(MENAFN- Gulf Times) Dark times call for dark humour, especially in Russia, where wags are saying the rouble has now fallen below the psychologically important threshold of "I no longer give a damn".
The Russian currency was in freefall yesterday, hitting an unprecedented low of 80 roubles to the dollar and 100 to the euro.
The new drop made one of the most popular gags about the rouble, oil and 62-year-old Vladimir Putin all converging on 63, out-of-date overnight.
Brent Oil has since dropped to $59 a barrel, further piling on the misery.
The new jokes popped up on social media, as Russians again fell back on gallows humour to ride out yet another economic storm amid falling oil prices and Western sanctions over Moscow's support for a separatist uprising in eastern Ukraine.
"Two roubles ago I brewed my tea and it is still warm," quipped one Russian on Twitter.
"While I typed this tweet, the dollar went up by three roubles," quipped another.
Predictably, many in war-torn Ukraine, where the hryvnia has lost half its value this year, could not but gloat.
"A man runs into a currency exchange booth in Moscow," goes a joke posted by Kiev-based Aleksey Solntsev on Twitter. "Do you have any dollars or euros? No! So what do you have? Hryvnia. That will do!"
Some poked fun at Russia's tightly-controlled political system, with many officials expected to pin the blame for the economic turmoil on external enemies.
"The LED display boards of Moscow exchange booths are erroneously showing the euro rate according to Fahrenheit and not Celsius," joked MID Roissi, a satirical Twitter account that parodies the Russian foreign ministry feed. "The Investigative Committee is now probing the malfunction."
"When the dollar is worth 666 roubles, it will be possible to chalk it all up to Satan's schemes," went another tweet.
To help Russians cope with the travails of a new reality "a new ministry will be created in Russia € the Ministry of Patience".
Many needled Russia's youthful Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, who lost much of his influence after voluntarily ceding his Kremlin seat in favour of his mentor Vladimir Putin in 2012.
"Medvedev suggested that Russia drop the rouble," went one joke. "In response Russia suggested that it drop Medvedev."
Some of the humour cut rather close to the bone: "When oil and gas run out soon, roubles can be used to heat people's homes."
And some of the exchanges in the Russian capital these days sound like jokes, except that they are not.
"I have ‚¬100," a guy told a young woman in the Moscow metro yesterday.
"Hey, in five years you'll be a millionaire," she replied.
While many are panicking about the future, the collapse in the rouble also brought about wistful reflections on the bygone days.
"If you could turn back the clock, what would you change about your past?" goes one question.
"Roubles, of course," being the answer.
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