Jokes are an important aspect to daily life in Uzbekistan, and I learned this very quickly from my brother, Rakhmadjon, when I first arrived in Kuvasoy (Ferghana Valley) in 1997. It seemed that every day he would share another joke with me, but if he didn't have one his brother, Dilshod, was sure to have one, too. Furthermore, when I lived in Tashkent and seemed that every cab driver had one to share with me. Some of their jokes were cultural and I admit, would go over my head. But usually I would get them and we would share a hearty laugh.

Here’s a joke that has been popular for the past few years:

A man hailed a taxi in Tashkent. He noticed that, as they neared an intersection, the driver floored it and went whizzing through the red light. The man said, "What are you doing running a red light?" The driver said, "Look, I'm a real man. I'm not afraid of anything. I run red lights just for the fun of it."

The man was considering this when he noticed that they were coming up on another intersection. The light was green, but the man noticed the taxi driver slowing down anyway. When they had come to a complete stop at the green light, the man asked, "You went whizzing through the red light because you're a real Uzbek man, but now you're stopping at the green light. What gives?"

The taxi driver turned around and said, "Well, there might be another real Uzbek man coming up to this intersection."

Posted by Greg Stephenson