People are often taken aback by my humour. I can become very non-PC in hilarious ways. But mostly I just like to see how people are going to respond. How one responds will reveal what they are truly like within. It is not that people need to always laugh at my jokes (but to NOT laugh would be extremely difficult to do) but if people get all “offended” or, worse still, try to do the “holier than thou” trip, then we will, down the road, more likely sooner than later, have a problem.
People don’t realize that humour, the word itself, comes from the core word “humus”, which means “Of the Earth”. Humour allows us to release tension through laughter, to get grounded once again from the release of all that tension, and then become extremely peaceful. It is not that we have to be in a continuous uproar of laughter. But to withhold our laughter and our humour puts us completely in our heads and we then have a much more difficult time accessing our heart energies.
So it would be prudent for me at this time to at least give an example of just how twisted my humour can be. That way there are no surprises along the way. So, I remember one of my girlfriends in high school had a father who was wound so tight that he could likely have opened the cap of a Pepsi bottle with his butt. Ok. That was not the joke. The joke is still coming. But that was kinda funny right there. Anyway, when she introduced me to him I put my hand out to shake his and tell him it was nice to meet him. He did not extend his hand. He gave me a suspicious look up and down and said to me, “You look very familiar. I am sure I have seen you before…like on a most wanted poster or something.” I replied, “Ya, I get that all the time. It’s because I do gay porn.” Everyone EXCEPT him laughed so hard they cried. He hated me. This was a revealing moment because I knew instantly that it was not going to work out between my girlfriend and myself because he was a control freak and would never be able to accept a free spirit such as myself. She and I broke up within a few months. This was not surprising to me.
Recently I was having a conversation with two of my brothers-in-law in the tea room of a funeral home after my cousin’s funeral. One brother-in-law said he was beginning to see the tea room there way too much and that the funeral home must be making good money. The other said that, between that funeral home and the other one in that city they were likely both kept quite busy. I piped up with, “Well you know…people are dying to use this space.” BAM!
I always find that laughter is a primary force of nature when it comes to healing. It doesn’t matter if we are physically healing, emotionally healing, or spiritually healing, laughter plays an important role in all of it. Folks have often said to me that they know that they have found the right place to come to heal because, although they can’t hear specific words from my office, they can hear lots of laughter taking place. So they find that very comforting.
Every once in a while though I will find that I run into someone in the general public who does not get my humour at all. One young woman, for example, stumbled on one of those mats that they have inside the doors of office buildings. I looked up and smiled and said, “So…how did you enjoy your trip?” She just glared at me and continued on her way. I also had to fire a doctor after my annual physical. As he was inserting a finger into me for the rectal exam I asked him if this was what they meant by “digitally enhanced?” He did not even crack a smile. I knew it would not be a long lasting relationship.
The thing is that humour, when witty and quick, takes people aback. It sometimes makes them feel like they can’t keep up. That is not the fault of the one who has the sense of humour. That is simply the situation of a brain that does not quite work that way or at that speed.
And then the word play comes into effect. Word play is a primary part of most humour. Like the joke about the trip, there is a plethora of other word play one-liners that can be very useful and entertaining. Once in awhile I will not quite make it to my mouth with a cup of coffee or a glass of water and, of course, it flows down my chin and onto my chest or my lap. My immediate response is, “I used to spit over my chin..now I spit ALL over it.” Or if I burp I will excuse myself and say, “But that was well brought up…too bad I wasn’t.” Most people get it, but now and then there is a stick in the mud who will not, and who will often take offence at the joke.
When this happens I just let it roll off of me like water off a duck’s back. There is nothing I can do to help them understand humour and nothing I am willing to do to change myself to become morose such as they are. I simply let myself be on my way and don’t worry about the glares or the ridiculous uncomfortable nature of those who are glaring. I always will be the one to lighten up the room or the mood with a joke. That is just who I am. The fact that it gets me into trouble now and then says more about the audience than it does about me. My humour is never mean spirited. But it is good to know that sometimes one’s sense of humour will not be taken well and may, indeed, get one into trouble. I think sometimes that the reason that it does get me into trouble is because I actually HAVE a sense of humour. It is only those who don’t who take great exception to any that I have.