Humor Me

'They' say that you are either funny, or you are not. Maybe that's true, but if that implies that a sense of humor is a natural trait, I disagree. It is not a gene that can be isolated, or a trait that is passed on from generation to generation. Can it be learned? No.

What humor is, in it's most simplest form, is a self preservation mechanism. A tool, learned at an early age, that lets the person cope with life. Let me explain.

I recently sat on my back porch while watching my brother flail on a torn apart trampoline. Hold on, let me go back further. We HAD a trampoline in our backyard, a perfect cure from boredom, mosquitoes, and untwisted ankles. A trampoline that my mother had continuously sworn to my brothers and I, that if ONE more person got hurt on that thing, she would take a knife and cut it in half.

So she did. Almost. She used scissors, but it had the same effect. So what we have now is a rectangular metal frame in our backyard with two flaps of trampoline hanging lifelessly to the grass. It's like something out of the movie Halloween, all we need is a bloodstain for effect.

So my brother Max, after seeing what our mom had done to his favorite outdoor bouncing device, had two options. One: He could shout and scream and be very angry. OR, Two: He could run outside grab on to the metal frame, and start bouncing sideways on whatever spring-connected fabric was left, flailing himself all about screaming "YOU CAN'T TAKE MY FUN AWAY FROM ME!!!"

Now see? That's funny. I was laughing at least. Its either laugh or explode. I'm convinced of it.