it was april fools the other day and it got me thinking how i frequently cannot discern between what's funny and what's mean. (because, you know, i think about myself, like, all the time.) anyway, i only know this tidbit about myself because i'll often say something i believe to be funny, and someone else will be all, oh that's mean. huh - i'll think - really?
the family in which i grew up was diagnosably dysfunctional, but hell, whose wasn't? i mean, we had our shit and all, but it wasn't any better or worse than anyone else's shit. it was just shitty shit. that's all.
one of our "things" was that we'd express love through insults. classic irish, not that unusual, but when you grow up that way, you're just going to have trouble telling funny from mean. or, come to think of it, love from mean. or, love from funny? anyway, you going to come out a bit mixed up.
thing is, when you are the mixed up one, you don't know it. it's not like i go around all the time in consternation over my mean humour - because, to me, it's just humour. it's y'all who think its mean.
plus, it's not like y'all are consistent or anything. sometimes i say something funny and you think it's funny and sometimes you think it's mean. how'm i supposed to learn anything about the funny-mean spectrum if you are totally not consistent about what's what?
PLUS, add in all the times that you don't think it's funny and also don't particularly think it's mean. all those times when it's just a dud. i am fairly certain most people are dealing with this -- the funny-unfunny spectrum -- without any tangential humour spectra.
i'm dealing with both the funny-unfunny and also the funny-mean, but i don't actually see the funny-mean, so for me, it's all funny-unfunny. and, for me, funny is primary, so i'll take mean if i have to, but unfunny is not acceptable.
and that, my friends, is why i say mean shit.
get used to it.
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