A Matter of Plagiarism

I have been robbed. Someone has stolen my joke; a joke I made up over 10 years ago.

I started writing a play many years ago ( that I never finished - go figure). In the play the main character tells her friend that she has been dating a new guy. Her friend's response is "Seriously?" Her daughter responds, "Yes, we're pretty serious."

I thought it was a great comic line. I told my friend the line to see what she thought of it, and she didn't think it was funny. Her mother, however, thought it was funny.

So, there it's sat - in my notebook, never being spoken by an actor - my great joke.

Fast forward to a few months ago.

I was watching an eSurance commercial. A member of the Support team tells a customer on the phone that the customer can thank the Tech team for being able to see eSurance rates compared with other insurance companies. When the call ends, a member of the Tech team rolls his chair over to the Support guy and asks, "Anything you wanna share with the Tech Team?"

First guy, "I'm dating that girl in accounting."

Second guy, "Seriously?"

First guy, "Yea, we're pretty serious."

That was my joke! More than 10 years later, and someone steals my joke!

Well, at least someone else thought it was funny.



Side note: Actually the joke in the commercial isn't exactly like mine, because the mother in my play would have said, "Seriously," as if saying, "I can't believe you're dating someone." The way the Tech Team guy in the commerical says "Seriously" is like "you're seeing someone seriously?" So, the Support guy is really answering his question. It's all in the delivery.