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pan6467 · 08-17-2006, 09:43 AM

Ok, so I partook of a Politics thread that IMHO was fun and allowed one to be silly.

In the meantime, people got insulted, would read way too much into it and just couldn't pass the thread up. Instead they had to inject how it was harmful and hurtful to others.

That thread is very much a sign of the times.

People, in the U.S. (I can't speak for other places), have somewhere down the road lost sense of letting lose, having fun, taking things not so literally but just seeing them as they are..... mindless fun for others.

There were some that just could not see that. That in their views "freedom of speech" in this area was just wrong. They couldn't let go and just skip the thread all together, or maybe add something positive.... they had to see it as hurtful, mean, attacking and thus needed to be gone.

While in the meantime, there were many using it to just have fun, blow off steam in a WAY TOO SERIOUS Forum. There were people that probably enjoyed it and may have been thinking about actually having some interesting political discussion, and started to feel comfortable again in that forum.

But of course there were those that refused to allow this.... in their minds every funny post, every little thing said was an attack.

This thread had people remind me of Ted Knight in Caddyshack, John Lithgow in Footloose, Major Burns in M*A*S*H, the principal in Welcome Back Kotter, and so on. People who were so into their own lives and dictating to others what was funny, how to think, how to live life that they became charactures in a bad way.

When did we, go from letting loose and tolerating others senses of humor to taking everything so personally?

When did we have to watch what we say, where we say it, how we say it, and if someone gets offended (and more often than not someone WILL get offended), we have to explain that we it was just our, personal sense of humor.

Now yes, there are people that use humor to truly hurt others. I understand that and usually, they are easy for all to see but I let it go and move on. I, personally, have NEVER in my life done anything in humor to hurt another, intentionally, having been the butt of many of the harmful jokes, I can't. I am however, very self-defacing in my humor at times and will use myself as the butt of my own jokes.

Adding humor to life and to serious and non serious aspects in life keeps people young, healthy and sane.

I know, there was a point not long ago where I was going through a nasty divorce, had friends turn on me for their own gains, was hurting financially, my health was in question and I wasn't happy in life. I took things too seriously, couldn't laugh and had to share my misery with others.

Maybe that is the problem we, in society are facing today. Maybe, somewhere down the line life in the US has become so stressful and negativity so much a part of our lives that we can't just let loose anymore for fear something bad will happen, or we will lower our guard and allow others to hurt us or get one up on us or whatever.

But, I have also come to this conclusion in my life..... I need humor, I need to laugh today and I may have a warped sense of humor but it is never in a harmful way to others.

Sad thing is though.... there are so many in life miserable, self righteous and locked in their own world that no matter what anyone says or does.... it is an attack. So the people with a sense of humor end up drawing back and fearful of saying anything. Thus the laughter dies and people get more stressed and so on.

It's time to laugh people, because if you cannot laugh in hard times, thus making them better, times will always seem worse than what they are and you may find that even in good times you lost the ability to just laugh and enjoy silliness.

And if you can't laugh.... why make it so hard for others. It's time we need to just lighten up and if someone injects humor in a forum and you find it inappropriate...... then ignore it, move on and let others enjoy it without having you try to ruin that small escape for them.

08-17-2006, 09:43 AM	#1 (permalink)
pan6467 Lennonite Priest Location: Mansfield, Ohio USA	When did we lose our sense of humor? Ok, so I partook of a Politics thread that IMHO was fun and allowed one to be silly. In the meantime, people got insulted, would read way too much into it and just couldn't pass the thread up. Instead they had to inject how it was harmful and hurtful to others. That thread is very much a sign of the times. People, in the U.S. (I can't speak for other places), have somewhere down the road lost sense of letting lose, having fun, taking things not so literally but just seeing them as they are..... mindless fun for others. There were some that just could not see that. That in their views "freedom of speech" in this area was just wrong. They couldn't let go and just skip the thread all together, or maybe add something positive.... they had to see it as hurtful, mean, attacking and thus needed to be gone. While in the meantime, there were many using it to just have fun, blow off steam in a WAY TOO SERIOUS Forum. There were people that probably enjoyed it and may have been thinking about actually having some interesting political discussion, and started to feel comfortable again in that forum. But of course there were those that refused to allow this.... in their minds every funny post, every little thing said was an attack. This thread had people remind me of Ted Knight in Caddyshack, John Lithgow in Footloose, Major Burns in MAS*H, the principal in Welcome Back Kotter, and so on. People who were so into their own lives and dictating to others what was funny, how to think, how to live life that they became charactures in a bad way. When did we, go from letting loose and tolerating others senses of humor to taking everything so personally? When did we have to watch what we say, where we say it, how we say it, and if someone gets offended (and more often than not someone WILL get offended), we have to explain that we it was just our, personal sense of humor. Now yes, there are people that use humor to truly hurt others. I understand that and usually, they are easy for all to see but I let it go and move on. I, personally, have NEVER in my life done anything in humor to hurt another, intentionally, having been the butt of many of the harmful jokes, I can't. I am however, very self-defacing in my humor at times and will use myself as the butt of my own jokes. Adding humor to life and to serious and non serious aspects in life keeps people young, healthy and sane. I know, there was a point not long ago where I was going through a nasty divorce, had friends turn on me for their own gains, was hurting financially, my health was in question and I wasn't happy in life. I took things too seriously, couldn't laugh and had to share my misery with others. Maybe that is the problem we, in society are facing today. Maybe, somewhere down the line life in the US has become so stressful and negativity so much a part of our lives that we can't just let loose anymore for fear something bad will happen, or we will lower our guard and allow others to hurt us or get one up on us or whatever. But, I have also come to this conclusion in my life..... I need humor, I need to laugh today and I may have a warped sense of humor but it is never in a harmful way to others. Sad thing is though.... there are so many in life miserable, self righteous and locked in their own world that no matter what anyone says or does.... it is an attack. So the people with a sense of humor end up drawing back and fearful of saying anything. Thus the laughter dies and people get more stressed and so on. It's time to laugh people, because if you cannot laugh in hard times, thus making them better, times will always seem worse than what they are and you may find that even in good times you lost the ability to just laugh and enjoy silliness. And if you can't laugh.... why make it so hard for others. It's time we need to just lighten up and if someone injects humor in a forum and you find it inappropriate...... then ignore it, move on and let others enjoy it without having you try to ruin that small escape for them. __________________ I just love people who use the excuse "I use/do this because I LOVE the feeling/joy/happiness it brings me" and expect you to be ok with that as you watch them destroy their life blindly following. My response is, "I like to put forks in an eletrical socket, just LOVE that feeling, can't ever get enough of it, so will you let me put this copper fork in that electric socket?"