When I was in Chengdu, China, my friend Dianne and I took a taxi from the grocery store to our hotel. We weren’t being lazy; we had a lot of bags to carry. The cab driver was listening to some sort of comedy show on his radio, but since it was in Chinese we couldn’t understand anything being said. After each short burst of dialogue a canned laugh track was played to encourage listeners to believe it was funny. What caught Dianne’s and my attention was at the end of the laugh track. Suddenly a woman’s laughter rose above all the rest in an almost insane shrieking tone. If this had happened once in awhile it wouldn’t have been as noticeable. However, the laugh track was never mixed so each series of recorded guffaws was followed by her nails-on-a-chalkboard, “hahahahahaha!” The sheer repetition caused Dianne and I to get the giggles every time we heard her. We tried to mimic her, but were never as crazy, as loud, or as screechy. It became our inside joke, and on more than one occasion Dianne and I would look at each other and launch into a high pitched, “hahahahahahahaha!” to the horror of those around us. It was completely inappropriate, and completely fun.
Today I received an email from Dianne who is currently in India. She mentioned how often the memory of the insane laughter has gotten her through a tense moment. She sent me a link to another woman’s wild laughter as a reminder to be happy. It was the best part of my day.
I will share it with you, too! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o0zwUdMwQXE
Leave a Reply