Being Too Tuned In
I think there is a thing as being too tuned in to someone else's sense of humor. It can get you into trouble. This used to happen at business meetings with me and Joe Samurai. Now it's happening at meetings in my new congregation with my family. My brother, My Nephew, The Doctor and I all have the same sense of humor. We catch little mistakes that people say which totally change the meaning of their message.
For example, a couple of weeks ago, one brother was talking about how kids should conduct themselves during the flag salute at school. (By the way, we don't salute the flag, but we will stand respectfully while others do so.) The speaker missed one little letter and said, "fag salute." Totally new connotation. I was sitting next to The Doctor. I could see my brother and My Nephew over to the right of me. All of them started laughing as soon as the phrase was out of the speaker's mouth. Except, they couldn't just laugh out loud. They're trying to be silent, but I could still see their shoulders shaking. I had to put my head down so that I couldn't see them. That didn't work, I could still see The Doctor shaking out of the corner of my eye. My final trick was to hold my nose. The idea is that I can't laugh if I can't breathe. (I learned that from Infectious Laughter.) That worked until my mind started to wander. (If you can't tell, I have a unique imagination.) I started seeing flags with rainbows on them and gay men in shiny broadway-ish costumes carrying these rainbow flags in a Color Guard with their jazz hands and spirit fingers. It was all I could do to control myself.
Last night my brother did something that was so silly, but hysterical. He was sitting between me and his wife. He was not doing something that she wanted him to do, so she nudged him and told him to do it. Before he complied, he reached over to nudge her back. She was sitting with her legs crossed - the one on top coming over towards him. Instead of just nudging her, he reached down and tapped her knee right where a doctor hits you to check your reflexes. Sure enough, her leg kicked out in reaction. It was so automatic that there was nothing she could do to stop herself. I didn't realize what he was doing until her leg kicked out. I don't think he expected it to work either. When it did, we both started laughing. What made this situation worse is that we were in a very small room with only about 30 people. Thankfully, we were sitting on the back row. But if I hadn't gotten control of myself, it would have been very obvious and embarrassing.
It's been so long since I've been in a congregation with people who I'm so tuned in to. I forsee lots of embarrassing moments.
For example, a couple of weeks ago, one brother was talking about how kids should conduct themselves during the flag salute at school. (By the way, we don't salute the flag, but we will stand respectfully while others do so.) The speaker missed one little letter and said, "fag salute." Totally new connotation. I was sitting next to The Doctor. I could see my brother and My Nephew over to the right of me. All of them started laughing as soon as the phrase was out of the speaker's mouth. Except, they couldn't just laugh out loud. They're trying to be silent, but I could still see their shoulders shaking. I had to put my head down so that I couldn't see them. That didn't work, I could still see The Doctor shaking out of the corner of my eye. My final trick was to hold my nose. The idea is that I can't laugh if I can't breathe. (I learned that from Infectious Laughter.) That worked until my mind started to wander. (If you can't tell, I have a unique imagination.) I started seeing flags with rainbows on them and gay men in shiny broadway-ish costumes carrying these rainbow flags in a Color Guard with their jazz hands and spirit fingers. It was all I could do to control myself.
Last night my brother did something that was so silly, but hysterical. He was sitting between me and his wife. He was not doing something that she wanted him to do, so she nudged him and told him to do it. Before he complied, he reached over to nudge her back. She was sitting with her legs crossed - the one on top coming over towards him. Instead of just nudging her, he reached down and tapped her knee right where a doctor hits you to check your reflexes. Sure enough, her leg kicked out in reaction. It was so automatic that there was nothing she could do to stop herself. I didn't realize what he was doing until her leg kicked out. I don't think he expected it to work either. When it did, we both started laughing. What made this situation worse is that we were in a very small room with only about 30 people. Thankfully, we were sitting on the back row. But if I hadn't gotten control of myself, it would have been very obvious and embarrassing.
It's been so long since I've been in a congregation with people who I'm so tuned in to. I forsee lots of embarrassing moments.
1 Comments:
I know that feeling. It's really not good to sit with my sister or my brothers, esp. no. 2 brother.
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