Laughter: something worth being contagious

When thinking about the word laughter, I can’t help but remember the events that have defined the word for me. Right before I sat down to write this blog, I was watching TV with a group of friends and while channel surfing we stumbled upon America’s Funniest Home Videos. We sat there with our eyes fixed on the TV as we watched people of all ages make fools of themselves and receiving the honor of having someone else catch it all on tape. We discussed how most of the videos were not amusing to us (unlike they used to be back in the old days when we were younger) except for the few exceptions to where we all laughed simultaneously for a few seconds until the next clip flashed across the screen. One particular girl was the exception to this. She laughed at every single mishap and seemed to enjoy the hurt and embarrassment of others caught on tape (but then again, who doesn’t from time to time?). During one clip of a man falling off a ladder and a bucket of paint falling onto his head, she busted out laughing uncontrollably. The rest of us uttered out a single breathe of laughter or a chuckle, but she basically split her side from how hard she was laughing. We all sat there in silence, exchanged looks, then simultaneously belted out the loudest laughter. We weren’t laughing at the dumb man covered in paint, we were laughing at the fact that she was laughing, and laughing to the point of tears running down her face. One guy even shouted out “this isn’t even funny at all, but I’m laughing because she is!” Robert Provine states, “Another attraction of laughter is its remarkable contagiousness. Think of the last time you sat in an audience, laughing and letting waves of laughter wash over you. A pleasant experience – one of life’s best. But consider now the primal nature of the animal chorus and the way members of the audience synchronize their noises. How odd that we can’t help laughing when we hear others laugh!” I believe this to be true because I experience it firsthand tonight. No, it wasn’t my first time laughing only because someone else was or because their laughter was contagious, but it reoccurred to me how easy it can be done. The majority of people probably have a person or two in their life that is known for their laughter or for having a contagious laugh. I know I have someone very specific whom I always think about whenever I laugh extremely hard or for an extended period of time. One of my best friend’s laughter is extremely contagious, and you can easily hear it from a mile away and automatically identify who it is without actually having to visually see her. I believe that laughter is a vital part of our lives and it’s one thing that is worth catching from someone else.