Have you ever stopped to think that we may never have actually overcome the “I know everything” teenager mentality we had when we were inexperienced, know it all, smarty pants kids?   I sort of think we just learn better ways to harness our thoughts and then reveal them in a more discreet manner.  That is, unless, you’re like me.  I wear my heart and every one of my emotions on my sleeve every second of every day and if you’re willing, I’ll tell you everything you never wanted to know about me.  I have a deep seeded desire to inspire joy in others and making people laugh is among my most favorite of interactions.  I will often times expose some rather ridiculous details about something I’ve done in hopes of landing a laugh or two, always at my expense.  I’ve noticed this type of behavior tends to lighten heavy hearts as well as shift cranky mindsets into one that is much more relaxed and mellow.

Occasionally, however, someone will unknowingly reverse roles on me and I end up laughing on the inside which eventually leaks outside and if I’m lucky it will flood my entire day with bouts of uncontrollable laughter.  It can be a bit unnerving for others around me though, as it tends to be somewhat unpredictable.  Due to the fact that I love to talk, I can usually explain my rather unstable demeanor and I can often times inspire additional laughter from others.

One particular incident happened years ago when I worked in a small store as a floral designer and custom framer.   A rather pleasant,  elderly gentleman approached my frame shop counter and it wasn’t long before I realized he was there to kill some time, share some stories and get to know a little something about me.  I obliged and not long after our visit began he divulged some rather interesting information.  He knew my paternal grandmother.  Her name was Johanna and she died when my dad was only five years old.  I had studied the picture of her and “Gramps” that was perched on the shelf of that towering built in bookcase that adorned the east wall of our living at the old Cooley house numerous times but I never had the chance to meet her.  The elderly gentleman spoke very highly of her and amused me with what he was willing to share.  It was a delightful conversation that we were both enjoying but eventually I could see my new friend’s travel back in time was nearing it’s end and almost as if a switch was flipped, he realized the number of years he had acquired since the date on his birth certificate and out of no where he said, “I’m up there in years and at my age, you just don’t buy green bananas.”

I’m not sure why he decided to add that little tidbit to our conversation as it had nothing to do with what we were talking about but it swung the hammer that made my laughter bell ring and it was all I could do to maintain my composure!

I still feel somewhat sorry for one of the customers I dealt with after Mr. “No-Green-Bananas” had left.  I suppose one could say timing just wasn’t in her favor that day.  She was always somewhat distant and rather stuffy and I can’t honestly say I was ever happy to see her coming.  With people like that I sometimes kill them with kindness and other times I simply mimic their behaviors.  You can never really win them over so it doesn’t really matter what you do.    What she didn’t realize that day, is the fact that I wasn’t going to use my typical “stuffy” strategy because I couldn’t regain my composure long enough to remember what my typical “stuffy” strategy was!  Instead I giggled and snorted and told her about the green bananas.   I wasn’t surprised when she didn’t laugh or smile but it didn’t matter.  She did me a favor when she left all those available giggles, snorts and bouts of laughter there for me to enjoy!