FRIDAY, DECEMBER 23, 2016
4 — THE BAKER COUNTY PRESS
Opinion / Local
So I was
thinking ...
Everyone’s a
comedian
By Jimmy Ingram
Special to The Baker County Press
About a year ago I wrote a “rant” of
sorts on my personal Facebook page
about the annoying tendencies of
some people on social media.
Somehow it found its way into
print and to a far greater audience
than I originally intended.
That sort of social jab has become
somewhat of a theme in this column.
I make the assumption of good
faith that everyone has a sense of
humor and the ability to laugh at the
absurdity around them, and more
importantly at themselves.
But as I’ve found out over the
years, not everyone has the same
sense of humor.
The Sarcastic Smart Aleck: You are
a tough nut to crack. Your two-word
statements like “nice hat” can be
taken one of two ways: as a sincere
compliment or a humorous insult.
There’s no in between.
Your humor is frequently misunder-
stood, and normally appreciated by
quick-witted people who know and
like you, but still think you occasion-
ally need punched in the face.
The biggest challenge you face
are those moments when you are
actually being sincere and the world
around you just can’t tell. You always
keep us wondering and that’s okay.
Not everyone can sense sarcasm, but
most everyone can sense an asinine
comment. Tread lightly.
The Demonstrative Storyteller:
You have taken physical comedy to a
level that would make the late Chris
Farley proud. Your re-enactment of
scenes from your life, complete with
sound effects and fl ailing motions is
two parts comedy, one part theatre.
Seeing the animated recollection of
even your most mundane daily activi-
ties feels like going to the circus.
Your comedic choreography has the
added benefi t of being classifi ed as a
full body workout.
So while everyone else feels guilty
after eating that gluttonous holiday
meal, you have managed to burn off
3,500 calories recreating for us what
happened the fi rst time you went
skiing.
And we loved every minute of the
story.
Mr. Not-So-Subtle: You like to
keep things simple. Sarcasm requires
us to analyze before we react.
Physical comedy requires us to lis-
ten and to provide a four-foot radius
for the narrator to act out stories. You
need none of the above.
Fart sounds, obscenities, and phal-
lic references are all you need for
your comedy. You insist that you
coined the phrase “that’s what she
said” and use it no less than 20 times
a day.
Some say your humor is juvenile
and uncalled for and that’s true on
occasion. But the fact that you fi nd
the same things funny as you did
Letter to the Editor Policy: The Baker
County Press reserves the right not to pub-
lish letters containing factual falsehoods or
incoherent narrative. Letters promoting or
detracting from specifi c for-profi t business-
es will not be published. Word limit is 375
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Advertising and Opinion Page Dis-
claimer: Opinions submitted as Guest
OTEC’s 2017 Nominating
Committees Appointed
Submitted Photo
Jimmy Ingram is a local farmer and
father of two who enjoys people
watching within our wonderful
community and beyond.
when you were 12 years-old indicates
a life-long dedication to your jokes.
“Stick with what works” is your
motto. And you have. Plus, your
comedy is always a hit with the teen-
agers during the holidays.
The Professional Practical Joker:
You take your brand of humor to an-
other level. A level that has lost you a
couple friends and seen a dozen more
friends refuse to go out with you in
public.
Exploding golf balls, greased door
handles, laxative laced drinks, phone
hijacks ... you’ve done them all. You
tread the thin ice between comedy
and vandalism that few dare.
Your presence at any public or
private function will result in phones
being pass code locked, cars being
parked three blocks away, and people
avoiding the punchbowl.
Most of your apologies end with
the phrase, “Oh, c’mon have a sense
of humor.”
In your opinion, the only thing
better than your practical jokes is
getting to tell the stories of them over
and over—usually to a room full of
people who were once unsuspecting
victims of your pranks.
The Joke Teller: You are a throw-
back to time when jokes had a setup
and a punch line.
And somehow, after 50+ years you
remember them all. Sure, some aren’t
politically correct. In fact, some are
downright offensive, but you’re a
seasoned comedy veteran and know
your audience.
Your repertoire consists of no less
than 200 jokes catered to any audi-
ence ranging from a church congre-
gation to a group of drunken steel
workers.
So while some might not appreci-
ate the joke about a clown, a chicken,
and a catholic priest walking into
a bar, most of us appreciate your
chipper demeanor and willingness to
make people laugh.
No Sense of Humor: A few of these
folks exist in the wild. I’ve only
come across a couple in my days
and they didn’t seem like unhappy
people, just misunderstood—and
boring.
Their defenders will say they “just
have a dry sense of humor.”
That’s adult code for “limited
personality.”
Regardless of their humorless
public persona, I’m sure they manage
to function perfectly well in society...
more than likely working for the IRS
in some capacity.
My belief is that most everyone has
a good sense of humor in one form
or another. I’m certain this column
and my tongue-in-cheek observations
don’t appeal to everyone, and that’s
okay.
I hope a few of you get some en-
joyment out of it.
Opinions or Letters to the Editor express
the opinions of their authors, and have not
been authored by and are not necessarily
the opinions of The Baker County Press, any
of our staff, management, independent
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placed by political groups, candidates,
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service, which does not constitute an
endorsement of or fulfi llment obligation
by this newspaper for the products or
services advertised.
The Board of Directors
for Oregon Trail Electric
Cooperative (OTEC) have
appointed the director
nominating committees for
Baker, Harney and Union
Counties.
Appointed to serve were:
Position 1 (Union
County) currently held by
incumbent George Gal-
loway
Dale DeLong – 541-786-
4343
Mike McLean – 541-
786-5735
Mary West – 541-910-
4546
Position 2 (Baker County)
currently held by incum-
bent Chuck Hoffman
Diana Brown – 541-523-
3679
DeeDee Clarke – 541-
524-1999
Fred Warner, Jr. – 541-
524-2040
Position 3 (Harney
County) currently held by
incumbent Robert Cargill
Ethel Bossout – 541-573-
2887
Mike Choate – 541-573-
6932
Scott Franklin – 541-
573-6171
The nominating com-
mittees are responsible for
interviewing and rec-
ommending qualifi ed
candidates for the 2017
OTEC Board of Direc-
tor Elections. If you are a
member of the cooperative
and interested in running
for the OTEC Board of
Directors, please contact
the committee members in
your county.
The committees have
requested any members
interested in stepping
forward for consideration,
please contact them on or
by January 23 for Position
2 (Baker County) or Posi-
tion 3 (Harney County)
and January 24 for Position
1 (Union County).
Committees must submit
their nominations to the
board secretary no later
than January 27.
Any member wishing
to petition for placement
on the 2017 Board or
Directors Election Ballot
should contact Lea Gettle
(541-524-2831) or Lara
Petitclerc-Stokes (541-524-
2858) for the petition and
confl ict of interests forms.
Nominations by peti-
tion must be fi led no later
than February 28, must be
signed by the candidate
and by at least 50 OTEC
members qualifi ed to vote.
In addition, there must be
a request that the candi-
date’s name be placed on
the ballot.
A copy of the bylaws
describing the terms of
the offi ce, application and
qualifi cations needed to
serve on the nine-member
board of directors and well
as a confl ict of interest
policy are available online
at www.otecc.com/about/
annual-meetings.
Each director’s term of
offi ce is for three years.
The election will be com-
pleted at the annual meet-
ing scheduled for April 29,
2017 in La Grande, OR.
All OTEC cooperative
members and their families
are invited to attend.
OTEC to return $2.6
million in Capital Credits
to members
Oregon Trail Electric
Cooperative Board of
Directors is pleased to an-
nounce the return of $2.6
million in Capital Credits
to its members beginning
mid-December.
During their regularly
scheduled board meeting
in October, a motion was
made and seconded to
retire capital credits in an
amount equal to $2.6 mil-
lion of member’s patron-
age as of December 31,
2015.
This return includes 100
percent of the remaining
balance of 1994 capital
credits which is to be
retired.
“This is the largest
amount of capital credits
we have ever retired in one
year,” said OTEC’s Chief
Financial Offi cer Anthony
Bailey. “The amount is
more than double from
what we gave away just a
few years ago.”
“Being a member owned
non-profi t cooperative, this
is always a good time of
year and a great opportu-
nity for the cooperative to
give our member-owners
‘credit’ - in the form of
a check - for continuing
to help build, sustain and
grow their electric co-
operative,” said OTEC’s
new General Manager Les
Penning.
To date, OTEC has retired
approximately $31.5 mil-
lion to its members.
Current members who
have eligible capital credits
of $15 or more will be
mailed a check in mid-
December. Members with
capital credits of $14.99 or
less will receive a credit in
the amount owed to them
on their December bill.
Capital Credits distin-
guish cooperatives from
any other business model
in the utility world.
When people sign up
to receive electric service
from OTEC, they become
a member of a non-profi t
electric cooperative.
While for-profi t utili-
ties (like Idaho Power and
Pacifi c Power and Light)
return a portion of any
profi ts made back to their
stockholders, non-profi t
electric co-ops, like OTEC,
operate on an at-cost basis.
OTEC operates in a four
county service territory
that includes Baker, Burns,
Grant and Harney counties.
The cooperative allocates
and periodically retires
funds (called “capital cred-
its”) back to the members
who live in the communi-
ties OTEC serves.
For more information
on capital credits and the
cooperative model visit
www.otecc.com under the
“Members” tab.
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