"Don't yuck my yum"

I was at my office a few months ago bemoaning the passing of one of my all-time favorite comedians Don Rickles. I couldn't believe "Mr. Warmth" had died. I was telling the staff in my office that this marked the end of the golden age of comedy. Don Rickles was the last of the the quasi-permanent comedic panel from 'Dean Martin Celebrity Roasts'. This program was, without a doubt, the best collection of stand-up comedy routines ever to be broadcast on television. Oh sure, Rich Little is still alive, but he is an impersonator, the mimes of the world of comedy, so he doesn't count. I looked around the office expecting to see nods of agreement and more than a few tears, but instead saw face-fulls of quizzical looks and blank stares; almost as if they had no idea who Dean Martin was, much less Don Rickles or even Rich Little.

I tried to explain what a comedic genius Don Rickles was by telling one of my favorite exchanges Don Rickles had with Johnny Carson on the Tonight Show:

Don Rickles: "Can I say something, Johnny?"

Johnny Carson: "Certainly."
Don Rickles: "You've gotten so old."

More blank stares until someone asked me "Who's Johnny Carson?"

It was then that it hit me that this generation was clueless with regard to the great comedy of the 60's, 70's, and 80's. "Don't you know who Milton Berle, Rowan and Martin, Foster Brooks, Redd Foxx, Ruth Buzzie, George Burns, Dom DeLousie ..." I rattled on for several more minutes listing the who's who of comedy that appeared on Dean Martin Celebrity Roasts.  They hadn't heard of any of them. When I mentioned Norm Crosby, I did get some indication that they knew who he was until I told them that is Bill COSBY who is the one on trial for sexual assault right now. How could these millennials be so clueless when it comes to the comedic trail blazers of the past 30-50 years? Hey, I am the first to admit I am a choad (look it up jackstraw), but I am still well verse in today's culture and modern vernacular ... or so I thought.

I was riding the subway a couple of days ago when I saw someone dip a sour lime ring pop into a jar of peanut butter and then put the the goober slimed ring pop into her mouth. I couldn't help myself and said (what I thought was to myself) "that's disgusting". The young lady whipped around and told me "don't yuck my yum!" in no uncertain words ... except I was uncertain as to what the hell "don't yuck my yum" actually meant.

I got back home and I fired up the old Google machine to try an find out what "don't yuck my yum" actually meant. The internet is a plethora of information and while I consider myself a 21st Century Shell Answer Man, I am not afraid to admit I have a few sites bookmarked to help educate me on the rare occasions that I am stumped on a topic. One of these websites is urbandictionary.com; a veritable cornucopia of streetwise lingo, posted and defined by its readers.

The urban dictionary defines the phrase to mean "don't say that my favorite food tastes bad"; In other words "something that I love might be something that you find repulsive, but don't get in my face over it". That is so deep. I haven't heard such empathy since Rodney King said "why can't we all just get along".  I don't know what caused it, but over the past few months, people all over the country are yucking a lot of peoples' yum. I just wish that America could live by the sentiment of this soon-to-be classic Urban phrase. I may not like eggplant parmesan, but that doesn't give me the right to burn down Sal's Pizza. I may hate Sydney Cosby of the Pittsburgh Penguins, but that shouldn't allow to throw a catfish on the ice during a hockey game. I may find Kim Kardashian very obnoxious and annoying, but she shouldn't be used as an excuse for rioting, blocking traffic and threatening people if she is appearing somewhere. 

"Don't yuck my yum". Yes, words to live by America!