Question: When Doug is telling jokes at the dinner, he asks the audience if they all received a number-two pencil. Then he tells a red-haired woman that he is just kidding. Would someone explain this joke?
Bishop73
23rd Dec 2021
The King of Queens (1998)
Answer: It's nothing more than him saying her red hair looks like the red eraser on top of a pencil. He's asking did every table get a redhead.
Pencil erasers are more pink. Is it a common joke for people to think that redheads look like pencil erasers?
There are some pinkish erasers, but a lot also have very red erasers. I don't know if it was common per se, but certainly something someone would come up with off the top of their head in that situation. Plus, he puts his hand on her shoulder to indicate he's talking about her and not just talking to the room.
24th Sep 2021
The King of Queens (1998)
Question: The elderly man in Carrie's overnight team, George, says that the firm is trying to force him to retire. Why don't they fire him?
Answer: Because he didn't do anything wrong. If they fired him simply for being older, he'd have excellent grounds for a wrongful termination suit. Much easier to 'convince' him to retire.
I know he didn't do anything wrong, but I thought New York was an "at-will employment" state, meaning that a company can simply terminate someone's employment at will.
Answer: To fire someone you need a reason and simply being older is not a reason. They could be sued for wrongful dismissal. If he retires the company doesn't get sued.
Yes, but New York is an "at-will employment" state, so a company can terminate employment at any time, without needing to give a good explanation. Unfair but it happens.
Even in at-will States, employers and employees can still enter into binding contracts that would protect an employee from being terminated without cause. These contracts may have retirement policies as well, should an employee want to retire with any benefits offered. And, what others were saying, barring any contract, terminating someone without reason is one thing, but for an illegal reasons (age discrimination) is another matter which could result in a lawsuit.
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Answer: A number-two pencil has long been standard for filling in the little boxes or circles on various paper evaluation forms, tests, and ballots. Doug didn't think he was funny enough to tell jokes at the roast and seems to be implying that his performance will be rated on a scale. For example, the audience would fill in a box somewhere between five for "excellent" to a one for "poor." He quickly clarifies he is kidding.
raywest ★
Also, as for the "Red" part: it's somewhat common for a red-haired person to jokingly be called that, just as a blonde person might be called "Blondie." I don't think her hair color was part of the joke; he just wanted to stop her from seriously looking for a pencil.