i am pretty certain that since my arrival on this earth i have been forced to deal with what i refer to as the inconvenient laugh. maybe it is not so much a laugh, as more of a chuckle or giggle. any way you put it i have found it can be rather insulting and incredibly humiliating.
yet despite my acute awareness of the problem, it never fails to creep up at the most inopportune moments.
people, specifically strangers seem to view me as a sounding board for their sad stories. some such stories have been truly heartwrenching. i have always been a little touched that they feel comfortable to share these details with me, but silently wishful that they would find someone else as i am sure to disappoint. for some reason my listening skills are superb, while my response skills are desperately lacking. i can't handle tragedy. i never know what to say. not ever. more often than not i resort to an under the breath chuckle followed by a face of shear horror for what i've just done.
i don't know why i do it.
i most definitely do not find even an ounce of joy from others' misfortunes. but it comes up like the hiccups and i can't do a thing about it but shut my mouth tight and hold my breath. which leaves me standing there looking shamefully ridiculous. inducing even more awkwardness.
not good.
i wish i was full of inspiration that i could reach for and share at any necessary moment. but that doesn't seem to be the case. maybe i should get a stack of self help books and read away. i still don't know if i could summon my newly found knowledge before my hideous malfunction surfaced. perhaps i could find a generic reply that would sooth anyone in any situation. that sounds a bit shallow doesn't it?
i was somewhat hopeful that at the end of this post i would have honed in on the solution. but i haven't.
what to do about the inconvenient laugh?
do you have any embarassing quirks you'd like to share?
2 comments:
It's a nervous laugh. Mark used to do that, like when he was being questioned by angry police, who thought he was mocking them. Inconvenient indeed!
Don't worry, I'm sure most people can see the concern in your warm eyes and know the chuckle replaces what you'd like to say with your heart. What horrifies you is endearing to those of us who love you.
(I often laugh at awkward times, too, like when people fall on their faces and I should be helping them up, not roaring with laughter.)
you sound exactly like me! I don't know how to react with pain either. Example: When I was cleaning with Faun one time she got up on a rolling chair to dust something up high and fell, hit her head and I just started cracking up. I still think it's hilarious!lol Anyway I am that way with everything. So I know ur pain.. By the way about the beenie I will buy one eventually but at the moment we r a little on the poor side.. Thanks for the info
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