An odd example of legalese (a criminal or a congressman, and an unwritten comma)

[Brian Hitchcock]

Lynne Hunter wrote:
This reminds me of the humorous exchange in which a mother, teacher, or
some such authority figure asks a disobedient child something like: "Do
you want to grow up to be a criminal or a Congressman?"
And the kid replies something like: "Sounds good to me!"  Does anybody
know the exact example?
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I never heard that joke before, but as I began reading it, I was
anticipating the punch line to be "Of course not!" (or maybe "Hell, no!")
I could also imagine a punch line that construes the OR as disjunctive:
"What's the difference?"

I would like to point out that this joke actually works in print because
of the timing nuance of an omitted-from-print, but possibly voiced, comma,
which, had it been printed, would have dulled the written joke, if not
spoiled it altogether:
.. Do you want to grow up to be a criminal, or a congressman?
This is the flipside to the superfluous presence of a written comma, which
literally makes the joke in the story of the panda  who eats, shoots and
leaves  (kudos to another Lynne. Lynne Truss)

Brian Hitchcock
Torrance, CA

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