Laughter in conversations assignment

     Laughter is a major ingredient of everyday life. But when do we let out a chuckle, a guffaw, or a cackle? And why do we let out a giggle, hoot, or chortle? Well, we often laugh during a conversation with someone. Usually, we laugh because the other person tells a joke or a funny story, we agree with their statement, or we laugh for another reason. Well, I’m naturally curious, so I looked back at past conversations with the people in my life to see why we laughed.

     I then remembered a conversation that I had with a friend from my sorority. We had just finished eating at Red Cactus and were walking back to campus. I had a lot to study that week, so I said that I was “driving the struggle bus.” She asked, “what’s a struggle bus?” I explained that it’s a phrase that people say whenever they are having a hard time. For example, they could have a lot to study, could have kept dropping things, falling, could have had a few forgetful or blonde moments, among many other things. In other words, they’re struggling. She started laughing and chuckling as she said that she had never heard the expression before and that it was the funniest thing she had ever heard. The funny thing was that I wasn’t even trying to be funny. This often happens in conversations, especially between people who are close. Sometimes, one person isn’t trying to be funny, but they still manage to make the other person laugh. I actually found her laugh really funny, which then made me laugh. This also happens a lot in conversations, because laughter is contagious. If one person laughs, then the other person has to laugh as well, especially if the first person has a funny laugh.

     I’ve noticed that, once laughter is brought to a conversation, the two people continue to talk about and build on the topic that made them laugh in the first place. And this is what my friend did. She said, “Why does the struggle bus have to be a bus? This is Texas. So it should be a struggle pick-up truck instead!” This made me laugh so hard, because this is one stereotype about Texas that is actually pretty true. A lot of people here drive pick-up trucks. And then, I added, “how about a pick-up horse?” And we both chuckled as we imagined people “riding a struggle horse.” We both found it funny because that is another well-known stereotype about Texas. She said that she believed this stereotype before coming to Texas, and I definitely made jokes about riding my horse to school before I moved here. So we shared a laugh in agreement over the stereotypes of Texas.

     From there, I told her more phrases, and she just thought they were hilarious. Everyone who lives in Texas knows that we have the weirdest weather. It can be sunny, rainy, freezing cold, and warm all in the same day. It’s not unusual to have to change your outfit at least twice throughout the course of the day. For example, it’s been 30 degrees in the morning and 60-70 degrees in the afternoon, so you can go from wearing jeans to shorts within one day. So I commented to my friend how Texas has such bipolar weather, and only in Texas can one experience all four seasons within a week. And then I said “actually, you can experience all four seasons within a day.” She found this extremely funny, and laughed in agreement because she knew that this was often true. Once again, I found her laugh to be so funny and contagious that I could not help but laugh as well. That day, we bonded over shared laughter.

     Once we got back to campus, I headed to the library to study for a test, and reflected on the conversation. We shared so many laughs throughout and after the meal. I think many conversations are like this one. Someone says something funny, the other person laughs, so the first person laughs, and then the joke, story, or comment is added to and the laughter and friendship grows. Or sometimes, laughter just occurs randomly, for no known reason. I love to laugh; it just brings joy into my day. It definitely brought joy to that day, and helped me feel less stress about my upcoming tests. Without laughter, life is missing a key ingredient.