I missed it again. So did the rest of America.

July 1s unofficial International Joke Day came and went without fanfare.

Thats regrettable, because we could all use a good belly laugh right now which gave me an idea.

The other day, after hearing more doom-and-gloom news while driving, I said to the Apple CarPlay app on my trucks stereo, Hey, Siri, tell me a joke.

Siri, Apples voice-activated digital assistant, replied, My cat ate a ball of yarn. She gave birth to mittens.

Thats an awfully corny joke but I laughed so hard, I accidentally steered my truck onto some roadside gravel.

When you laugh like that, its impossible to be angry or to dwell on whatever personal or business challenge may hang over your head

A belly laugh is an antidote to the self-seriousness thats one of the greatest afflictions of modern times.And with a pandemic killing thousands and crippling the economy, plus protests and social unrest, we need belly laughs more than ever.One psychologist suggests practicing laughing with a friendbecause utter seriousness can drive us to despair.

Social media gives everyone a platform to share thoughts, which is good. But some self-serious people get awfully huffy with others who disagree with or challenge their thinking. Theyre so serious and so certain that those who disagree with them are wrong, even evil, that they demonize their detractors.

They dont try to converse, debate or understand differing viewpoints. OK, boomer and OK, Karen memes offer cases in point.

Humor and laughter, wonderfully infectious, keep us from falling into the trap of self-seriousness, promoting goodwill, thoughtfulness and civility.Humor is an elixir, a tonic that is good for mind and spirt, says an executive coach.

Laughters power is incredible and that power lasts.

One of my favorite family stories dates to the early 1950s. Freddy, my dads uncle on his mothers side a real character had a neighbor who was among the first in their area to buy a VW Beetle. Behind the neighbors endless boasting about his Beetles terrific gas mileage was conceit essentially, Im smarter than you, which is why Im getting way better gas mileage than you!

Freddy began sneaking next door at night to fill the VWs gas tank. As he did so, his neighbors boasts grew louder and more tiresome the guy was ready to call the Guinness World Records people, as his VW clearly was getting more miles per gallon than any other Beetle on Earth.

After a month, Freddy continued sneaking next door. But now he siphoned gas from the Beetles tank to the point where the neighbor thought his VW was getting worse gas mileage than any other Beetle on Earth.

Were still laughing at the braggart neighbor who suddenly stopped bragging.

Theres more evidence of the power of laughter. More than 60 years ago, my mother first heard this joke, which she vividly remembers, and still laughs at:

A lady whod been grocery shopping was walking to her car when she tripped and dropped a paper bag, splattering a gallon of water, a dozen eggs, and a pound of bacon all over the pavement. She was so upset that she started crying. A drunk walked up, surveyed the situation, and told her, Dont cry, lady. It wouldnt have lived anyway. Its eyes are too far apart.

We all need to laugh more. It really is the best medicine for our current ails.

Tom Purcell, author of Misadventures of a 1970s Childhood, a humorous memoir available at amazon.com, is a Pittsburgh Tribune-Review humor columnist and is nationally syndicated exclusively by Cagle Cartoons Inc. Send comments to Tom at Tom@TomPurcell.com.

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