Laughing with Dad

I'm that person that takes five minutes to figure out what everyone was laughing at after someone cracks a joke. Sometimes I just don't get it. Sometimes I get it and just don't think it is funny. Often this results in people thinking I don't have a sense of humor, really, I'm thinking it is more related to what I was exposed to growing up.

When I was little, I remember my dad dancing some goofy, random dance in the living room and Mom worrying that the neighbors might see. He would sing wild and goofy songs to put me to sleep. Dad was and still is quite the pun-ster, still sings rediculous songs and makes stuff up all the time. Kathleen, his wife really just encourages him in this. We were driving to my brothers wedding on Saturday and saw the steel cow statue in Nisqualley. Dad started a punny conversation surrounding it talking about how udderly ridiculous something was or how something was bull. On the way home, Kathleen and he started this crazy game where they sing a song where each person takes a turn making up a part of the song and the ending word has to rhyme with something before. Also, dad gave us an Native American/Asian accent for the guy driving next to us out of Aberdeen and, as with all his accents, it sounded rather British and had a nice big "ya'll" and a touch of the Swedish "v" sound or intonation. I'm not sure someone could have figured out what is was if their life depended upon it. Same goes with all his accents...same Swedish, British and Cowboyish elements to whatever he says.

I think what keeps a Dad-like sense of humor from coming out of me is a little reserve that he doesn't have. Not to say he is shameless, but he is quite a bit freer with people than I am...at least as far as his image goes.

(July 2006)