\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 In preparation for a military inspection during my years in the National Guard (in New Mexico, unlike Alabama, they actually took roll, and I attended most of the drills), the officer in charge of my platoon asked me to claim some quite simple military occupational specialty when the inspector general came to me.<\/p>\n
\n\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 My warrant officer suggested I list my M.O.S. as a generator operator in order to avoid getting confused over more sophisticated questions about what I really was trained in–radar.
\n\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Am I such a complete idiot that I can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t answer questions on radar?” I asked myself. Apparently my grin gave me away, and the officer curtly asked, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153What\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s so funny?” I answered, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153With respect, sir, I know less about generators than about radar.”
\n\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 After ordering 20 pushups, he declared himself my sworn enemy.
\n\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 And why did I become persona non grata? Simply because of my levity. Now \u00e2\u20ac\u0153levity” is more than looking at things optimistically or humorously. A bunch of men at a frat party don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t engage in levity, but if they behave that way in church. . . .
\n\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 Since that experience I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve been acutely aware of occasions in which people ask, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153What\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s so funny?” or \u00e2\u20ac\u0153What are you laughing at?” Seriously, what is inherently wrong in being amused?
\n\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 But let me back up. At Immaculate Conception School, eighth grade, every student was required to memorize and present a poem on Fridays. If we didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t choose quickly, the teacher would assign one. Some got assigned one- and two-liners, whereas with my luck, I drew \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Paradise Lost.”
\n\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 Now no teacher could ever expect an eighth-grader to memorize such an epic, yet at home I agonized over the first 30 lines of the book-length poem. The next day, Sister Teresa told the class to make themselves comfortable, as \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Arthur\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s going to deliver all of Milton\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcParadise Lost,\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 and we may be here all weekend.”
\n\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d prepared for the bluff, and before rising, I dropped a couple of cubic objects on the floor and took several seconds locating them. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153What is the problem, Arthur?” Sister Teresa asked. I explained, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Oh, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m looking for my pair o\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 dice lost.”
\n\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 Well that did it! \u00e2\u20ac\u0153You are not funny, Arthur.” I learned that humor–levity, if you will–is within the purview of only the teacher and a few teacher\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s pets. I was not in their league.
\n\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 How many times do we hear someone ask, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153What\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s so funny?” And is it possible for anyone to ask that question without an angry tone?
\n\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 I contend many of us are fragile, even paranoid, and we imagine that anyone who\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s laughing when we aren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t is laughing at us. Does someone\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s laughter ever diminish us? No, of course not! Yet, we have that feeling that those laughing are privy to knowledge to which we are not. Did I leave my fly unzipped? Do I have a hole in my shoe?
\n\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 One of my classmates apparently thought all laughter was directed at her. Once, a group of us, enjoying lunch break, were cracking up over something that had happened at school. The girl in question walked in to the room about the time the laughter had subsided. Questionable timing, but the joke wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t about her. She just thought it was since the room grew quiet.
\n\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 She accused us of laughing at her expense and admonished us not to talk behind her back.
\n\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 Nothing serious had been on our minds, but what the heck! Let\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s give her a reason to suspect our actions. So from that day on, whenever she came near, one of us would chuckle and the others would join in. What were we laughing about? Not a darn thing! But it was fun.
\n\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 We did believe, however, that Madam Whasofunny exaggerated her importance. Once, at a football game, someone must have piqued her paranoia in telling her, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153You know, I think every time the team goes into a huddle, they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re really talking about you.”
\n\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 Clearly, there are occasions in which it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s best not to use levity, funerals and other church services included. Levity needs to be restrained to prevent it from detracting from or even supplanting solemn occasions. Some may recall the episode on \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Mary Tyler Moore” when TV performer Chuckles the Clown met an undignified death, live, on the set. During the wake, Mary kept giggling. Then the minister announced that humor is a normal emotion and asked Mary to feel free to mention some of the more humorous events of Chuckles\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 life. As soon as Mary got to the front, she broke down in tears.
\n\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 At a banquet a few years back, I repeated a joke about a new priest who got rattled during his first sermon and who came up with, among other things, \u00e2\u20ac\u015310 apostles and 12 commandments.”
\n\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 One person, disapproving of my levity, asked me where I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d heard it. I needed to be evasive, lest she confront the source. Today, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s probably safe to say that the fuller version was uttered by a relative of mine, a member of the clergy. Strange, but when the padre told the joke, and we cracked up, nobody asked, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153What\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s so funny?”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 In preparation for a military inspection during my years in the National Guard (in New Mexico, unlike Alabama, they actually took roll, and I attended most of the drills), the officer in charge of my platoon asked me to claim some quite simple military occupational specialty when the inspector general came to me.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[2],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/rezio.net\/woa\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/131"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/rezio.net\/woa\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/rezio.net\/woa\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rezio.net\/woa\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rezio.net\/woa\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=131"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/rezio.net\/woa\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/131\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/rezio.net\/woa\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=131"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rezio.net\/woa\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=131"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rezio.net\/woa\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=131"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}