the three jokers

by fan taser

illustrated by roy dismas

bert, joe and phil were the three amigos, the three jokers. they were sales representatives for transatlantic supplies, a company that made office supplies, with its main product being pencil sharpeners. bert, joe and phil all had great senses of humor. bert's specialty was poop jokes, joe told fag jokes, and phil told fat lady jokes. they all got all along great. bert had the north territory, joe had the central, and phil had the south. of course all three spent most of their time on the road and on the phones, but when they got together it was great. all three covered for the others when they had to. then the company hired dave, a fourth sales rep, and reshuffled the territories. dave was a born-again christian, and told knock-knock jokes and jokes about cute kids. and the other three just didn't like him. it was just not the same any more. the old cameraderie, the old sense of fun, were gone. seventeen months after dave was hired, the company was sold to a larger office supplies company. dave, and joe, were laid off and bert and phil were reassigned to new, smaller territories in the parent company. bert took early retirement a few months after that. bert, joe and phil tried to get together every so often but eventually they drifted apart. bert, especially, always blamed dave for ruining the chemistry they had, and for starting the company's downfall. bert's wife tried to tell him that nothing lasts forever, but he wasn't buying it. he was always bitter. some people forget and move on, others do not.