Feels Good to Laugh

Last week, during the mini road trip with my friend Natasha, I experienced what appeared to me as a near death experience. I refer this near death experience as "Death by Lemonade." First off, I will begin by saying that out of everybody I have met thus far in Santa Barbara, I need to say that Natasha is incredibly fun to be around. We share the same sense of humor and can find just about anything to laugh about.

That said, last week as we were switching from the 101 to route 1 on our way to Cambria, Natasha pulled out one of her one liners about something she saw in the car next to us. So I laughed. Somehow, during my laughter, I miscalculated exactly when to laugh and when to swallow my Lemonade that I was drinking. Lo and behold, I ended up breathing in Lemonade. When I say I breathed in Lemonade, I mean just that. I was drowning in Lemonade. Pulled the car over and I looked over to Natasha to find her laughing. All you heard from me was "gurgle gurgle gurgle." I couldn't even get a word out. All I wanted and needed to say, was "I can't breathe" Next thing I knew, there came a waterfall of lemonade that poured out of my mouth. I imagine what all that must have looked like to Natasha but clearly it was a site to behold. I was torn between laughter and this overwhelming feeling of powerlessness. All I wanted was to take my next breath. If only there was a camera to capture my moment of drowning. Hours later, I was still coughing up lemonade and each time I would laugh at myself.

So I ask, why is it when one witnesses another in struggle the first instinct is to laugh? Just minutes before my death by lemonade experience, while at a cafe, I witnessed Natasha throw her food down on her plat after realizing that the food she was about to consume had just burnt the inside of her mouth. Of course, all I did was sit there and laugh. Pulled out the whole reenactment so Natasha can see what I saw. It took awhile for me to get a word out between laughing. It's true, "It feels good to laugh" however, I found out the hard way that karma is a bitch.

I wonder if anyone at Pacifica has ever written a thesis about the uncomfortable laughter one experiences at another persons expense?