A sense of humor is a very personal thing. What I find funny may not amuse you in the slightest, and what you find funny could downright offend me. There is also a time and a place for jokes. If you tell a joke at a party where everyone has had a few drinks and it brings the house down, there’s no guarantee that that same joke, when told at a staff meeting, will not bring the sound of crickets. And I find Saturday Night Live to be hilarious at times, but I doubt I would if I were watching it at high noon.
I often laugh at inappropriate moments. I get this from my mother, and it often gets me into trouble. I think it’s sort of the opposite of a tickle. You can’t tickle yourself, but you can make yourself laugh. I’d much rather laugh than not. Once I learned to stop taking myself so seriously, I set myself free.
And then there’s the famous quote by Ella Wheeler Wilcox: “Laugh, and the world laughs with you; weep, and you weep alone.” Humor provides a sense of bonding. If you’re with a group of people and you’re laughing about the same thing, it’s as if you’re saying, “I’m just like you.” “I like the way you think.” “You make me happy.” Some of my best memories are related to times when I’ve laughed until I cried with someone.
Which brings me to my theory about jokes. Your favorite joke defines you in many ways. Once you have that basic definition of yourself, you can pretty much divide the world into two groups: those who laugh at your joke, and those who do not find it funny at all. Some people fall into a grey area. They don’t “get” your joke, but they think it’s funny once you’ve explained it to them. I believe there is still hope for those people.
At this point I’m sure you’re dying to know what my joke is, so here goes:
Question: Why is Turtle Wax so expensive?
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Answer: Because their ears are so small.
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