The Cat's on the roof, and he can't get down!

I was just poking through a recent email. It was from HARO (HARO is a way for news reporters to solicit expert sources for articles they are writing). There was one post in there that was creepy to me;

There it was, Number #33.5 People who knew Paul Newman

Knew Paul Newman?? WTF??? OK, I am pretty good about reading the news, hell I always blackberry Google news when i am on the john. Let's say that I LOVE to be up to date on the news. Now, looking back - I see there have been some articles written over the past month about Paul Newman having cancer. Who knew??? I sure didn't, I read my local paper everyday (Newsday and New York Times)... How could I have missed this? How come Google news didn't show this to me? Twitter??? Your supposed to be my first source of news now days!!! Anyway, with no disrespect to a man who I admired (even more for his charitable endeavours, then his acting), getting the news of Paul Newman's death the way I did reminds me of a joke I heard when I was a little kid (30 years ago)!

Tom had to go out of town for a spell, and asked his friend John to watch his cat. A dew days latter he called John to inquire about the cat. His friends reply; "The cats dead.". WHATTT, said the man? :Ya, your cat's dead" replied John.

Tom, devastated not only by the news of his cats death, but also by the way he learned of it lambasted his friend John. "John, perhaps you could have broken the news to me in a more pleasant fashion.". "What do you mean?" John replied.

Tom, frustrated that John did not understand the art of decorum tried to make an analogy that John might understand.

"John, when you break bad news to people, perhaps you might be a little more subtle. For instance, when I called and inquired about my cats health, you might have responded that the Cat is on the roof, and can not get down. Perhaps when I call back the next time, you might tell me that you have called the fire department, and they have raised a ladder to retrieve the cat. Then when I call the next time, you might mention that the cat then got startled, and leaped from the roof. He was rushed to the hospital, and is in serious condition, however they are doing whatever they can for him. Next time I call, you might slowly explain to me that as much as they tried, they simply could not save him, and he passed away."

"Ahhh, I got it Tom".

A few months latter, Tom who is out of town on business calls his friend John to say hi. "So how is everything back home?". To which John replies "Your mom's on the roof and can't get down."