I was sitting at my desk, staring out the window and thinking about how wearying the news is these days, how stressful our times feel. I don’t recall a time, an era, that was ever this difficult. Every morning I wake up wondering what dreadful news has broken with the dawn. I think I know what the problem is.
I love humor. All types and styles of humor. I enjoy slapstick as much as I do dark humor. Epigrammatic, wordplay, children’s humor, they’re all funny, corny, hilarious. Humor is like a shield that protects us from all the difficulties we face in life.
Nowadays, whenever I read a headline, I find myself sitting and waiting for a punchline. Today’s news stories are so outrageous, they feel like the setup to a joke. But then reality sets in and I realize life has become a parody without a punchline.
Today’s world feels like the dark side of humor has become our new reality. And sadly, it’s not funny.
Karleen Pederson Wolfe, Seattle
