Have You Ever Laughed at an Inappropriate Moment?

The worst ever occasion for me was during a guided tour of Highgate Cemetery where I'd gone with a friend.

We'd all stopped outside of some sort of crypt and the guide was telling us about those buried in there including Elizabeth Siddal, the wife and muse of Pre-Raphaelite artist Rosetti.

Apparently when she died he'd put a book or a bundle of his poems in her coffin, it sounded hugely romantic. Except some time later he wanted them back after realising he had no copies. So he had her 'dug up' in order to recover them.

Well, I was in fits and just couldn't stop. I tried hiding behind my very tall friend but the guide could still see me and struggled not to laugh himself as he continued his talk.

As if that wasn't bad enough he invited the members of the tour to look through the grille at the front of the crypt - although I dunno what they expected to see since it was dark in there.

Anyway, I declined but my friend went to have a look. Seeing him rubber-necking cracked me up even more. I was barely able to contain myself for the rest of the afternoon.

And then, just after I'd calmed down we went into some little vestibule (?) where one of the lady volunteers looked at my friend and said "Oh, I recognise you. You've been here before".

Bloody priceless

a reply to: berenike

Almost rofl, it sounded very appropriate to me to laugh when you did.

Special touch of tourism to get everyone to look into the darkened crypt.


Ooohhh… spooky

a reply to: intrptr

You can depend on me to laugh at the wrong (or right) thing. A colleague confessed once that she only told really sick jokes when I was around just to ensure she'd get at least one laugh.

a reply to: berenike

I saw the humor of it. Places that offer cemetery tours, lulz.

I don't go to funerals either. Let the dead bury the dead or some such.

Life is about life, not white washed tombs…

Yes... Unfortunately mine was related to a suicide attempt involving a shotgun removing the bottom half of a mans face, who then lost the nerve to finish it and called 911. I got the call as a "Suicide" and walk in to find 2 County Sherrifs Officers on their hands and knees trying to recover bone fragments that I guess they thought we might be able to reattach some of these pea sized and smaller pieces. I asked where the body was and heard "body?" "He is in the kitchen". About that time the patient came walking into the living room, missing most of his jaw, tongue, cheeks, teeth, and nose. Everytime he takes a breath these charred hanging pieces of flesh would quiver back and forth making a high pitched wheezing noise ending with blowing a blood bubble where his nose should have been, that would grow to the size and color of a clown nose and finish with an audible pop. I don't know if it was the bubble or the cops or the noise but sadly it cracked me up. I felt bad for the guy but he had done it to himself and all I could think of was "Your life sucked bad enough for suicide before you were missing your face. Things probably aren't looking up from here. Can't you do anything right?" But didn't say it.

I caught my chuckle and went to the porch to compose myself leaving my partner inside, he was outside trying to compose himself too almost on my heels. What made it worse was as soon as I was able to walk back in I caught sight of another clown nose pop and completely lost it. Right back to the porch. The cops must have thought we were stoned.

I felt bad about it but cold not stop it, combine that with the fact that laughter is contagious it can make you seem quite cold in the right situations.

a reply to: intrptr

Funerals - pah. The person you might have cared about isn't there but a load of 'friends and relatives' you've spent a lifetime avoiding are likely to be there.

Bugger that.

a reply to: berenike

I would have laughed to buddy!! P.s. High Gate Cemetery is my favorite on Earth next to Hollywood Cemetery in Richmond VA.

a reply to: wastedown

The cops gathering up the bits just set me off. Like the guy was a jigsaw puzzle.

I can just imagine it: 'Hey, I've got a corner piece over here' - brilliant.

a reply to: wastedown

Friend, if you can laugh at someone standing around missing there face then you seriously need to take a very long vacation from your work.

You are bad and you should feel bad.

I once laughed out loud when a disabled kid was walking with his mentor, and he yelled at the top of his lungs "MY PANTS ARE TIGHT"

I feel bad

a reply to: Parafitt

Let's all take a moment to feel bad

Then we can get back to laughing our asses off

originally posted by: berenike
a reply to: Parafitt

Let's all take a moment to feel bad

Then we can get back to laughing our asses off

I took that moment, and I was too busy laughing to do much more.

Now you know why I feel bad!! Oo

Poor kid, I say kid he was like 17 or so, but the randomness of it all. "aww look at. *MY PANTS ARE TIGHT*... BAHAHA" it was a sorry day for all around me. no one else saw the strange and bizarre comedy in it..

from sad smiles to everyone walking away from me. ha, story of my life that, now I think about it

Almost anything inappropriate amuses me to one degree or another.

originally posted by: 191stMIDET
a reply to: wastedown

Friend, if you can laugh at someone standing around missing there face then you seriously need to take a very long vacation from your work.

Thats almost a billy idol song.

Now lets all stop this appalling act of laughing at things we fin inappropriate.

let us pray.

The Lord is my comedian; I shall but laugh
He maketh me to laugh at strange and wierd people: he leadeth me to see crazy and hilarious people
He restoreth my humour: he leadeth me in the path of laughing at everything hilarious, if not simple
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of imbeciles, I will fear no heckler: for thou art giggling with me; thy smile and thy laughter they comfort me.
Thou preparest a witty quip before me in the presence of mine best comedic master: thou laugh out loud with a grin; my jokes runneth over. oops.
Surely humour and laughter shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of mad and crazy hooligans, forever. Or else. see if I dont.

amen.

I know it was just overwhelming emotion but yes. At my young cousins funeral. He was 18 killed by a drunk driver. For what ever reason hysterical laughter kept trying to erupt from within me and I had to keep quashing it . I was mortified and horrified by it because all I really wanted to do was scream. The whole scene was surreal. Hundreds and hundreds of teens attended his funeral. He was very popular especially to the girls. The funeral procession had over seventy cars. No lie .

The two times I have laughed at something inappropriate. I feel really bad about both of them to this day.

Challenger Shuttle Disaster. I was out of school that day and was maybe 12 years old then. Anyway, I was riding my bike with a friend and we were in his carport, when news about the explosion came on TV. I was going through this rebellious teen phase and for some reason, I was just like "Ha, ha... served them right. That's what they get for trying dumb #."

The other time was laughing at a friend. My friend got hit by a car and he was never the same afterwards. He was always a little goofy, but he got really goofy and weird after his accident. Anyway, he came by my house one day and he clearly was not the same person as before and for some reason, I found this hilarious. He clearly lost his ability to reason and pick up on subtlety and nuance. I was maybe a sophmore in high school around this time. Don't think I saw him again after that. I've always hated that i acted like a dick.

a reply to: intrptr

If we let the dead bury the dead we'd be knee deep in corpses.
Now laugh at that.

a reply to: wastedown

Sounds like a scene from a Steven King book. I would have had a hard time controlling my emotions at that too. There is such a thing as hysterical laughter that has nothing to do with humor.
That horror scene being just such an occasion for it.

so glad i am not the only one to do that kind of stuff.
while not too extreme the most recent one i had was during a trip to budapest, i was walking with my girlfriend and this dude dropped his iphone and from the sound it made you could tell the screen was smashed (happened to me twice, i know that sound too well by now) and i watched the guy get down on one knee, check the phone and then run one hand in his hair and i totally lost it, i was in tears... the guy's pose looked like some kind of dramatic greek statue or something and i am smiling just by typing this.

I am not a good person