My 2 Second Shelf Life

News Reporter Laughs While Reporting Fatal Accident



Have you ever laughed at an inappropriate time?

I have.
It's a reaction. A nervous reaction...maybe of disbelief.
Not funny. Not funny.

I once had an employee tell me a very private thing.
I sat across my desk from her, and she swallowed, and turned red, and tears welled up in her eyes.
I could see how difficult it was for her to tell me. It was a life altering revelation, and it wasn't a good one for her.

I tried...I really did...but when she finished her story and looked to me for a reaction, maybe some advice, a profound word, some sort of thoughts of wisdom...I burst out laughing.
I apologized profusely, and told her that I wasn't laughing at her dilemma, but at how absurd life can be, how unfair.
How God has a sarcastic sense of humour.

Really, I couldn't believe that she thought that I had an answer for her..

Have you ever laughed at an inappropriate time?

Mary Tyler Moore did in this great episode of "The Funeral of Chuckles The Clown".