Good Morning Digitial Neighbors! Happy Sunday ADD Irregulars, WSN Curators, Friends & Refugees, Early Birds & Later Dayers, Conversants & Lurkers, Phamily & Misfits, and you Bigots from Triggernometry which I don't frequent anymore but fondly remember. Happy Sunday to all!

I have said this often, but it bears repeating for my failing memory. After faith, I can't think of anything that matters more to my attitude than laughter and humor. Humor is such an interesting thing, it can build bridges faster than probably any other human experience and it can also alienate and enrage those who don't appreciate it. Scott Adams contends that 25% of humanity lacks a sense of humor, I don't disagree with him. Some people seem to laugh at nothing nor do they find humor in anything. I don't know if that makes them serious or just set on a default mental static state, sort of like a perpetual test pattern in their head when they are not engaged in thinking or actively responding, and even then it is a crap shoot.

There is a different between the unresponsive and the offended. The unresponsive are the duds that my Mom often complained about meeting far too often. To be called a dud by Peggy was one of the lowest comments she could make about an individual. Uninteresting, dull, unengaged, burners of oxygen and self made wastes of flesh did not rank high on Momma's list of people to accompany. The Offended of course are beyond the life sucking time stealers dullards, the Offended want you to know that your humor, thoughts or expressions are offensive to them. If they possess power they probably want you silenced, removed or punished in some way. It seems to be a pattern in humanity regardless of the time or community.

"I'm offended." That is your problem and yours alone. I am not saying that we shouldn't find something offensive, but you ought to know why you are offended and how to explain the nature of you offense rather than find some mob of mutually minded censors to bring their torches and pitchforks. It is good to remember that even if you can communicate your reasons for offense, it is still subject to question, criticism and mockery. The best defense against the mockers is to mock them back, none of are surprised that some of the biggest mockers are among the most thin-skinned pretentious people you can meet. If they can verbal spar with you without going on personal attacks and other ill-reasoned responses you may find a person your respect without necessarily agree or liking. It was a human experience just a century ago, but seems extinct now. The narrowing of the human mind seems inevitable when we surround ourselves with people that only agree with us, doesn't matter if you are Left, Right or indifferent.

I assume if you are here, @-Padre's, Phetasy or Rubin Report, you possess a sense of humor, you are thicker skinned than most of the sleep-walkers and can handle that disagreements and even potential mockery of something you value. When I find myself offended by something, I either bear it out patiently if it is in the public, no one has a right to venture forth and not find offense, but if it is my home, you can leave. If I enjoy the company of the occasional "offender" I will eventually say something out of concern, they then have the option of telling me to "get over it" or trying to show some consideration. The Old Farts at the Smokehaus who said God d#mn like it was going out of fashion when I first arrived in New Melle 11 years ago got to know me and were kind enough to stop using it so freely in my company. They could have told me to shove it and I would have found another place to hang my hat. I am thankful for their friendship and consideration, I try my best to return the favor.

The more you find to laugh at in life, the happier you will be. A few quotes to leave you with on this wonderful summer morning.

Good humor is a tonic for mind and body. It is the best antidote for anxiety and depression. It is a business asset. It attracts and keeps friends. It lightens human burdens. It is the direct route to serenity and contentment. - Grenville Kleiser

Life does not cease to be funny when people die any more than it ceases to be serious when people laugh. - George Bernard Shaw

Humor implies a sure conception of the beautiful, the majestic and the true, by whose light it surveys and shapes their opposites. It is a humane influence, softening with mirth the ragged inequities of existence, prompting tolerant views of life, bridging over the space which separates the lofty from the lowly, the great from the humble. - Edwin P. Whipple

Humor can get in under the door while seriousness is still fumbling at the handle. ― G.K. Chesterton