on a plane.

[–] idegenszavak@sh.itjust.works 37 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Also electric chair was used only in the US and in the Philippines. In Bulgaria only hanging and shooting was used. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capital_punishment_in_Bulgaria

[–] TachyonTele@piefed.social 21 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Well, Belgian laws are weird

True, Belorussians be wildin'!

[–] starman2112@sh.itjust.works 13 points 2 days ago

Yeah, he was a really bad conductor

[–] FishFace@piefed.social 6 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Isn't the driver called the driver?

[–] Rentlar@lemmy.ca 7 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (1 children)

If you'd like to call a pilot a plane driver and a helmsman a boat driver as well, I won't stop you.

[–] FishFace@piefed.social 1 points 2 days ago

Sounds like an American English thing. It's a ground vehicle, so literally you're driving it, in any case.

[–] MimicJar@lemmy.world 38 points 2 days ago (1 children)

I've always heard this story as "The Bad Conductor" and it was cigars not bananas. Specifically smoking them in one big puff.

But, for anyone wondering this is a "shaggy dog story" which doesn't usually have a single specific retelling. The goal is to tell a long winded story that goes on and on and on and ultimately ends with a silly little joke or pun.

[–] asqapro@reddthat.com 7 points 2 days ago

I have a series of those that I like to pull on people. They usually catch on after the 2nd one and won't let me tell any more, so I beg for one last chance and tell my one funny shaggy dog joke. Then, once they're hooked again, I start telling stupid ones again.

My list (heavily condensed, you just gotta riff):

  • A man's camel is stolen and he's told by someone in the town that it was probably stolen by the Camel Thief. The man goes on a very long journey to find the Camel Thief, and when he finally confronts the Camel Thief, the Camel Thief denies stealing the camel.
  • A man visits some monks and hears a mysterious and mesmerizing noise deep within the monastery. He asks about it, but the monk tell him they're not allowed to tell him because he's not a monk. He goes through a series of trials to become a monk, and finally reaches a series of doors where the noise gets louder through each door. When he opens the last door, he sees the source of the noise, but you're not allowed to know what it was because you're not a monk.
  • (The one funny one) 3 men get trapped on an island but find a lamp. The genie is feeling generous and offers each man 3 wishes and they don't have to waste a wish on getting rescued. The first 2 men use their wishes well (like lots of money or healthy lives) but the 3rd man asks to have his right arm rotate clockwise, then his left arm to rotate counterclockwise, then for his head to nod up and down for the rest of time (act this out as this happens). The genie poofs them all away, and they meet up years later. The first 2 men report on their success and the third guy goes "I think I fucked up".
  • In a land of Cheerios, an unfrosted and frosted Cheerio fall in love but the frosted Cheerio's father won't allow the marriage. The unfrosted Cheerio works hard and saves up a bunch of money and slowly becomes frosted. They hold a lavish wedding with all the money earned and invite a ton of guests. The frosted Cheerio bride asks for a series of drinks (milk, water, tea, etc), but each line is too long. Eventually they ask for a fruit drink, and the frosted Cheerio groom returns immediately and says "There was no punch line".
  • A rich father offers his child anything for their birthday, but the child just keeps asking for increasing amounts of pink ping pong balls which mysteriously disappear by the next morning. After a few years of this, the father decides to force his child to explain the mystery, but the child has some kind of accident on the way over to visit the father. The father goes to the hospital and asks for an explanation and the child dies before they're able to explain.
  • (Stole this from Norm McDonald) A moth walks into a dentist's office and starts complaining about life. After the moth rants for a while, the dentist tells the moth he needs to see a therapist and asks why the moth came to his office. The moth explains the dentist's light was on.

If anyone has any more, please let me know, I love these. I know The Longest Joke In the World, but I usually just have people read that rather than trying to tell it.

[–] Canadian_Cabinet@lemmy.ca 21 points 2 days ago (2 children)

I swear there was a better version of this joke with a North Korean Orchestra Conductor

[–] sem@piefed.blahaj.zone 2 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

Yeah my dad tells it about a music conductor but I don't remember the setting. I'll ask him.

EDIT: I remember now. The gist is (condensed):

A band has a new conductor. He does a bad job and a <funny instrument> player complains. The conductor pulls out a gun and shoots him.

In the US of A the laws are more straightforward. The executioner sets up the electric chair, but nothing works. He keeps trying. Finally he says, "I really don't know what's wrong with this machine, it usually works." And the guy says, "I guess I am a lousy conductor".

When I first read this joke, my brain read "trans" instead of "trains". Kinda threw me off for a second.

[–] deadbeef79000@lemmy.nz 5 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

I've heard this one as the actual train conductor murdering passengers.

Also, then asking for a Super Duper Whopper Banana From India, which then launches into a description of how ludicrously large each banana is, and that they keep getting bigger each time around.