This tired, deeply-damaged man is so needy. He has to have references to him being president on his hat, on his shirt, and on a golf-framed placard next to his overcooked cheeseburger he's almost too-out-of-it to eat.

How come reply guys, when called out, always resort to "couldn't resist a joke" or "just a joke"? There's no humor, nothing funny, just being a pest.

I wrote a story about guys being pests, and it starts with "just a joke." It doesn't end with a laugh though. Their interactions never do.