(Just About) Better Than Anything

That's how we at The Job of Work consider laughter: It's just about better than anything.

It's certainly better than getting poked in the eye with a sharp stick. (Or a dull one, for that matter.) It's better than stubbing your toe. It's better than watching the Republican presidential debates (though, one must admit, they have been entertaining). It's better than taking your car in for a smog check or fighting a traffic ticket in court. It's better than most days at work. It's way better than paying taxes.

When you think about it, laughter is among the greatest of our involuntary reflexes. It's right up there with breathing and that cool thing your leg does when you're hit below the knee in just the right spot.

Laughter produces, too. Worthy things like:

• Euphoria, if only momentary
  

• Reducing stress
  

• Diminishes pain
  

• Builds great abs (with far less pain than doing crunches, or so I'm told)

• Prevents and fights disease

• Helps us face the challenges and woes of daily life

Laughter also produces happiness. Mustn't forget that.

And that's just for starters.

We'll try to cooperate fully with the IRS because, as citizens, we feel a strong patriotic duty not to go to jail. Dave Barry

You've got to be honest. If you can fake that, you've got it made. George Burns

I've had a perfectly wonderful evening, but this wasn't it. Groucho Marx

Put your hand on a hot stove for a minute, and it seems like an hour. Sit with a pretty girl for an hour, and it seems like a minute. That's relativity. Albert Einstein

I'm writing a book. I've got the page numbers done. Steven Wright

A nickel ain't worth a dime anymore. Yogi Berra

So if it's so good for us and feels terrific besides, why don't we do it more often? And why don't we help others laugh?

Might it be that many consider laughter be an inappropriate adult behavior? That it's somehow too childish? Or, worse, immature? That the things we do as adults are simply too serious to allow us room to laugh? Or, horrors of horrors, that we outgrow the ability to laugh?

We at TJOW beg to differ. No doubt, life is serious. Poverty, war, natural disasters, hatred, injustice, unemployment, aging parents, teenagers. It can be difficult to see one's way through the morass to a place where humor is possible. But see our way through we must. And when we get to that other side, there must be humor. Our belief -- and we have scientific fact to confirm it -- is that there simply are not enough truly funny people.

If love is the answer, could you please rephrase the question? Lily Tomlin

I was so naive as a kid. I used to sneak behind the barn and do nothing. Johnny Carson

Be careful about reading health books. You may die of a misprint. Mark Twain

The Republicans are the party that says government doesn't work and then gets elected and proves it. P. J. O'Rourke

Be thankful we're not getting all the government we're paying for. Will Rogers

I am free of all prejudices. I hate everyone equally. W. C. Fields

Too bad, too, because laughter is one of the greatest of human behaviors. The younger we are, the better we laugh. There's nothing quite like a child laughing hard, with total abandon. That uncontrollable, completely honest, explosion of joyousness. No self-consciousness, no concern for what's 'right'. Just a big, gut-shaking, cheeks-lifting, hard-to-breathe laugh. It's even better if the child is eating, or better yet, drinking milk while laughing. That milk out the nose thing is one of life's true miracles.

Admit it: Laughter is infectious.

Some guy hit my fender the other day and I said unto him, 'Be fruitful and multiply.' But not in those exact words. Woody Allen

My views of birth control are somewhat distorted by the fact that I was the seventh of nine children. Robert F. Kennedy

It goes without saying that you should never have more children than you have car windows. Erma Bombeck

Before a man speaks, it is always safe to assume that he is a fool. After he speaks it is seldom necessary to assume. H. L. Mencken

I have terrible luck. Last week my chauffeur ran off without my wife. Henny Youngman

When choosing between two evils I always like to try the one I've never tried before. Mae West

It's so core to our species that to not laugh is akin to not fully living. And if that's true (and who's to say we're wrong?) then the corollary is also true: The less you laugh, the less you're truly alive.

With that in mind, when was the last time you had a good laugh? A really good laugh. The kind that makes you cry? The kind where your cheeks don't come down? The kind where you need a few minutes to catch your breath and straighten your hair and clothes afterward? The kind that feels fantastic?

If it's been over a week, it's been too long. Trust us. We're trained professionals.

Neurotics build castles in the air, psychotics live in them. My mother cleans them. Rita Rudner

I don't make jokes. I just watch the government and report the facts. Will Rogers

A fanatic is one who can't change his mind and won't change the subject. Winston Churchill

I haven't a particle of confidence in a man who has no redeeming petty vices. Mark Twain

I know a man who gave up smoking, drinking, sex and rich food. He was healthy right up to the day he killed himself. Johnny Carson

Reality is a crutch for people who can't handle drugs. Lily Tomlin

Think of laughter as sex for your brain. From a biological standpoint, there more similarities than you might imagine. But laughter has a distinct advantage: You can do it out in the open, with as many people as you'd like, and have absolutely no concern about the age or gender of the people you're laughing with. You can do it on-line, without anyone wondering what you're up to behind that computer of yours. You can do it on the first date without fear of rumors. And there's no wet spot, unless you laughed really hard.

I never forget a face. But in your case I'll be glad to make an exception. Groucho Marx

I'm not a member of any organized political party. I'm a Democrat. Will Rogers

I'm not going to buy my kids an encyclopedia. Let them walk to school like I did. Yogi Berra

If at first you don't succeed, try again. Then quit. There's no use being a damn fool about it. W. C. Fields

What is it about death that bothers me so much? Probably the hours. Woody Allen

Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one. Albert Einstein

Life is serious. But not as serious as we make it. As Mel Brooks once said, 'Humor is just another defense against the universe.' And since we need all the defense we can get, given the state of our world, we urge you to find a way to laugh. With any luck, the guy next to you will start laughing too. And then the woman next to him will join in and then her friend will laugh and a movement will have begun. We'll call the movement 'High Cheeks'. Our slogan: 'Keep 'em high!'

It'll be our little joke.