I was asked to weigh in on a dispute a few weeks back. It seems as though there was a bit of a disagreement about what is funny and what is inappropriate to laugh about. The argument was about the disappeared AirFrance flight. No one thought it was funny that this flight had disappeared and that people were likely dead, of course. The bit that was humorous to one party was the lengths that the media went to to place someone famous on the plane. A former dancer from River Dance and a relative of ex-Brazilian royalty- or something like that. Come on! That's funny! It's funny because it is ridiculous that it can't be an important story without a famous person, and ridiculous is funny. If you don't laugh about the ridiculous, you're doomed to become bitter.
I can't think of a situation that doesn't call for humor. I personally like to joke that I'm at my stand-up best in a funeral home, although I don't do to badly in hospital rooms either. If you've ever been through a round of lay-offs, school closings, what have you, then you know that jokes are indispensable for survival. I'm not talking about bitter, mocking jokes, angry outbursts disguised as humor. I mean more the kind of jokes that find the ridiculous in the situation and call it out.
I'm not saying it's not a tragedy, I'm just saying that if you can't find something to laugh about, well, actually I think I'm saying that if you don't find something to laugh about then you'll find you're already in hell!
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