Aug 23rd, 2020: Coping with Humour
More and more Canadians have gotten deeply concerned about what is going
on in the US. I know business folks who are worried about the lack of
progress in managing the pandemic. I have friends in Asia and Europe who
have voiced their dismay about what appears to be the lack of
meaningful leadership from the US. When people are stressed, humor
becomes a mean for a coping mechanism. We have seen more and more of
that these days.
Humour is a form of stress relief for what we
are going through. When we realize we just did a stupid thing that
costs us financially and emotionally, we use humor to process that out.
Sometimes it appears to be self-effacing. Sometimes it sounds like
exaggerating. It is a psychological display of dismay at oneself.
Humour
can also be used to portray a sense of superiority. People can use
humor as a way to put some others down. We, Canadians, are guilty of
this by making jokes at Americans about their rudeness and unawareness
while we enjoy thinking of how nice we are. This form of humor sometimes
reveals ignorance of oneself.
Humour can also be a way to cope
with the absurdity of life. Many of us have to adjust to many things
that used to be absurd in the past. What used to be absurd now deems to
be acceptable. Maybe we need humor to live through this period of
acceptable absurdity. It also helps to tolerate the unfathomable of many
recent developments in our society.
Now here are a few clean sample jokes about Coronavirus.
"What’s the best way to avoid touching your face? A glass of wine in each hand."
"It is about to get ugly out there. Hair Salons and Barber Shops are closed."
"Restaurants don't find Covid-19 funny. It brings in bad taste."
"We are in quarantine, only inside jokes are allowed."
This one is from someone I know:
"A nurse told me a joke, but it flu over my head."
If you don't get these jokes, it is ok. It might take you up to two weeks to figure them out.
Psalm 37: 13
"But the Lord laughs at the wicked, for he sees that his day is coming."
Colossians 4: 6
"Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person.
