Recently a good friend fell down in a public place and I feared she was quite embarrassed (though bumped and bruised, she was OK). In an effort to assure her that many of us have this malady, I share a piece here that I wrote many years ago. Sadly, not much has changed - while on a walk a few weeks ago I was splayed out on the sidewalk near my home, having tripped over a...a...well, OK, over not much of anything. Enjoy, even if you're not my daughters.

COMEDY CENTRAL, MOM-STYLE

Moshe Waldoks (Who? I don’t really know who he might be but I do know he was right about one thing) said “A sense of humor can help you overlook the unattractive, tolerate the unpleasant, cope with the unexpected and smile through the unbearable.” Unfortunately, there are a lot of us like the folks author/speaker Garrison Keillor describes: “God writes a lot of comedy…the trouble is, He’s stuck with so many bad actors who don’t know how to play funny.”

That would be me. My husband has often said I do not have a sense of humor. (I actually suspect it’s just that I do not have his!) But it is true I have a little difficulty laughing at life’s ups and downs – especially my downs, my falling downs, in particular.

No, I do not have an inner ear problem or weak ankles or anything of that nature. Objects simply appear in my path that were not part of my plan. And that proves to be a bit of comic relief for my daughters.

After I tipped over onto the floor in a local Walmart aisle while trying to see some bottom shelf prices (40-somethings just can’t squat like they used to), tripped over a mop handle while working at McDonald’s and fell into a (really!) well-concealed hole on Sea World’s lawn my girls were so concerned. “Did anyone see you?” they gasped. At least I think that’s what they said. It was quite hard to tell amidst all the giggling.

Mom, the “techno queen,” is also a good source for a laugh. The daughters won’t even let me near the VCR remotes anymore. (Why are remotes all different anyway – is there a Nobel Prize for electronic creativity?) Eyeballs roll as I frantically attempt to push the “pause” while the TV characters run on in fast forward. And the rewind button? Much too close to the “stop.” Well, maybe I like watching the same part of the tape over and over again, did they ever think of that?

Want a good picker-upper? Try watching me find my car in a parking lot. I have been known to insert my key in the door of my car, all the while wondering what all that baby stuff was doing in my back seat (it’s been a long time since we had a baby, mind you). And that startled man waiting for his wife at Target’s door? He must have been quite perplexed when an unknown-to-him female entered his van calling him “Bob” while three young ladies stood by, doubled over with glee.

We won’t even go into my “ability” to distinguish the difference between the men’s and women’s public restrooms. (You know, really, the lines at the women’s lavatories are always so long, anyway.)

All this used to upset me. Part of me did know it really was amusing, but I just could not laugh at it. I was annoyed that others were “laughing at me.” (But, come on – how could they help it?) I didn’t know how to “play funny.” Slowly I am learning to not take everything quite so seriously, remembering the Proverb “a happy heart makes the face cheerful” and that “a cheerful heart has a continual feast.” At this rate, I’ll have no trouble providing a perpetual family banquet!