No Laughing Here

We agree with  Turkey’s Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc in principle when he says that women should not laugh too loudly in public, but feel the caveat should be extended to everyone. Aside from the blatantly  misogynistic aspect of his suggestion, the recommendation that laughter and mirth be constrained in public has a basis in common decency. Who among us hasn’t been offended by the inane giggles emanating from a klatch of idle teens, or the grating cackles of a hen party at the local coffee shop when one is trying to get meaningful work done on the free wifi, not to mention the hearty obnoxious guffaws of some big bellied bulldozer driver choking on his buttered popcorn at the action movie theater multiplex. Yup, we’ve had it with all the frivolity, curb your chortles an save em for the privacy of your own brew-can strewn den where your amusement can be appreciated by the only one who truly can, your worthless, leftover-stuffed pet poodle. He’s the only one that really cares if you are happy anyway. This world is a serious place Buster, there are people starving out there and some of them are us. Save your chuckles for St. Peter when he explains the irony of the fact that he’s gotta let you in because the bus hit you just after you left the absolution booth, even though your real reason for confession was to get under the skin of the priest.  If the world was a bit more somber and serious maybe we could finally something important done, like digging trenches and building walls.