# Laughing at someone's cluelessness then having a brief, horrible moment in which you doubt yourself **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 23, 2016, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laughing-at-someones-cluelessness-then-having-a-brief-horrible-moment-in-which-you-doubt-yourself/763708 "2016-08-23T01:59:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2016, 8:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laughing-at-someones-cluelessness-then-having-a-brief-horrible-moment-in-which-you-doubt-yourself/763708/21 "2016-08-27T08:39:48Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > “Me-me”? Seriously? :smack: > > Hahahahahahaha! Q: What do you call a self-absorbed soprano? A: MiMiMiMiMi. (Mimi is the diva in Puccini’s _La Boheme._) ---
**Author:** ![StGermain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stgermain/32/2868_2.png) [@StGermain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StGermain)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2016, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laughing-at-someones-cluelessness-then-having-a-brief-horrible-moment-in-which-you-doubt-yourself/763708/22 "2016-08-27T18:05:27Z")
In a different vein, I recently watched the movie _Florence Foster Jenkins_. The story, for those you haven’t seen it, is like a musical “The Emperor Has No Clothes”. Florence Foster Jenkins was a socialite with a horrible voice who gave concerts that were received to great acclaim, even the NY newspaper arts critics being kind. So I watched the movie and laughed and cried. As I was driving home I started thinking about my own singing in church. After Mass I will often get people come up and say how they liked my voice. But what if they’re only Florence Foster Jenkins-ing me? I’m not a choir member, but I sing in the congregation. I don’t sing loudly, but I do sing confidently. Maybe I also sing poorly, and they’re all just trying to make me feel good! I have no answer to this. But better to sing than to mumble. And I like singing. So I’ll continue to sing, and hope it encourages others to sing, even if to drown me out. StG ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2016, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laughing-at-someones-cluelessness-then-having-a-brief-horrible-moment-in-which-you-doubt-yourself/763708/23 "2016-08-27T23:06:03Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > Quick, say “Provolone.” Off the top, prohve-uh-loan, sung to the tune of Kodachrome 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Snooooopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Snooooopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snooooopy)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2016, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laughing-at-someones-cluelessness-then-having-a-brief-horrible-moment-in-which-you-doubt-yourself/763708/24 "2016-08-28T05:37:23Z")
I’m a newspaper copy editor. After having corrected this error or that error for the millionth time, I can’t help but start wondering if everyone else is right and I’m completely delusional. Frequently, I can find relief by thumbing through my dear, dear Associated Press Stylebook, but sometimes even that doesn’t have the answer I need. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2016, 7:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laughing-at-someones-cluelessness-then-having-a-brief-horrible-moment-in-which-you-doubt-yourself/763708/25 "2016-08-28T07:14:11Z")
> [@Snooooopy](#): > > I’m a newspaper copy editor. After having corrected this error or that error for the millionth time, I can’t help but start wondering if everyone else is right and I’m completely delusional… Everyone else is right and you are completely delusional. More certainly so if you work for _The New Yorker_. ---
**Author:** ![Flyer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/flyer/32/7298_2.png) [@Flyer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flyer)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2016, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laughing-at-someones-cluelessness-then-having-a-brief-horrible-moment-in-which-you-doubt-yourself/763708/26 "2016-08-28T14:11:01Z")
> [@Cub\_Mistress](#): > > Today. I was reading some previous documentation in a patient’s chart and read the previous nurse’s teaching that insulin is produced by the spleen. I burst out laughing then had a horrible moment thinking “am I wrong???” but no, a few seconds later my good sense reasserted itself :smack: and I regained my confidence in the pancreas as the source of insulin. Pssst. . . . the Islets of Langerhans. 😃 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laughing-at-someones-cluelessness-then-having-a-brief-horrible-moment-in-which-you-doubt-yourself/763708.md?page=1)