Laughter is a tonic for our times | Opinion

Eddie Adelman is a writer who lives in Belfast. His collection of columns and short essays is titled “Don’t Get Me Started.”

Let’s face it. The 2020s haven’t exactly been a barrel of laughs.

They certainly didn’t start off well with COVID-19. Our familiar day-to-day lives came to a screeching halt. The things we always took for granted like shopping, doctors’ appointments, going to work, visiting friends or even getting a haircut were severely compromised or just suspended.

When COVID ended, we were left with a country so politically divided that we never got to mourn our collective losses or bask in the glow of recovering from the pandemic. That divide has only deepened with time.

Rising food costs, soaring gas prices, housing affordability and exorbitant medical care have certainly not helped to bridge the divide. Throw in a deeply unpopular war with Iran and you’re left with a social, economic and political cauldron that doesn’t lend itself to laughter.

So, why would anyone bring up humor at a time like this? A better question might be, “Why not?” Allow me to explain with a personal story.

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Back in 1975, my father was quite ill and spent months in and out of the hospital. This man, who intensely disliked doctors and hospitals, spent his last days in a hospital with tubes and needles coming out of every part of his body.

One time, while sitting next to him at the ICU bed, he motioned for me to put my ear up to his lips. He then pulled away the tracheotomy tube, covered the throat opening with his fingers and whispered to me in a barely audible voice, “They really got you by the balls (or… ‘expletive’) in here.”

I couldn’t help but laugh. And then, so did he. Talk about gallows humor.

A few days later, we lost him.

But that vital life lesson has always remained with me. Even in the depths of pain, sadness and uncertainty, there’s always room for laughter.

Think about it. Haven’t we all experienced nervous laughter while confronting an uncertain situation? On the other hand, haven’t we all experienced tears of joy when our hearts swelled with happiness at a wedding or graduation or the birth of a child?

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And ask yourself this: How many times have you laughed so hard at a joke or humorous situation that you started crying?

As far as I can tell, laughter and tears are two sides of the same coin. A simple flip and you get the polar opposite.

And so it is with our current political climate. Much as we would like to think that the divide in our country is simply too wide to traverse, I would argue that there are bridges that allow us to cross over and see “the others” simply as fellow human beings, who seek out the same basic needs: food, shelter, safety and a community of family and friends.

So, how does laughter fit into all of this? I believe that laughter is one of those bridges that allow us to experience our shared humanity.

Comedians get that. When an audience bursts out into laughter, it’s often because it is collectively thinking, “Me too.” Aren’t we really laughing at ourselves? And our own fallibility? And doing it as one?

Haven’t we all split our pants in public, had a really bad hair day, or passed gas at an inopportune moment? And quite often, laughter is the natural reaction.

Furthermore, that shared reaction knows no political boundaries. Democrats and Republicans. Liberals and conservatives. We all share that common human experience that is laughter.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying that laughter is the panacea to all that ails America. Far from it. But, for all our righteous indignation, why not take a step backward. Or in this case a step forward. And perhaps accompany that step with the following words: “A guy walks into a bar …”

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Tagged: columns