Knock knock. He's heeere.....

L for Laughter

Laughter is defined as follows according to Webster’s New World College Dictionary: n. 1.the action of laughing or the sound resulting  2. an indication of amusement. That is Webster’s definition—in particular, " an indication of amusement."

No one enjoys a good bout of laughter more than my friend, Jeff.  He believes that laughter can cure the world’s ills.  He is notorious for telling stale, really stale, jokes from knock-knock jokes to groaning puns.  If he forgets a punch line, he makes one up.  And I will give him credit, some of his punchlines are definitely funnier than the original one he forgot!

Jeff claims if you can make people laugh, you can temporarily erase anger, stress, and even hate.  He works at this.  He works hard to create laughter in other people…and in himself.  I have watched this creativity on his part repeatedly and have to admit, for the most part, it works.  I can be ready to tear someone’s head off out of anger, and Jeff will make a comment, totally absurd mind you, that will at minimum make me chuckle, even as I glare at him for doing so, and my anger will at least be lessened if not dissipate entirely.

After knowing him, calling him crazy, weird, dumb and demented, I asked him to tell me, honestly, why he so worked at getting people to laugh and why it was so important to him as his whole life seemed to be focused on it.  His reply almost broke my heart.  Here I will share it with you.

“I laugh and make other people laugh because there is too much hurt in the world.  Everybody aches inside, outside, for one reason or another.  I’m tired of the hurt I see when I look at people’s eyes, the slump of their shoulders.  Ever noticed that when people laugh they kind of bend and then stand up straight?  Ever notice how their eyes kinda clear when they’re laughing?  Ever see how the blank face now has a smile on it?  If I made them laugh, their eyes become clear if only for a moment, the faces smile… then I done good,” Jeff said.

But I pushed him even farther.  I asked him why this seemed to be his particular mission in life.  And Jeff, not smiling said, “When I see other people smile, hear them laugh, I can smile and laugh.  ‘Cause if I don’t laugh, I’m gonna cry and if I give up smiling and laughing and start crying, I am scared I will drown in my own tears and die.  You can turn to books and writing, our other friends do other things to feel better.  Me?  I gotta find something funny, something to laugh at so the dark and the problems don’t swallow me.  You get it?  It’s me surviving and helping other people survive.  When I can’t laugh…well, it ain’t gonna be worth it anymore.  It’s sorta like I’m the crazy leprechaun at the end of the rainbow throwing out my jokes like pieces of gold to make them smile.  It don’t cost me anything and keeps me going and I hope them, too.  Besides, I’ve seen what mean laughter and bullying laughter can do.  It most nearly killed me, so mine is good.  I don’t laugh at how people look, what they say, how they act.  I find something that’s funny like a dog chasing its tail, or the way a car is parked all honker jawed in the parking lot and wonder what made someone park like that and by the time we get through laughing about it, no one suffers from it and we all feel better.  I laugh when we eat PBJ sandwiches and pretend they are steak rather than cry because they are not.  See?  Laugh with love.  That’s all.  Shared laughter.  Then we’re all together, no different from each other, all together laughing and sharing.  If you don’t get it, I’ll try to find a knock knock joke for you to help you out, and that will make you laugh!”

He knows I detest his knock knock jokes so I smiled, threatened him with tape over his mouth, then said, “So you were made fun of, Jeff?”  And he smiled and said, “All the time—but I won.”  I asked seriously, “How?”

His grin spread across the whole of his face and he laughed, then said, “Because I can be happy, enjoy myself at no one’s expense, and they are miserable with their own mean selves.  I laugh now, they cry.  That’s how it works when you laugh AT others instead of with them.  When you’re mean. So.  Are you ready?  I got another really great joke for you!”

I begged off, but I was ever so glad Jeff was my friend and the irritating jokester. He was right.  Laughter is good.  It does temporarily relieve pain, stress, anger, etc., and allows us all enough time to step back, breathe deep to award him that deep belly laugh, and he goes on and so do we who were fortunate enough to have him share it with us.

In conclusion, Jeff’s laughter fits the literal definition though the laughter he was subjected to was not amusement but ridicule.  He redefined laughter by his attitude and kindness towards others because he knew the pain they had and tried to use laughter to heal.  And his truth about laughter?  Well, it has become mine.  I will use it as I can for the relief of others as well as myself.  So—Want to hear a knock knock joke?