February 2009
The day my sister and I laughed ’til we cried
By Riney Jordan

Have you ever done or said something really stupid? Come on, be honest. Remember when you said something really dumb before you even thought through it? Well, I hope you ended up laughing at yourself — and I hope you laughed louder than anyone.

We’ve all done it! And at our family gatherings, those are the things that bring such laughter each time we’re together. Making stupid mistakes has become some of the best family memories ever!

My sister and I have always enjoyed a good laugh, whether at ourselves — or at the other one. She recently called and was just laughing hysterically when I answered the phone.

“Riney, I have just done the dumbest thing ever…,” she began.

Remember now, she could barely tell this story for all the laughing that took place between each phrase. She began recounting the story of how the governor of Illinois had been reportedly trying to sell the Senate seat of Barack Obama.

“I’ve been hearing about this for days,” she said, “and I just couldn’t believe that he thought he could get away with that!”

When a couple of ladies from her neighborhood came over for a morning cup of coffee and a visit, the subject came up.

“I told the ladies that I just thought he had to be the dumbest man I had ever heard of to think that he could sell Obama’s seat,” she reported. “Doesn’t he know that it’s against the law to do that?”

One of the ladies nodded in agreement while the other said, “He does have his nerve, doesn’t he?”

“Why, yes he has his nerve,” sister Shirley responded. “Doesn’t he know that Obama’s seat is owned by the government, and you can’t sell any of the furniture in the nation’s Capitol, even if it is just one chair!”

My sister said at that point the ladies both put on a confused look, and then one of them started chuckling. That’s all it took, and the other one burst into laughter.

“Shirley,” one of the ladies exclaimed, “it’s not Obama’s chair that the governor is taking bids on; it’s his Senate position he’s trying to sell!”

Shirley and I were both in tears with laughter as the story ended.

“How could I be that stupid?” she asked.

“Well, since you told your story, I’ll tell mine,” I said.

I told her that a few days ago I had been watching one of the NFL football games on television, and at the end of the game the announcer began reporting which players had been selected to participate in the Pro Bowl.

As I listened, I mentioned to my wife, Karen, “Those poor football players. They make them play golf sometimes with the pros, and now they’re making them participate with other football players in a game of bowling! When is it going to end?”

There was a moment of silence and then a knee-slapping laugh followed by, “You’ve got to be kidding! It’s not a bowling match. It’s football in a ‘bowl’ game! Remember? Cotton Bowl. Orange Bowl. Rose ... .”

“I get it! I get it!” I yelled.

Immediately, I realized how ridiculous my assumption had been. And, the only thing I could do was to laugh at myself.

My sister thoroughly enjoyed my story, and we acknowledged that we were “even” on really stupid comments.

Two wrongs did make it right!

As Elsa Maxwell once said, “Laugh at yourself first, before anyone else can.”
And that’s good advice!