Finding the Funny in Everyday Life
Being a writer or should I say an aspiring one has it‟s ups and downs, sometimes more
downs especially when your trying to come up with ideas. I also work a full time job so
finding time to write can be difficult; it really never occurred to me before that ideas
abound at work. I guess it would have eventually, although after working there for seven
years one has to wonder how much longer it would have taken. I never admitted to being
the smartest person on the planet. I know, you‟re saying, you finally figured it out, no,
someone or should I say something I read pointed it out to me. It really does make me
sick to think of all the material I‟ve lost over the years, I guess I‟ll just have to start with
the new stuff. At this job it shouldn‟t take long to come up with lots to write about.
You see I‟m an Administrative Assistant at a large company; only one of many. I
support the people who support the people who support our customers when they have
technical issues with our products. I also support the people who support the people who
service our products, about 130 in all. That doesn‟t include my outside guys, I have
thirty some field engineers all over the US who service our high end products. I hear
from these guys almost everyday; there stuff alone would be great material for writing
comedy. That‟s a thought but a better one would be a book called “Common Sense for
the Technical Genius” or maybe someone‟s already written it, I don‟t know, I‟m not a
genius of any kind so I wouldn‟t have a reason to look for it. These guys are really
intelligent when it comes to technical issues, not so much when it comes to good old
fashioned everyday common sense but at least their funny.
But I‟ve found when you support this many people, material lies much closer to home.
Something I heard just the other day made me think of a really important subject that
someone should write about for one of those parenting magazines. Maybe someone
already has but I don‟t have kids so no reason to look there either.
I was reminded about how impressionable kids can be and how they soak up everything
they see and hear like a sponge, but that isn‟t really the issue. The real issue starts when
they imitate everything, they can be so precise, it‟s like watching an instant replay of
your life. It‟s been said “A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words” or bad habits are easier
to pick up then good ones. You know the old saying, “Do as I say, not as I do”, people
tell their kid that all the time but you can forget it, kids aren‟t always going to listen.
They are however going to pick up everything you say and do when you‟re not looking,
all of your bad habits, attitudes, words and sometimes even the embarrassing, funny stuff.
I know that imitation is not always the sincerest form of flattery. In fact it can be down
right embarrassing at times as one parent I know recently found out.
I work with this guy who is in his thirty‟s, one of the best people you‟d ever meet, very
courteous, polite and respectful especially around women. He has a great marriage, he
and his wife are always joking around with each other in a playful, loving way. They also
have a son in kindergarten and apparently he is very observant of their behavior. This is
not always a good thing, especially when the teacher calls to inform you about your
child‟s behavior.
On one such day the class was in the middle of a lesson and the teacher was passing by in
her normal manner checking out each child‟s work. As she passed by my co workers
son, he said „Woman, get me a juice box”. Now that might have been funny to both
teacher and parent had it not been accompanied by an action. What I didn‟t mention was
this guy sometimes jokingly tells his wife “Women, get me a beer” which is also
accompanied by a slap on the rear end.
Yes, you guessed it, this child imitated dad to a T, complete with gestures. I don‟t know
who was more embarrassed the parents or the teacher. I do know who had the most
difficult time explaining. And the child, well that‟s another story.