Humor: You're Ugly Too

"She thought of the joke about the guy who visits his doctor and the doctor says, 'Well, I'm sorry to say you've got six weeks to live.'
'I want a second opinion,' says the guy. You act like your opinion is worth more than everyone else's in the class. 
'You want a second opinion? OK,' says the doctor. 'You're ugly, too.'"

This story also made me somewhat sad. I think its supposed to have somewhat of a dry humor. It's really easy for people to hate Zoe, but I mostly just feel bad for her. Her life just kind of sucks. She is somewhat arrogant, but it seems like her students don't really respect her either. She has a sister who has someone to love her, but her sister is unhappy with that relationship, and I think it just makes her lose hope. She tries and tries to find a mate, but to her it seems pointless because the men are always terrible people and she probably won't be happy with them anyways. Not to mention, she has facial hair, which makes me question if she is a male or a female. By the way the story is written, I'm guessing it was written sometime during the later part of the 20th century when transgender and gay people were finding acceptance. That's just what it seems like to me. But, I think that even if this is true, even if she is a man who acts as a woman but she is accepted, she probably still feels inadequate and she has probably been often criticized. It has made her cynical and bitter. That's why I think the joke about the doctor is her favorite joke. It takes criticism like that which she has probably faced and makes it something to laugh about. It is more of a cover-up of emotions than something genuinely humorous.