I think inside jokes are dumb. I mean, there's nothing wrong with reminiscing and laughing about something funny that happened when you're hanging out with someone else that happened to be there. But it's another thing to go on and on with references to said event without telling the whole story or explaining it to others around who did not happen to be present. That just makes you look like a jerk. Case in point...

This morning I was at a walk-thru for a job. As a word of explanation without going into too much detail, a walk-thru is an opportunity for engineers or contractors interested in a job to walk through and physically see a job and talk with a project representative before putting in a bid on the job.

So I was at the walk-thru with half a dozen other engineers from other firms. When one finds out where I work he says, "Hey, didn't you guys just hire [so and so]?"

So, being polite, I say, "Yeah, that's right, he used to work for you guys didn't he?"

He says, "Yeah. When you see him ask him how his motorcycle riding is going." And then he lets out a hearty laugh.

At this point, you, dear reader, have as much a clue as to what's going on as I do. So I give the guy the chance to enlighten me. I give the guy a questioning look and say, "I didn't know he had a motorcycle."

Then the guy just laughs loudly again and turns away. Seriously.

So I think, "Whatever." I figure maybe I'll ask the kid about the motorcycle thing once I get back to the office. But that's not the end of the story.

Half an hour later, still at the walk-thru, there's a break in the action (and I use the term "action" loosely) and the same guy hollers at his buddy from the same company, "Hey, I told her to ask [so and so] about his motorcycle riding," after which they both laugh and look at me expectantly.

I try for a pleasant smile, but probably land on "patronizing". But no matter, they're clueless.

They're like, "Yeah, definitely ask him about it...but don't tell him you saw us...don't tell him how you know."

At this point I give them the raised-eyebrow "yeah, whatever, Nutso" nod. But they keep going, yammering something about tattoos and leathers and yukking it up.

They ask me, "So, are ya gonna tell him?"

By now I have absolutely no intention of passing along this motorcycle message. Not only am I super-annoyed, but quite frankly, the story behind it does not seem at all interesting. So I pretend to be too engrossed in an electrical switchgear to hear them and they give up and walk away.

So am I a humorless putz? Am I just bitter because I wasn't in on the joke? Or were these guys acting like tools? Be honest with me. I can take it.