In the Eye of the Beholder

I had a nice long visit today with a friend,a good friend, someone with whom I've shared a great deal.

As usual, our conversation was all over the place, as happens when you're in and out of touch over the years. The best thing about that kind of friend is that you can pick right up wherever you left off...and we always do. We  share anecdotes, catch each other up, laugh & bicker, just like the old days.

We touched on a lot of topics today and he, eventually,as he always does, struck a nerve. Not a major nerve (he can do that too) a minor one, but we touched on it lightly & it resonated enough that I decided to blog about it, he already knows how I feel.

 It's this:

 One of things I'm known and, presumably, loved for is my sense of humor. I'm fortunately (and amazingly, considering everything) a very high spirited person.Too grateful to get depressed, too tenacious to know when to lie down & say "Uncle!"

I have a finely tuned sense of the ridiculous. I'm not exactly "a little song, a little dance, a little seltzer down your pants" kinda gal - pratfalls and sight gags don't get me going. It's the unexpected, the bon mot, the witty, the puns, the subtleties of life that crack me up, that slay me. I'm great at laughing uncontrollably & inappropriately (ask anyone.)

But what doesn't ever delight or amuse me is sarcasm. I loathe, detest, despise and abhor it...(but lemme tell ya how I really feel !) I think it is, as I reminded my friend, the weapon of the weak, the heavy handed humor of the adolescent and certainly unkind. It isn't used by anyone I know or love, I'm happy to say, at least around me. My family are like me & and I guess that's the way we roll.  Laughter at another's expense is cruel. I find enough in my everyday world to keep me upbeat, smiling and for the most part, happy.

But, I guess it's all about your environment.

 "You don't have a sense of humor, it has you"
(Larry Gelbhart, producer of MASH)

Now,that's what I'm talkin' about!