Bad Day? Laugh it off! (Response to The 50 Funniest American Writers, Twain, 3-5; O. Henry, 11-26; Loos, 49-51; Mencken, 56-62; Barry, 323-334)

Yesterday was just one of those days when things were just not going for me. It started first thing in the morning. In my first class, I got a pop quiz for which I did not study the correct material. I didn’t feel so good about it. And usually, on one of those days, a cup of coffee would be the perfect fix to make my day better. So, even though I thought I might be late for work, I thought it would be worth the five minutes to get myself a cup of coffee. Bad idea. The minute I got my coffee, I walked right into a chair but everything was still fine because nothing spilled. I took a sip and was content. Then, with just two minutes until my shift, I power-walked to my bike. It was only then when I actually spilled my coffee, all over my bike. I didn’t have time to clean it up so I just hopped on and cycled quickly to work. However, I had salvaged half the cup so I drank it up and felt a little better but I was still irritated at how things were just not going my way. I just wanted the day to be over, and it was only noon.

It didn’t help that I had a lot of homework to do. So, I decided to just start with my Lit & Civ 2 reading of “The 50 Funniest American Writers according to Andy Borowitz.” I opened the book and read the first few passages. Some of them amused me, but one that actually got me giggling was Dave Barry’s “Tips for Women: How to Have a Relationship with a Guy.” And just for those few minutes, I forgot about all those little things that happened earlier, my pop quiz, my coffee spilling, racing to work. After the reading, I felt better, less irritated and my day started to turn around. I thought about Morreall’s ideas from Comic Relief, the positive effects of humor and disengagement due to humor. Perhaps, the amusement I got from the amusement I got from the reading disengaged me from all my negative emotions and allowed me to think more rationally. I decided that I could either sulk about how my day was going or I could just laugh about it and move on. I went with the latter because I realized the former would just be silly. 

Now, how did a few words on a few pages amuse me? Barry's piece was about a couple between a woman, Elaine, and a man, Roger. He wrote from both perspectives, describing what was going on in Elaine’s mind, as opposed to what was going on in Roger’s mind. Their thoughts completely contrasted, as Elaine was worried, trying to interpret Roger’s silent response. Meanwhile he was simply thinking about his overdue oil change. I found that the situation was incongruous on multiple levels. Their thoughts completely contrasted. Their reactions contrasted, as she overthought about it for months after and he didn’t even think anything of it. Moreover, the way that Barry jumped back and forth from Roger to Elaine at a quick pace made the incongruity even more noticeable.

Furthermore, I hate to admit it but I agree that Elaine’s reactions were accurate relative to the reactions of most females, given they were in the same situation. I even read bits of the passage to my roommate, who also found it to be, as she put it, “so true.” Elaine’s reaction just seemed silly with respect to Roger’s reaction. And I liked how Barry brought this realization to my attention without making me feel like I was being attacked, on behalf of all females. He did this by indirectly belittling the male, suggesting that, “He wasn’t thinking… He can’t: He doesn’t have the appropriate type of brain.” But I think that’s why it was amusing, because I could relate to it, so I was engaged. Additionally, because I found Elaine’s reaction quite realistic, I kept wondering if Roger's reaction was realistic. Would any males like to comment on this?