Dude. I'm Joking.

This meme has been on my screen and my mind a lot lately. When I first came across it, I laughed and laughed. The photo just kills me:  the look on the trickster's face for successfully delivering "a good one" and getting a kick out of the results, and the panicked devastation of the gullible sibling as he buys into it. We can all relate to the entire scenario. I showed it to my husband and children and they all laughed and laughed, too. But I'm not laughing anymore.

First of all, this kind of thing is happening way too often lately between the siblings I have given birth to.  A snarky remark here, an over-the-top tease there, a deliberate dig everywhere. There are some personalities in my house that aren't unlike the sibs in the photo above and it makes for some very unpleasant moments...even days. I tire of doing damage control, both for the teased, who really should learn to not take everything so seriously and personally, and the teaser, who hurts himself  just as much when he fails to learn how to interact in a healthy and more sensitive and respectful manner. Teasing is normal inside a family and some types of playfulness can serve to bond family members to each other, but when lines are crossed and boundaries erased, the results are not funny.

Second, I can't help but notice that the two faces in the photo are reflective of today's dialogue everywhere. There is less and less civility and more and more rancor. Often the things we joke about are sacred and precious, like the souls we tease and torment, and our punch lines really punch.

So, here's to the reeducation of us all, because without it, one of these days no one will be laughing.