The Funny in Stories

I recently read a book about humor. The author told of how he and his wife take time each evening to listen to funny stories. But the funny stories they listen to are not from each other, neither are they from the funny stories they may have heard from someone else during the day. Instead, the stories come from podcasts and social media.

That’s not bad, but it makes me wonder. Is that the only way we can find to communicate humor? Can we not find humor in our everyday encounters with the ordinary people we cross paths with?

I have to say that I was a little unsure, uncertain and a little unsettled about my theme for this month, but I’ve trusted this to be true: Once we start to see things that are funny, we’ll see more things that are funny. Once we start looking for humor, we’ll find more and more humor.

Listening for and finding the funny in a story someone is telling us only takes a little time. But how many of us don’t take the time? If we slow down and listen, then we won’t miss the funny in their story.

For instance, I’d set up a meeting with a local printer to have her help me with a project. Somehow or another while talking about my project, we got on the topic of old and new life lessons we’ve learned. She told me the following story.

She and her husband were dating and she was fixing a special dinner in her kitchen for just the two of them. He didn’t want to sit out in the living room and just wait. So, he came out into HER kitchen and made himself helpful by doing the dishes.

This was a dilemma for HER. How was SHE SUPPOSED to wash the potatoes that were on HER counter if HE was occupying BOTH SIDES OF HER sink? 

She didn’t want to discourage his thoughtfulness, but HOW WAS SHE SUPPOSED TO WASH HER POTATOES? 

She took a deep breath, picked the potatoes up off the counter and took them into the bathroom and washed them in the bathtub.

The moral of the story? There is more than one way to wash your potatoes.  

Her story, her facial expression, and our shared laughter was better than tuning into anything on my phone or TV. 

Human to human humor will never be replaced.

Why Bother?

Why bother listening for the funny in stories? If we pause long enough, we just might find the funny in someone’s story and have a good laugh together. There is absolutely nothing that can replace sharing humor with live human beings.