Whoops!
A few years ago Rich took me out so I could deliver Valentines to some friends of mine. My first stop was literally a block away. The way my friend's house is set up, the garage juts out with the sidewalk on the side; you can't see the driveway from the car. I was excited. I told Rich I'd be quick and hopped out of the car. I was quick alright. I quickly slipped on a patch of ice going in. Thankfully my back broke the fall. As I rubbed my backside, tried to find my footing in my slick, yet stylish high heels, and glanced behind me to make sure Rich truly couldn't see me, I proceeded to the door. No one answered but the dogs so I put my Valentine on the stoop. Apparently it takes me more than once to learn the same lesson. When I got to the exact same spot in the walk way, history repeated itself. It all happened so quickly. I'm not sure exactly how it happened, but two things I am sure of: One, I landed with my leg underneath me in a position I had never accomplished before. Two: I heard a loud snap that sounded like a rat trap.
A few years ago Rich took me out so I could deliver Valentines to some friends of mine. My first stop was literally a block away. The way my friend's house is set up, the garage juts out with the sidewalk on the side; you can't see the driveway from the car. I was excited. I told Rich I'd be quick and hopped out of the car. I was quick alright. I quickly slipped on a patch of ice going in. Thankfully my back broke the fall. As I rubbed my backside, tried to find my footing in my slick, yet stylish high heels, and glanced behind me to make sure Rich truly couldn't see me, I proceeded to the door. No one answered but the dogs so I put my Valentine on the stoop. Apparently it takes me more than once to learn the same lesson. When I got to the exact same spot in the walk way, history repeated itself. It all happened so quickly. I'm not sure exactly how it happened, but two things I am sure of: One, I landed with my leg underneath me in a position I had never accomplished before. Two: I heard a loud snap that sounded like a rat trap.
I couldn't get up, and since I didn't have one of those things to call anyone, I had to crawl to the end of the sidewalk on all fours. After a few seconds of "honey, help. Look at me!" (sob, sob) "I fell...help me!" Rich finally saw me, had a look of "what the heck?", shook his head, then leapt to my rescue. He slipped my heel off and tugged to get my sock off. He said he'd go to the door to get me inside and check me out. I told him that she wasn't home, but she was. She had the flu; she was sicker than a grown man eating boogers. He carried me inside to see if anything was broken, you know, being a fireman and all, he could do that. My hero. =)
Come to find out, I did break my leg right above the ankle. They use to call me "grace" when I was a kid because I didn't have any.
The funny thing about this story is that whenever I talk about my spill on the sidewalk, everyone laughs. It friggin' hurt! What is it about someone else's spills, tumbles and falls that make us laugh?
Nikki got in the car the other day and told me about a couple of kids that were messing around. One had a pair of scissors and his hand got knocked and it nicked the other kid right under the eye. I know, that's what I said! Yet, after the collected gasp, when the nicked kid laughed, everyone laughed.
There's a viral video going around about the lady from "The Amazing Race" that got smacked in the face with a watermelon. She did it herself! My goodness! It's not funny at all...yet it's hysterical! Why is that?
From The Three Stooges, Laurel & Hardy and Tim Conway to Jim Carrey and Chris Farley they all provide that slap stick comedy. We laugh when they fall.
Yet it's not funny when we see serious falls like when the Twin Towers were falling on September 11th. We watched in horror as person after person plunged to their demise. It wasn't funny.
So what's the change?
I think it may be empathy. Putting ourself in the situation. It's not funny to see ourselves in the panic state of having to choose between an impossible rescue or the chance of a survival by jumping out of a collapsing building. Or to see the silly situation of someone tripping on the lip of a sidewalk, flailing around only to regain their composure and pretend nothing happened. That's funny because we've all done it!
I found this out online: "The reason we enjoy watching other people trip, fall down and hurt themselves, otherwise known as Schaderfreude, because it results in positive self-evaluation. Simply put, when others are made to look like fools, we subconsciously feel better about ourselves! We might think, 'I'm glad that wasn't me,' or 'Boy, those people are stupid!' Psychologists say that the positive feeling while watching is actually strong for people who have been through a recent failure or setback in their own lives." (http://www.ask-kimberly.com/2009/05/why-do-we-laugh-when-other-people.html)
Well, that's kind of sad. I like my theory a lot better. I like to believe in myself and my fellow man. I guess my glasses are kind of rosy.
Proverbs 17:22 says, "A happy heart is good medicine..." And an English proverb says "Laughter is the best medicine." I think they coincide. Basically: lighten up. Go watch the show "Wipe Out" and laugh a little...or a lot. See what you're empathy-meter reads. Or watch this video. Laughter is contagious.
Search Amazon.com for Schadenfreude
Search Amazon.com for slap stick comedy
