and I am embarrassed.

are old enough for a mild off-color joke.

They are kind of holy-rollers with the Baptist church, and I immediately felt bad that my sister had me on speaker. I try to respect her and her family, even when they drive me bananas.

The kids may have already heard worse.

imo: It wasn't that bad coming from a very cool aunt.

That's her interpretation of let it go. She called, and I answered the phone and my mouth ran away with me. As usual.

Or not.

T'weren't so bad.

but probably not appropriate for kids. I feel like an ass.

This applies both in corporate and personal settings.

Your sister bears all of the blame here, and you bear none.

She has a tendency to put you in compromising positions to watch you squirm. I'm usually not caught off guard, but this one did.

If she does this intentionally, then I would have gone from the mildly inappropriate joke you told to an all out dirty one.

Not for any reason, including retaliation. It isn't in my DNA.

Start talking to her about the time she had herpes in college, or
That time she was arrested for public indecency at a concert, or
That time she got really drunk and tried hitting on a coat rack at a bar...

I think the worst thing she has ever done is watching a movie twice by hiding in the theater, and she and her little friends tittered about that for months.

Let her explain it to the kids.

Would traumatize the kids, alienate my sister and I'm just not that sort of person.

Whenever I have to put someone on speaker, I ALWAYS immediately say, "you're on speaker phone" before continuing. She stepped in that one, not you.

I know it was a bad joke, but it was meant to be private, not broadcasted to the whole family in the car.

They've heard about the same at school, probably. Also, I stand by my assertion that your sister failed to follow proper etiquette when she didn't inform you that she had you on speaker phone from the get go. She was rude, rude, rude for doing that. You really and truly did nothing wrong, and if she's torked off, well, too bad so sad. Hopefully she learned a lesson.

It's appreciated .

As a parent, I might get ever so slightly upset at that, but as a teenage boy, I'd have LOLed.

I feel like a butthead. Why didn't she tell me I was on speakerphone!?

and you are correct - you'd be upset by someone telling a joke like that in front of your kids.

I'm on a Good Will Hunting kick.

I've seen the movie, but I don't remember that anywhere.

I won't retell it here but it is kind of funny and off-color.

I feel badly about it. I'd like them to see me as a decent person, not as some person that tells dirty jokes in front of them.

laughed.

but it was rather inappropriate. I'm trying to be a better Aunt.

shows you are a pretty darn good aunt just the way you are. They're lucky to have you.

I do try to be the best adult I can be around them. You never know who is going to be a role-model to kids, and I am not so vain to think that I am, but I'm not so dumb that I think I can't be, either, so I try to be more around them.

Don't feel bad. Speaker etiquette is to tell the caller that they're on speaker and so-and-so is present.

I was so embarrassed that the kids were listening. I try not to be too bawdy, but I have a sense of humor.

Jesus and Moses are walking along the beach when Moses says, "You know what? I'm going show you I still got it and part the ocean again." He throws his hands in the air and, magically, the ocean parts.

Jesus sees this and says that's nothing you've never been able to pull this off. He walks up to the wake of the ocean and keeps walking out but the water gets deeper and deeper. He gets to his waist and comes back confused why he isn't drifting over the top of the water.

Moses says, "Try it again, Jesus. It's been a while." Jesus tries again, and once more, he sinks.

Jesus comes out of the water and says, "I still don't know what the problem is?


Moses looks down and says, "Well, last time you did it you didn't have holes in your feet."

I can't tell a joke I don't get

But first you must tell me why.

I called my boss and didn't realize I was on speaker with a meeting of ten or so other people. I told him the site manager's kid had accidentally crapped in the swimming pool. Heard howls of laughter at the other end, so I wasn't really embarrassed.

Awkward! Worse than my speakerphone incident!

'Tis nothing to be ashamed of.

about hookers. That's just wrong.

It was a joke. You must be new around here. My goodness.

Not your strong suit. Yes, I am calling you stupid.

It is their mothers fault, not yours. It is her responsibility to tell you that you are on speaker phone. You were not telling that joke to a 14yo, you were telling it to your sister. I would never consider talking to an adult on speaker phone with children around without letting the other party know about it. You are free and clear on this one. There is also nothing wrong with you feeling somewhat ashamed even though you did nothing wrong. It shows you have a good conscience.

that joke. I was just laughing with my sister about how cold it was - I didn't realize everyone in the car was hearing it.

It is your good conscience that gives you pause. That is a very good thing.

I'll be more careful next time what cracks I make on the phone.

brass monkeys inside, you should be ok.

I genuinely have no idea what that is.

and I would never say/explain it to a lady so I will provide you with a link.

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brass_monkey_(colloquialism)

if it's that nasty, I'm not interested.

I'm sure your nephews would laugh and your sister would feign outrage.

"The weather at the Packers vs 49ers game is going to be cold enough to freeze the balls on a brass monkey."

I never have understood that one.

various explanations. I really don't know. I always just considered an anatomically correct brass monkey as an outside lawn ornament. At some point jokes lose their point when they are researched too much.

I'll try another...

"Don't be licking any light poles."

Honestly though, don't be so hard on yourself. We don't, and shouldn't, live in a sanitized G-rated world.

I am sure the kids have told far worse jokes than that