THE observations I made last week about forgetfulness elicited a mixed response.

One reader accosted me in the street and suggested I should stop making jokes at the expense of elderly people.

“Your flippant comments about deafness a few weeks ago were bad enough, now you’re turning on people with dementia.

“I only hope you never lose your own memory – if only so you remember how annoyed you made me.”

I mumbled a suitably contrite ‘sorry’ and thought how I might try to make amends in this week’s column.

However, on checking my emails later I discovered my lighthearted approach to forgetfulness didn’t upset everybody.

Indeed, I was treated to several jokes on the subject. Here, for your delectation, is one of them.

An elderly man said to his doctor: “I think I’m getting senile. Several times lately, I have forgotten to zip up.”

“That’s not senility,” replied the doctor. “Senility is when you forget to zip down.”

Now, tell me, is that offensive?

Even so, I’ll try to avoid upsetting readers in future.

Perhaps I should stick to safer joke territory – like marriage, which is always good for a laugh. I offer the following as one of my favourites.

A man was sitting reading his paper when his wife hit him round the head with a frying pan.

“What’s that for?” he asked.

The wife replied: “That was for the piece of paper with the name Jenny on it that I found in your trouser pocket.”

“But Jenny was the name of the horse I backed at the races last week.”

The wife apologised and went on with the housework.

Three days later the man’s watching TV when his wife bashes him on the head with an even bigger frying pan, knocking him unconscious.

After coming round he asked why she had hit him again.

The wife replied: “Your horse ‘phoned.”