# Do you ever try not to laugh when someone's upset? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 8, 2002, 10:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-ever-try-not-to-laugh-when-someones-upset/107875 "2002-05-08T10:48:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![The\_Griffin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a87d85/32.png) [@The\_Griffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Griffin)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2002, 10:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-ever-try-not-to-laugh-when-someones-upset/107875/1 "2002-05-08T10:48:12Z")
Sometimes I want to laugh for some reason. It’s embarassing. ---
**Author:** ![Living\_Dead\_Girl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ecb155/32.png) [@Living\_Dead\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Living_Dead_Girl)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2002, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-ever-try-not-to-laugh-when-someones-upset/107875/2 "2002-05-08T13:17:21Z")
Oh, God. I’m horrible at this. It’s not that I don’t truly feel bad for them, and I don’t find the situation amusing in the least, but I can’t help from giggling sometimes. It’s a horrible trait to have. Just ask my friends. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Living\_Dead\_Girl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ecb155/32.png) [@Living\_Dead\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Living_Dead_Girl)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2002, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-ever-try-not-to-laugh-when-someones-upset/107875/3 "2002-05-08T13:24:21Z")
Oh, God. I’m horrible at this. It’s not that I don’t truly feel bad for them, and I don’t find the situation amusing in the least, but I can’t help from giggling sometimes. It’s a horrible trait to have. Just ask my friends. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Alexxandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/278dde/32.png) [@Alexxandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alexxandra)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2002, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-ever-try-not-to-laugh-when-someones-upset/107875/4 "2002-05-08T14:04:28Z")
It’s also horribly amusing when people fall down. It’s like I can’t even help myself…the giggles take control of their own accord! ---
**Author:** ![Why\_A\_Duck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/13edae/32.png) [@Why\_A\_Duck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Why_A_Duck)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2002, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-ever-try-not-to-laugh-when-someones-upset/107875/5 "2002-05-08T14:08:25Z")
My favorite Mel Brooks quote: “Tragedy is when I cut my finger. Comedy is when you fall into an open sewer and die.” ---
**Author:** ![dragongirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b38774/32.png) [@dragongirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dragongirl)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2002, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-ever-try-not-to-laugh-when-someones-upset/107875/6 "2002-05-08T14:47:55Z")
It happened to me just this morning. My friend has a 2 month old baby and a 3 year old. The adjustment has been hard on the 3 year old. She was telling me about the ways the 3 year old was trying to get attention and kept yelling at him. She was very upset when she said " I swear the baby’s first words will be GET THE FUCK OFF OF ME !" I was laughing my ass off. ---
**Author:** ![dreamer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/6bbea6/32.png) [@dreamer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dreamer)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2002, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-ever-try-not-to-laugh-when-someones-upset/107875/7 "2002-05-08T15:20:40Z")
I think for me I laugh or giggle at the wrong times because I don’t know what to say. That sucks because people may get the impression I don’t care what they’re saying when I really do :o ---
**Author:** ![Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troy_mcclure_sf/32/4150_2.png) [@Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Troy_McClure_SF)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2002, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-ever-try-not-to-laugh-when-someones-upset/107875/8 "2002-05-08T19:52:11Z")
This happened to me recently. I’m in a theater tech class, and I was helping one of the guys there with some set construction. He was getting frustrated because the lumber wasn’t cut quite right by another student. He was getting more and more pissed, and, not knowing him all that well, I stayed quiet. His anger got more and more animated, and he unknowlingly did a perfect Chris Farley impression. Now, this is a big Greek fella. Started yelling, “WHY can’t they just CUT the LUMBER RIGHT?” while doing a perfect Matt Foley hand gesture. Torso going up and down, arms stiffly swinging up and down. Oh, God, it hurt, trying not to laugh. ---
**Author:** ![njufoic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/278dde/32.png) [@njufoic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njufoic)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2002, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-ever-try-not-to-laugh-when-someones-upset/107875/9 "2002-05-08T20:09:46Z")
I had that problem with my high school band director. He was kind of hard to deal with, but basically a cool guy in his own way. The thing is that occasionally he would get really worked up about something, and give the band an angry lecture about whatever it was that was bothering him. Now, this guy was about five feet tall and five feet wide; that is, he looked like a life-sized Weeble. So when he got angry about something, his big round face would turn bright red, and I just couldn’t resist giggling at him. One of the worst incidents was when some percussionist kept screwing up his part day after day. After this happened several times, one day the conductor stopped the band in the middle of the song, looked at this percussionist, and bellowed, “What do I have to do to get you to practice that? Stand on my head and spit wooden nickels?” I think I actually laughed out loud on that one. -Andrew L ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2002, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-ever-try-not-to-laugh-when-someones-upset/107875/10 "2002-05-09T01:49:22Z")
The British comedy series “Coupling” (very funny, if occasionally repetitive) discussed in one episode the well-known phenomena of trying to suppress an inappropriate laugh in a serious situation. Their term for it was priceless: it’s a “giggle loop.” Something strikes you funny, you realize you can’t laugh, _that_ strikes you even funnier, you realize how horrible it would be to actually let the laugh out, but you also know that it’ll be hilarious in a few years, and in less than a minute your face is red, your eyes are watering, and you’re chewing on your tongue. “Giggle loop.” Remember it.