Laughter is the best defense mechanism we can have in the face of adversity. Sometimes, it's the only thing you can do.
And this is the truest statement I have heard in a LONG time.
Inappropriate Laughter
- Thread starter MetalPants
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And this is the truest statement I have heard in a LONG time.
If you ever meet me face to face, and say something to me, I will probably laugh, but it's not because it was funny, it's because I am nervous.
I tend to laugh a lot when I'm stressed. This leads some people to think I'm having a great time when I'm actually freaking out and obsessing over things.
Of course on the other hand when I'm actually happy and relaxed I will laugh then too. I imagine this makes me difficult to get a read on.
I think I learned at one point that laugher was the easiest way to get out of an awkward situation, and it's kind of stuck with me ever since. It's always the first card I play.
I tend to laugh a lot when I'm stressed. This leads some people to think I'm having a great time when I'm actually freaking out and obsessing over things.
Of course on the other hand when I'm actually happy and relaxed I will laugh then too. I imagine this makes me difficult to get a read on.
I think I learned at one point that laugher was the easiest way to get out of an awkward situation, and it's kind of stuck with me ever since. It's always the first card I play.
Nowhere Man
Commodore
All the time. I've laughed at every funeral i've ever attended, including both my parents. I wasen't listening to the preacher, I was lost in my own world and thinking back and I thought of funny things that had happened, I couldn't help it. In high school my best friend died. After the funeral we gathered around his grandma's house. It was really serious, it was the first time a friend died. We had just smoked some pot and his mom busted in and said something really weird and was devistated about the situation. Because of the awkwardness and the pot, I busted out laughing after she left. It was fucked up but I couldn't help it. Everyone else sorta laughed and I felt better, but I felt guilty about that for years. When my grandma died I hadn't seen my extended family in a while, I went to the funeral home and everyone is just crying. I was so glad to see them I was smiling and bieng nice. I'm sure they thought it was odd, but I think they understood. I laugh at my wife sometimes when she gets pissed, because sometimes it's the look on her face or what she's wearing, sometimes it's the rediculiousness of the argument. Then when I do laugh, it makes her even more pissed and I laugh some more. I just can't help it.
Twice that I can remember.
The first time was at school in morning assembly, and the depressing religious parable being told to us triggered memory of a very relevant joke, and I couldn't help but smirk and giggle, even though I tried desperately to contain it. My giggling was infectious enough to start a couple of others off, and we ended up laughing at each other's giggling for the next 10 minutes. All three of us got into trouble for that. We then had to spend 15 minutes after assembly trying to explain the joke to our humourless headmistress.
The second time was with family, with the last event in a series of bad luck. I was amused by the unlikeliness of it all enough to laugh when I heard about it.
The first time was at school in morning assembly, and the depressing religious parable being told to us triggered memory of a very relevant joke, and I couldn't help but smirk and giggle, even though I tried desperately to contain it. My giggling was infectious enough to start a couple of others off, and we ended up laughing at each other's giggling for the next 10 minutes. All three of us got into trouble for that. We then had to spend 15 minutes after assembly trying to explain the joke to our humourless headmistress.
The second time was with family, with the last event in a series of bad luck. I was amused by the unlikeliness of it all enough to laugh when I heard about it.
Pulp Fiction. The person laughing when the kid gets accidentally shot in the face? That was me.
Has happened to me lots in the past. There would be times where my Dad would get angry and I'd laugh. Yeah, I'm odd like that.
I don't think I've ever laughed at really really inappropriate times, but I can laugh at practically anything. Everything in life just seems so ridiculous, so whenever me and my best friend are together we tend to be hysterical.
I have fond memories of trying not to laugh during quiet lessons at school. I'd find myself holding a laugh in so much that I would go red, teary eyed and would then let a big squeak out.
I have fond memories of trying not to laugh during quiet lessons at school. I'd find myself holding a laugh in so much that I would go red, teary eyed and would then let a big squeak out.
I went to a wedding once and the father of the bride was making his speech, and in the middle of a string of jokes he suddenly mentioned his mother (dead) and broke down into floods of tears on the spot.
The reaction was so extreme and unexpected that the whole audience thought he was taking the piss and continued laughing at him. He was genuinely distraught though.
The reaction was so extreme and unexpected that the whole audience thought he was taking the piss and continued laughing at him. He was genuinely distraught though.
For years I had these friends, Todd and Alice that spent every Christmas at my house arriving around noon and leaving the next day.. This became a huge burden after a while because other than a (small) bottle of no name lemonade they never brought any food. The excuses were varied.. "sick", "poverty stricken", "supermarket closed on xmas morning". Every year I would call Alice before Christmas and we would plan out what we were each making and as the years went by of NOTHING I started assigning her to bring the stuff I cared about the least. Anyway.. this had been pissing me off in increasing measures and I often complained about it to a mutual friend. I was trapped in this situation of putting up with it every year for varying complex reasons not of my own making.
Then Alice died. Unexpectedly. At her funeral, which was extremely sad because she had two little children my mutual friend leaned over to me during the sermon and whispered in my ear, "at least you don't have to worry about her not bringing anything for Christmas this year." Thank goodness I was sitting in the back row and could choke my laughter into a sweater.
Then Alice died. Unexpectedly. At her funeral, which was extremely sad because she had two little children my mutual friend leaned over to me during the sermon and whispered in my ear, "at least you don't have to worry about her not bringing anything for Christmas this year." Thank goodness I was sitting in the back row and could choke my laughter into a sweater.
While I was in college, my best friend and I went to see Disney's "Bambi" in hunter's camo and NRA hats...well fortified with beer...
We laughed maniacally anytime an animal was killed by a hunter...and were escorted out of the theater after some parents complained..(deservedly so in my now-adult opinion)....
We laughed maniacally anytime an animal was killed by a hunter...and were escorted out of the theater after some parents complained..(deservedly so in my now-adult opinion)....
I remember being in school in an English class, and the teacher decided to show a film with quite an explicit sex scene (after getting permission from parents). She had a long talk with us first, to make sure everyone watched it maturely. We were reputed to be a very difficult to deal with class, but this particular teacher was well-liked (I suppose it helped that she was smokin' hot and an excellent teacher), and the entire class was trying so hard to do as she asked.
Somehow, I found the whole situation extremely funny... that she found it necessary to treat a love scene like a nuclear bomb... I did keep myself under control, until we came to the big scene. I could see the other students backs stiffening, whilst earnestly trying to keep a mature blasé expression, you could cut the tension with a knife... I tried to suppress the laughter, but the more I forced it down, the louder the guffaws, it was no use. I was mortified, it took even myself by surprise, as well as everyone else. To make matters worse, no one else laughed along, I was a lone spectacle, the idiot at the back who couldn't be mature for five minutes. Except, I wasn't laughing at the scene, but everyone's reaction to it.
What made it worse was the more acute sense of embarrassment a teenager feels... I guess that's why I still remember it.
There have been a handful of other times I could mention, but they are far too awkward to go into here.
Somehow, I found the whole situation extremely funny... that she found it necessary to treat a love scene like a nuclear bomb... I did keep myself under control, until we came to the big scene. I could see the other students backs stiffening, whilst earnestly trying to keep a mature blasé expression, you could cut the tension with a knife... I tried to suppress the laughter, but the more I forced it down, the louder the guffaws, it was no use. I was mortified, it took even myself by surprise, as well as everyone else. To make matters worse, no one else laughed along, I was a lone spectacle, the idiot at the back who couldn't be mature for five minutes. Except, I wasn't laughing at the scene, but everyone's reaction to it.
What made it worse was the more acute sense of embarrassment a teenager feels... I guess that's why I still remember it.
There have been a handful of other times I could mention, but they are far too awkward to go into here.
Even online I sometimes have to censor myself. I have a zinger for ed's "helping a disabled person to the loo" topic, but just can't post it because it really would offend too many people.
(no, I'm not telling it via PM either. You'll have to make your own offensive gags up).
You also can't spell funeral without fun.
My freshman year of college the band travelled to Samford University in Alabama, which is a Baptist college, I think. Anyway, there was this very, very, VERY long prayer before the game. The guy prayed the football teams, the fans, the cheerleaders, the blades of grass, 9/11, Pearl Harbor, Billy Graham, Worf, and Led Zeppelin (only a slight exaggeration) before it was all over. Somebody around me started giggling and pretty soon a lot of us were doing it for a good 10 minutes while the neverending prayer went on.
^OK, that brings up my inappropriate laughter story...
At the end of a day-long "preparing for childbirth" class, the instructor decided it would be a good idea to give the mommies a chance to practice their meditation skills by having everyone get down on yoga mats, stretch out, and calmly empty their minds.
So we all get on the mats, she puts on the New Age music, and my wife rolls her eyes. The instructor's tranquilly guiding us through a meditation, encouraging to embrace serenity. My thought process goes like this...
I'm pretty relaxed. I hope I don't fart. OK, the cargo bay's pretty well closed up...but what if someone else farts? I don't think I could keep from laughing.
I struggled with it for a few seconds, then I started giggling. I had a very vivid mental image of someone cutting one and the instructor going "Oh my!" as we all gave each other accusing looks.
"Stop it" my wife hissed at me. The instructor, seeing my shoulders quaking as I cradled my pregnant wife in my arms on the mat, might have thought I was overcome with emotion at the thought of becoming a father, and was weeping.
Until I couldn't hold back anymore, and LOLed. And no one else joined me. When I opened my eyes to peek (we were supposed to keep them shut), they all seemed very serious.
The meditation ended shortly after.
At the end of a day-long "preparing for childbirth" class, the instructor decided it would be a good idea to give the mommies a chance to practice their meditation skills by having everyone get down on yoga mats, stretch out, and calmly empty their minds.
So we all get on the mats, she puts on the New Age music, and my wife rolls her eyes. The instructor's tranquilly guiding us through a meditation, encouraging to embrace serenity. My thought process goes like this...
I'm pretty relaxed. I hope I don't fart. OK, the cargo bay's pretty well closed up...but what if someone else farts? I don't think I could keep from laughing.
I struggled with it for a few seconds, then I started giggling. I had a very vivid mental image of someone cutting one and the instructor going "Oh my!" as we all gave each other accusing looks.
"Stop it" my wife hissed at me. The instructor, seeing my shoulders quaking as I cradled my pregnant wife in my arms on the mat, might have thought I was overcome with emotion at the thought of becoming a father, and was weeping.
Until I couldn't hold back anymore, and LOLed. And no one else joined me. When I opened my eyes to peek (we were supposed to keep them shut), they all seemed very serious.
The meditation ended shortly after.
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Even online I sometimes have to censor myself. I have a zinger for ed's "helping a disabled person to the loo" topic, but just can't post it because it really would offend too many people.
(no, I'm not telling it via PM either. You'll have to make your own offensive gags up).
Honestly, I am always censoring myself online and in the real world too. It's too bad because some of it is pretty good material.
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