A word about humour

CAUTION!

Laughter and humour are wonderful things.  You should absolutely ensure that you inject them into your life. However, it is prudent to do so wisely when others are directly or indirectly involved. Rifts in relationships have occurred when what was “supposed to be funny” or “just kidding around” was not interpreted that way.

What each person sees as “funny” is often a matter of personal taste and experience. There may be shared experiences or a similar knowledge base that can translate into particular groups of people finding similar things funny.  But again, how that humour is expressed or interpreted has great variability between folks regardless of commonality in background or history. 

Always be mindful that intentions are not as important as outcomes when referring to interpersonal matters.  A joke, cartoon, song, set-up or skit is not harmless, regardless of an intention of it to be so, if it is injurious to another person.