Happiness among disaster

[Historian]

I've recently heard this riddle from someone, so I thought I'd pass it on.

A man is regarded as friendly and helpful to his neighbors. Unfortunately, he has been feeling depressed recently, and his life savings are almost completely gone. One day, a strong earthquake hit, causing some damage to his house. When the shaking stopped, he soon jumped up in joy and called some of his friends over for a party. Why?

He and his friends were unemployed construction workers. An earthquake would create many construction-related jobs during the rebuilding process.

[musicworld1]

how can i save this how can i do this.

[petrw1]

The earthquake make a crack in the basement wall and behind the crack he found a secret room filled with treasure from his great-great grandfather

[Jens K Andersen]

The earthquake revealing something lost or hidden in the house was also my first thought. Or maybe his visiting mother in law was crushed to death and his wife would inherit a fortune.

The riddle sounded like a setup for something called a situation puzzle or lateral thinking puzzle where people can ask yes/no questions to somebody knowing the intended answer (for example the creator of the puzzle). Typically an odd sounding situation is described and you have to explain it. Like here, there are usually many possible answers and the intended answer may not be the most plausible.

[only_human]

It reminds me of a comedic movie called "Mystery Date" in which a Chinese proverb "look inside vase" is explained to the the protagonist. In the proverb, a fortune was overlooked because the literal instruction "look inside vase" wasn't followed until too late.

Here is a riddle that used to trip up a lot of people but these days seems to be transparently easy:

A father and son are traveling by car and get into a serious collision with a tree. The father dies but the son is brought in serious condition to the local emergency room. The attending doctor takes one look and says "I can't handle this one: The boy is my son"

Another one but purely a joke:
A man, a woman, and a monkey are in a car that crashes into a tree. The man and woman have died in a state of partial undress but the monkey is entirely unharmed. Although parts of the situation seem obvious, it looks like a complete accident report would be unobtainable except the monkey is friendly and seems to be a master of charades and mime. The attending officer is scribbling rapidly on his report as the monkey explains each additional shocking detail. "No seatbelts" the officer writes; "clothes removed". "Making out while the car is hurtling down the road," he writes. Turning pages faster than a bored homemaker reading the latest romance novel, he completes his report. "What were you doing?" he asked the monkey. The monkey pantomimes driving.

[petrw1]

Originally Posted by only_human

A father and son are traveling by car and get into a serious collision with a tree. The father dies but the son is brought in serious condition to the local emergency room. The attending doctor takes one look and says "I can't handle this one: The boy is my son"

The Doctor was the boy's Mother

[only_human]

Originally Posted by petrw1

The Doctor was the boy's Mother

This puzzle used to be a bit of a stumper back in the 80's when I first heard it. I would estimate that perhaps 3/4 of people didn't get it easily or were surprised by the answer. In the 90's, I posed it to a group of children and they seemed to all get it right away. I like things like this that so simply and dramatically highlight societal perceptions and changes.

[Batalov]

As long as we stray into literal meaning of the proverbs, here's a quote:
"...They put hard boiled eggs in everything down there because you know chicken is so important to them. lt's their only real currency. A woman is said to be worth her weight in hens and a man's wealth is measured by the size of his cock." /The Birdcage (1996)/
Chidren will never find this quote dirty.
... well, maybe some children whose parents are lawyers or CEOs.

[retina]

Originally Posted by petrw1

The Doctor was the boy's Mother

It is also possible that the "father" and "son" are not each other's father or son, but someone else's father and someone else's son.

[only_human]

Originally Posted by retina

It is also possible that the "father" and "son" are not each other's father or son, but someone else's father and someone else's son.

Well spotted solution that I missed and, particularly appropriate in this type of riddle, takes notice of ordinary assumptions (and is a good form of riddle).
:-)

In this case, the ambiguity is a result of my careless neglect of possessives. Still, society and science moving on, domestic partnerships, surrogacy, and newer biological and surgical procedures, et cetera, seem to all be driving this particular riddle onto the ash heap of obsolescence.

[Uncwilly]

Another "modern" answer: The boy has two dads, i.e. he has a gay couple for parents