Jokes Apart

Life isn’t a joke. Or, is it— you try your best to accomplish something then suddenly it turns out you were doing it all wrong? Yeah, life is nothing but a joke. But can you afford to be joking around just because life has its own path? Not a good choice I guess. Discipline matters too. Balancing between the two, being able to create a humorous atmosphere in a good manner is the key. Both add to the loveable persona of a human; of course in a balanced way.

It demands a proper context and should not come at the expense of other’s sensitivity. But surpassing the odds, good manners always triumph. You may not have a good sense of humour, that’s alright— people may find you unassuming but not as a weirdo. Lacking good manners; nah, it won’t cut right even among a crowd of drunks.

At the same time, you must not forget what seems to be funny to you might not amuse others.

A few days ago, I called one of my colleagues ‘the chocolate boy.’ It’s a popular term among my friends if someone is quite interesting to girls around— girls like chocolates, don’t they?

I thought we might have a humorous moment. But it was quite the opposite. He got offended, thought I was being racist; you know colour and all that. How disappointing. I didn’t mean that.

So, I apologised.

This resolved the situation but I couldn’t help thinking about it again and again. What if he is hurt, what if he holds a grudge even after apologising? Being apologetic seemed to be a good manner to me, calling him that seemed to be a good sense of humour to me— at least my friends would laugh out loud and we’d have much fun prolonging the conversation. Don’t know what he ended up thinking but he surely cannot refuse my humbleness after asking for forgiveness.

Then I came to a realisation.

Being humorous, having a good sense of humour to be specific is like entering the arena with a radiating personality. People around you would expect you to be sarcastic in a funny tone yet without hurting others’ preferences. It’s an on-demand characteristic that doesn’t thrive in a stand-alone situation— you gotta be cautious and wait for the right moment to drop the bomb.

On the other hand, having a sense of good manners, well, it’s universal. It earns respect irrespective of the situation. You may have the best sense of humour but that doesn’t come to play at the funeral you are attending. Good manner does. It’s like a refined elegance of human characteristics; an integral part of our social life— never gets old. Unlike humour, it spreads a delightful courtesy among the surroundings by being a beacon of hope and empathy.

Again, laughter is contagious, you cannot refuse it. What you need to take into account is the context, cause without the right mix, tanginess gets bitter.

_{Ⓒ mine}