Why We Send Jokes Through the Internet

Why We Send Jokes Through the Internet
An observation on how laughter influences our life.

It’s a funny thing; as soon as the internet began and e-mail was introduced slowly but surely we all got bombarded with email jokes. Let’s forget about all the other stuff that we get bombarded with like spam (not in a can kind), chain letters; advertisements; porno teasers, etc. I’m talking about those emails about spelling errors in signs that turn out to be hysterical, the gender basher jokes, the blond jokes, and the adorable baby pictures with interesting bylines.

Why do some of us really look forward to that stuff? And why so some of us just delete it and nastily tell whoever sent it not to do it again?

Well, I am not a psychiatrist; however I have pondered the issue. After almost falling off my chair because of reading an email sent to me by a friend; I realized it: We Need To Laugh!

Laughter is the magic that lightens our soul. Laughter is the medicine that can heal us. Laughter is the sound that instantly makes you smile, and most of all, Laughter is absolutely necessary!

Laughter is a biological reaction to jokes and humor. In the movie “Close Circuit” awhile back, it was laughter that made Johnny 5 a sanctioned being.

Reader Digest says: Laughter is the best medicine; and various other publications always make sure they have a comic or joke stuck in there, somewhere.

Every day we are pummeled with news of havoc and destruction of one kind or another. Every day we come up short on something that should have been done that causes someone to be upset with us. Every day we read or listen to the news and very rarely is the news ever good.

Laughter frees us from all that gloom and doom. Laughter lifts us up and lets us realize that there is more to life than just bad news. A child laughing is an incredible sound. It is so infectious that we cannot control ourselves; we are drawn into it like dust into a vacuum. There are websites galore with jokes, comics, the like which get passed on from person to person, giving them that lift that truly refreshes.

Even before the internet, there was the “Joke Line” on the telephone. We would all huddle in front of our TV shows to laugh at Jackie Gleason, Bob Hope and others many of us grew up with. And even now, we have Robin Williams, Jim Carey and the like that make us literally roll on the floor.

Whenever life just gets too much for me, I go see a funny movie. It doesn’t take away the problems that exist in my life, but it does allow me to view them from a different perspective.

So, the next time someone emails you a joke of some kind, be grateful; and linger in the magic we call laughter.