{"id":1312300,"date":"2019-07-10T21:24:00","date_gmt":"2019-07-11T03:24:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.postindependent.com\/purcell-column-humor-the-cure-for-what-ails-america\/"},"modified":"2019-07-10T21:24:00","modified_gmt":"2019-07-11T03:24:00","slug":"purcell-column-humor-the-cure-for-what-ails-america","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/local-news\/purcell-column-humor-the-cure-for-what-ails-america\/","title":{"rendered":"Purcell column: Humor, the cure for what ails America"},"content":{"rendered":"
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It\u2019s never too late for a good belly laugh.<\/p>\n

July 1 was, unofficially, International Joke Day. The origins of the day are unclear, but whoever started it was on to something \u2014 because our country sure could use a good belly laugh about now.<\/p>\n

Which reminds me of the man who walked into a dentist\u2019s office one evening.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think I\u2019m a moth,\u201d said the man.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m sorry,\u201d said the dentist. \u201cBut I can\u2019t help you. You need to see a psychiatrist.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI am seeing a psychiatrist,\u201d said the man.<\/p>\n

\u201cThen why did you come to my office?\u201d said the dentist.<\/p>\n

\u201cYour light was on,\u201d said the man.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m not sure where or when social media started making us more strident. But as we share ever-more-angry news posts that demonize those with whom we disagree, we are sacrificing our sense of humor.<\/p>\n

The political jokes of many late-night comedians appeal to half of the country as their snarky nature polarizes the other half \u2014 which means those jokes are sarcasm, not humor.<\/p>\n

Humor doesn\u2019t take political sides. Humor brings us together.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnthropological studies have shown that laughter evolved as a way for humans to signal friendship and as a way to create and strengthen ties with a group,\u201d reports timeanddate.com.<\/p>\n

Which reminds me of the time Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson went camping.<\/p>\n

They pitched their tent and went to sleep.<\/p>\n

In the middle of the night, Holmes woke up and said, \u201cWatson, look up and tell me what you see.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMillions of magnificent stars,\u201d said Watson.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd what do you deduce from that?\u201d said Holmes.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat life may exist on other planets?\u201d said Watson.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo, you idiot,\u201d said Holmes. \u201cIt means somebody stole our tent.\u201d<\/p>\n

In his book \u201cAnatomy of an Illness,\u201d Norman Cousins reported that laughter helped him cure his serious collagen disease.<\/p>\n

Since then, scientists have discovered that humor really is good for our health.<\/p>\n

Laughter produces pain-killing endorphins. It strengthens our immune system.<\/p>\n

\u201cA good belly laugh increases production of T-cells, interferon and immune proteins called globulins,\u201d reports PsychCentral.<\/p>\n

It also decreases stress.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen under stress, we produce a hormone called cortisol,\u201d reports PsychCentral. \u201cLaughter significantly lowers cortisol levels and returns the body to a more relaxed state.\u201d<\/p>\n

But we aren\u2019t laughing enough.<\/p>\n

Which reminds me of the three fellows stranded on a deserted island. One morning, a magic lantern washes ashore. A genie pops out and grants each of the men one wish. The first fellow wishes he was off the island and, poof, he\u2019s home. The second fellow wishes the same and, poof, he\u2019s home too. The third fellow says, \u201cI\u2019m lonely. I wish my friends were back here.\u201d<\/p>\n

The wonderful thing about humor is that it is infectious. It promotes good will, thoughtfulness and civility.<\/p>\n

Regrettably, rudeness, anger and hatred are also infectious. They agitate us and tear us apart.<\/p>\n

We must choose humor. We must rise above those who seek to agitate and divide us.<\/p>\n

We must use social media to share fun, uplifting content, rather than derisive and divisive content.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s a start:<\/p>\n

A three-legged dog walks into a bar and sets his pistol on the table.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t want any trouble,\u201d says the bartender, nervously.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have no beef with you,\u201d says the dog. \u201cI\u2019m looking for the man who shot my paw.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tom Purcell is a Pittsburgh Tribune-Review humor columnist. Send comments to Tom at Tom@TomPurcell.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n

via:: Post Independent<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s never too late for a good belly laugh. July 1 was, unofficially, International Joke Day. The origins of the day are unclear, but whoever started it was on to something \u2014 because our country sure could use a good belly laugh about now. Which reminds me of the man who walked into a dentist\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[160],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-1312300","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-local-news"},"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-20 11:18:16","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSKE Ski Country","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1312300","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1312300"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1312300\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1312300"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1312300"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1312300"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}