"And are you dead too?"
"Yes."
"And how long have you been dead?"
"Three weeks."
"Dear me! ... then you have been dead longer than I have ... tell me where I can get a drink."
Now a Bostonian anecdote.
Philadelphia, whether justly or not, has the reputation of being very dead-and-alive, and many are the jokes on its dullness. This is one, which illustrates well the keenness and delicacy of Eastern wit.
A Bostonian was doing the honours of his native city to a friend from Philadelphia. Having shown him all the points of interest in the place, he asked if he did not think Boston a fine city.
"Yes, it is very nice," said the Pennsylvania man; "but I don't think it is so well laid out as Philadelphia."