A racial joke about employment has been told by stand-up comedian Larry the Cable Guy since at least 2005:
“I used to be a lifeguard until some blue kid got me fired.”
The joke is that the “blue kid” is someone who was gasping for breath, and the lifeguard didn’t help him.
Wikipedia: Larry the Cable Guy
Daniel Lawrence Whitney (born February 17, 1963), known professionally by his stage name Larry the Cable Guy, is an American stand-up comedian, actor, producer, singer and radio personality, with a career spanning over 30 years.
8 February 2005, Reno (NV) Gazette-Journal, “Cable Guy wires his audience” by Brandy Dela Vega, pg. 3:
As soon as Larry saw his bare-arm image plastered on the center’s four overhead stadium screens, he assured the audience he used to be in better shape.
“I used to be a lifeguard,” he said. “Until some blue kid got me fired.”
22 April 2005, Milwaukee (WI) Journal Sentinel, “Review: Larry the Cable Guy’s bare wit starts to wear thin” by Dave Tianen, pg. 8:
“I used to be in good shape. I used to be a lifeguard until some blue kid got me fired.”
Slate
Larry the Cable Guy
America’s favorite redneck.
By BRYAN CURTIS
NOV 02, 20056:23 PM
(...)
Dressing for all of them, Larry mounts the stage in a sleeveless flannel shirt, jeans, and a ball cap adorned with a fishhook. “I used to be a lifeguard,” he says, “until some blue kid got me fired.”
Google Books
The Snark Handbook:
A Reference Guide to Verbal Sparring
By Lawrence Dorfman
New York, NY: SKyhorse Publishing
2009
Pg. 45:
I used to be a lifeguard, but some blue kid got me fired.
Yahoo! Answers (May 7, 2009)
what’s with the saying “I used to be a lifeguard, but some blue kid got me fired. “ ?
l keep hearing this as a funny one liner.. but l don’t understand the significance!! Help!!
Best Answer
nerdcore
Blue = skin color of someone who drowned. So a drowned kid got the lifeguard fired. Get it?
Reddit—Dadjokes
Posted by u/HoshForce March 4, 2019
I use to be a lifeguard, until some blue kid got me fired.
Reddit— Oneliners
Posted by u/rinkgirl August 15, 2019
I used to be a lifeguard until some blue kid got me fired.
Reddit—3amjokes
Posted by u/joyfuldig November 30, 2019
I used to be a lifeguard until some blue kid got me fired.
Above, a 1934 plaque from the Big Apple Night Club at West 135th Street and Seventh Avenue in Harlem. Discarded as trash in 2006. Now a Popeyes fast food restaurant on Google Maps.
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Above, Big Apple Corner at 54th Street and Broadway in Manhattan. Google Maps.
Above, John J. Fitz Gerald, from the Aug. 15, 1931, Binghamton (NY) Press, pg. 14.
Listen to Robert Emmerich introduce "The Big Apple," a hit song from 1937. Music written by Bob and performed by Tommy Dorsey's Clambake Seven with Bob on piano. Lyrics written by Buddy Bernier and sung by Edythe Wright. Audio provided by Dorothy Emmerich.
Also listen to a 1937 "The Big Apple" song by Ozzie Nelson and his Orchestra. See a 1929 photo of John J. Fitz Gerald and a 1931 photo of John J. Fitz Gerald.
This site is edited by Barry Popik.