Wednesday, October 27, 2010

I love to laugh...HA, HA, HA...long and loud and clear

In this life we all have choices....you can choose to allow others to have the power to make you cry......you can choose to allow what is going on around you, make you unhappy....you can choose to be around others that are mean, ugly and filled with hate....you can choose to be lonely and shut yourself off, away from the rest of the world......or, you choose what I choose....you can choose to laugh. I love to laugh, really...I do. And, I have absolutely no problem laughing at myself. I mean seriously, who takes pictures of their own feet, and then posts them on a public webs site, if they are not able to make fun of their own idiosyncrasies??? Certainly silliness to the highest degree!!!

Roger and I laugh all the time...at ourselves, at each other...and at the rest of the world. We find humor in the smallest things and recognize the fact that some people have never mastered something we find so simple and enjoyable...the ability just let go and not take things so seriously. Case in point this weekend at the grocery store...we had just a few things to pick up and I refuse to walk up and down each aisle...I want to walk in, get what I want, then walk out. He finally, after all these years, understands and agrees with my logic, except when he is looking for something specific...and then, like most men, refuses to ask a store clerk for assistance. I follow him around for a bit, then he goes off across the store and I wait "patiently" while he searches for this one item. I finally turn to the first clerk I see and ask where the raisins are...Aisle 13, she says...and instantly, we are finally done with the shopping. All checked out...he grabs the bags...we walk out of the store...me chatting away (who me!?!)...walking a few steps behind him....we are halfway down the side walk about to step off the curb into the parking lot when he looks back at me with a big smile on his face and says "Honey, what are you doing?" I can't imagine what he is talking about...I'm just walking along minding my own business, following him to the car...and then it occurs to me...he is carrying the few bags of groceries, and there I am pushing an empty cart out to the car??? We both burst out laughing (I guess you had to be there), I quickly drop off the cart thinking no one REALLY saw me pushing an empty cart OUT of the store....and, we agree that after his 10 minute (fruitless-until I took charge of the situation--pun intended) hunt for the elusive raisins, and my shopping cart faux pas...when we are together, it is truly a case of the blind leading the blind.

I mentioned in one of my earlier posts that I listened to Blue Collar Comedy station on XM radio and enjoy it as a way to start my day before a crazy 8 hour shift at work. Think about it, I work in an office building with 2000 people, for a company that employs a total of 10,000 employees across the county, and I spend my entire day with a couple of attorneys that specialize in employment law...do you see where I'm going with this??? If I didn't laugh my butt off before I walked through those doors everyday, I'd have a tough time appreciating the lack of humor in my job. Believe me when I say, there is nothing funny about unhappy employees..and that is pretty much the crux of what we deal with day in--day out. Don't get me wrong, we find plenty to laugh about, but more often than not it is certainly never directed at the cases on my desk. We laugh at ourselves, each other and any little tidbit of humor that comes our way. Without going overboard, we swap silly emails, and share a giggle whenever possible. It's entertaining to send out a funny joke to a friend who sits a few cubicles away, then hear them laugh out loud when they open and read it. I find that the people I enjoy spending time with, are almost always, very funny people. I didn't realize until just this moment, it appears that throughout my life, I've chosen to be with folks that make me laugh, have an incredible sense of humor, and can find the everyday silliness that exists in the world we live in, without a lot of effort.

I will go one step further in my search for humor on a particularly banging-my-head-against-the-wall (all too frequent) kinda day...I grab my movie buddy, we leave work at 4:30 and drive directly to the local Cobb Theater and watch a funny movie. Silly comedy, side-splitting laugh out loud comedy, or better yet...stomping my feet on the ground and slapping my hands on my thighs comedy....the latter being my preference. When either one of us is having a rough day...we meet in the hallway and say...I need to laugh NOW. And sometimes, if we aren't able to get away that afternoon, just knowing we have plans later that week, or even the following week, helps to ease the stress we are under at that moment. I whip out my trusty IPhone, we peruse the upcoming movie schedule, pick a silly flick, send each other an invite (need to make it official so the waiting doesn't appear so endless), and then get back to the business at hand. It helps just knowing that in the not too distant future, we can leave all the craziness at work behind, step away from reality....and just belly laugh out loud....it really is the best medicine for what ails you. Thanks Nancy, for always finding a way to make me giggle :)


Some very silly, simple visual humor, that caught me just right one day when I really needed a good laugh...at first glance I giggled..then after looking at it again...I started laughing out loud...and pretty soon I was doubled over belly laughing with tears in my eyes...you really never know what is going to tickle your funny bone :)
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A little old man shuffled slowly into an ice cream parlor and pulled himself slowly, painfully, up onto a stool.. After catching his breath, he ordered a banana split.
The waitress asked kindly, 'Crushed nuts?'
'No,' he replied, 'Arthritis.'
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Morris, an 82 year-old man, went to the doctor to get a physical.
A few days later, the doctor saw Morris walking down the street with a gorgeous young woman on his arm.
A couple of days later, the doctor spoke to Morris and said, 'You're really doing great, aren't you?'
Morris replied, 'Just doing what you said, Doc: 'Get a hot mamma and be cheerful.''
The doctor said, 'I didn't say that.. I said, 'You've got a heart murmur; be careful.'
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The pastor asked if anyone in the congregation would like to express
praise for answered prayers.

Smith stood and walked to the podium. She said, "I have a praise.
Two months ago, my husband, Tom, had a terrible bicycle wreck and his
scrotum was completely crushed. The pain was excruciating and the
doctors didn't know if they could help him."

You could hear a muffled gasp from the men in the congregation as
they imagine the pain that poor Tom must have experienced.

"Tom was unable to hold me or the children," she went on, "and every
move caused him terrible pain." We prayed as the doctors performed a
delicate operation, and it turned out they were able to piece together
the crushed remnants of Tom's scrotum, and wrap wire around it to hold it
in place."

Again, the men in the congregation cringed and squirmed uncomfortably
as they imagined the horrible surgery performed on Tom.

"Now," she announced in a quivering voice, "thank the Lord, Tom is out
of the hospital and the doctors say that with time, his scrotum should
recover completely."

All the men sighed with unified relief.

The pastor rose and tentatively asked if anyone else had something to
say.

A man stood up and walked slowly to the podium. He said, "I'm Tom
Smith." The entire congregation held its breath. "I just want to tell
my wife the word is sternum.
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A man left work on Friday afternoon, but instead of going home, he stayed out the entire weekend hunting with the boys and spending his entire paycheck.

When he finally appeared at home Sunday night, he was confronted by his very angry wife and was barraged for nearly two hours with a tirade of his actions. Finally, his wife stopped the nagging and said to him, "How would you like it if you didn't see ME for two or three days?" To which he replied, "That would be fine with me."

Monday went by and he didn't see his wife. Tuesday and Wednesday came and went with the same results. Thursday, the swelling went down just enough where he could see her a little out of the corner of his left eye.
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A blonde who's down on her luck is walking through a luxurious neighbourhood looking for odd jobs to do when she approaches a large house. She goes up to the house, rings the bell and the owner comes to the door.
He asks the lady what he can do for her. The blonde tells him of her situation, that she is down on her luck and wants to know if he has any odd jobs that she could do.

The man thinks about it for a second and then remembers that he has been wanting his porch painted. He asks the blonde if she paints?

The blonde says, "Sure anything."

"Well, I've been wanting my porch painted, how much would you charge?" the man replies.

"I don't know, say $50 bucks."

"Sounds good. Go ahead and get started." He closes the door and walks back inside.

His wife asks him, "Who was at the door?" He tells her of the blonde and her situation and then told his wife that the blonde agreed to paint the porch for $50 bucks.

The astonished wife says, "$50 bucks, but that porch goes the full length of our house and then some. It will be at least a few hours job. You really should pay her more."

"But that's all she said she wanted, and anyway she's a dumb blonde!"

10 minutes later, they get a knock on the door. The man answers the door and blonde stands there and says, "All done."

With a surprised look on his face, "I can't believe it, you're already done painting the entire porch."

"Yes, and by the way it's not a porch it's a Ferrari."
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A doctor, a lawyer, a little boy, and a priest were in a small plane when it developed engine trouble. The pilot grabbed a parachute and told the passengers they had better jump too. But there were only three parachutes left.

The doctor said, "I save lives, so I must live," and bailed out.

The lawyer said, "I'm a lawyer, and lawyers are the smartest people in the world. I deserve to live." And he jumped.

The priest told the little boy, "My son, I've lived a long, full life. You take the last parachute."

The boy gave the parachute back to the priest and said, "Not to worry, Father, the smartest man in the world just took off with my backpack."
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These silly jokes are courtesy of a very funny group of folks on Cruise Critic

Do yourself a favor, don't forget to laugh everyday...I highly recommend it!




4 comments:

HappyCruiser said...

This will put you on the floor! We have several demented folks on our roll call and there has been a discussion as to whether or not haggis should be permitted at the sailaway party (we have quite an international crowd). Here's a link that was posted. You'll die laughing.

http://www.wilsonjo.demon.co.uk/haggis.htm

Joanne said...

Thanks for the link, I will check it out!

Nancy said...

LOL!!! Oh my!!! LOL!!! I can so picture you talking & walking along with your empty cart! I can even see Roger kindly bringing it to your attention and then there were two nuts laughing in the grocery store parking lot... which is a lot better than one nut walking to her car with an empty cart! Few things in life are better than sharing a great side splitting laugh with a good friend. Thank you my friend!

Joanne said...

Thanks Nancy--right back at you :)