chased by a band of renegade indians, the lone ranger and tonto ride into a twisting canyon, which
narrows gradually until it dead ends in a cul de sac. above them on the clifftop, dozens of warriors look down from their horses, bows drawn and arrows notched. “well, old friend,” says the lone ranger, “i guess we’ve come to the end of the trail.” replies tonto, “what you mean ‘we,’ white man?”
the joke revolves around a presumption: an assumption, especially a mistaken assumption, about a relationship. tonto has an alliance of friendship with the lone ranger and an alliance of race with the indian warriors. the lone ranger assumes, without asking, that the friendship takes priority.
presuming often involves a taking for granted, specifically a failure to check. in couples therapy, joanne complains to roger that she had dinner ready at 7 as planned, but he didn’t show up til 8:30. couldn’t he have called? “but you know i hate to work late," counters roger. "i only do it cause i have to. why do i need to ask your permission?”