Day 24 - Seriously? Nah!

January 29
Day 24


Do you know who or what I find really funny? Not jokes, I hardly "get" them. Though the last one my father told me is hilarious but that's rare for me to laugh at jokes. And yes, there are some comedians who make me howl. But who I really find funny, is ME. I just can not take myself seriously.

I tend not to shimmy up to people who take themselves seriously. I can smell them miles away, they do not scare me as much as they annoy me. I just want to say in the words of John Spahr (his advice to Wider Students and how to think about their audience when giving presentations), "c'mon, ease up there, everybody has gas." However, I have learned, though that might be the right thing to THINK it is the wrong thing to SAY. Oh, to know the difference.

A good laugh at myself is better than the best prescriptive medicine on the market. What do I have to prove? Who do I need to impress? A specific time in history enabled me to not take myself seriously. The complete acceptance brought about by someone else's death provided me with a self confidence that does not rest in my accuracy, my amazing schedule, my correct grammar, or my gymnastic moves (I have none).

In fact, I lack. He does not.  And It is all good.

So, like the time we were providing coffee for an Opera event. The deal was we were to provide coffee and they were to provide us with tickets. The night comes and it is a long line and when I get to the window and mention that there should be tickets put aside for me I am given a blank stare. The kind of stare one dreads. Uh-oh.

"Ma'am, who is the person who you know?" the young ticket man inquires of me.  I answer his question and he suggests that I find that person. Wait, what? I am finding this person?  So, I slink away from the window trying to look "purposeful." I find the woman and relay to her the lack of tickets. She doesn't have time for this she is busy.  I do feel bad, but it kinda was the deal.

She says, "Well, we sold out and I put a folding chair in the back for you. So, just go and sit in the back." Now, how, do, I, look "purposeful" walking away from this interaction, this mini dialogue?  I kinda didn't.  She basically gave me a seat in the theater but did not provide me with a ticket to get in the theater. I just followed my tail like a dog and ended up  at the same place, no ticket.

But trust me, I looked "purposeful" going straight out to the parking garage walking right past that ticket booth.  "Hmmmpphh! Who needs music tonight?"

On the way home I called my Dad,  boy did we laugh. He taught me how to do this well.

 Thanks, Dad!