Lighten Up Linda! Where Has Our Sense of Humor Gone?

Do you ever post something on Facebook or other social media outlets and think, ‘Everyone’s gonna love this! Totally relatable!’ But then it’s taken out of complete context. You’re like, ‘wait a minute, this was suppose to be fun and light-hearted! I thought everyone deals with crying into their wine sometimes after a tough day of work/parenting at some point in their lives,’ instead, you get comments like,

“Instead of thinking about yourself, why don’t you think of what your kids are going through?”

“I really don’t think you should be drinking on a weeknight. What if someone needs to go to the ER?”

“Why aren’t you playing a game with your kids in lieu of drinking wine? That’s what I’m doing. I’m playing Monopoly.”

Where Has Our Sense of Humor Gone?

Is the spray used on our produce been laced with some sort of chemical that takes away our sense of humor? Like it prohibits the enzyme that allows us to realize something is a joke? I’m seriously wondering this. I get there are bad things happening in the world but there have been bad things happening pretty much ever since humans set foot on the Earth. If someone doesn’t allow themselves to laugh, it’s a very sorry existence in my book.

I’ll be honest, I self-medicate with humor. Humor to me is what the sun is for Vitamin D. I absolutely need it for survival. At any given time, I can be found watching something funny on YouTube, listening to a Podcast or watching a stand-up comedian. Humor is how I deal with stress, depression, awkward situations and anxiety.

Occasionally I’m asked why I’m even laughing. Why am I laughing at a commerical I’ve watched 15 times? Sometimes I’ll make up a fictional skit in my head and begin laughing while everyone else in the car is silent. I’ll laugh at my desk while eavesdropping on a conversation that struck me as funny.

Why I’m Writing About a Sense of Humor

As some of you read, I wrote a post to the folks that schedule soccer games on Mother’s day, EVERY F’ING YEAR: A Letter to the Organization That Schedules S*** on Mother’s Day. Then I had an idea. I would post it on 2 soccer Facebook pages. In my head, this is what I was thinking:

“These women are absolutley gonna love this! They’re going to be so happy that another woman has their back and standing up to the people that schedule things on Mother’s Day.”

Though several moms were like, “OMG, totally get this” or “this made me laugh”, there were several moms who you would have thought I said I hate my children. They made me seem selfish and unconcerned. I was admonished for not wanting to spend Mother’s day on a soccer field, watching my sons “do what they’re passionate about”.

I didn’t respond to anyone that didn’t get the joke because it wasn’t worth it. It’s a given that I absolutely love my sons and love watching them play soccer. I would die for those 2. To complain about having to get up at the crack of dawn on Mother’s day and not be able to spend it with other family members (i.e. mother-in-law), I won’t apologize for that. For instance, my husband has to forgo seeing his mom on Mother’s day and that’s not fair. While I welcome opposing views, I wish people would step back and appreciate where I was coming from.

Empathy and the Sense of Humor

The funniest things are the forbidden.
– Notebook, 1879

I absolutely love this quote and it’s so true. It’s cathartic to let down guards, admit weaknesses and laugh about them. Why is it wrong to say “damn it, I legit want a day to sleep in for once?” Why is it wrong to say you love your teen but you don’t like them very much right now? There is beauty in the truth; an honesty that has been swept under the rug. We aren’t robots. We screw up, we curse, we drink, we say the wrong things and we laugh. For the people that can’t appreciate this and find the funny, I feel sorry for them.

If I had no sense of humor, I would long ago have committed suicide.

-Mahatma Gandhi