When Humor isn't humorous

Have you ever noticed that every once in a while that in that split second before you say something, there's little voice in your head that says 'that would be a really dumb thing to say!!' but you ignore it, and then you find yourself being stared at by a group of people with incredulous looks on their faces and thinking to yourself 'I swear to god it was funny while I was thinking it!'

Similarly, you post something on a social networking site, then find yourself on the receiving end of a signature with a few thousand signatures on it because someone doesn't find your patricular brand of humor funny.

See, my mother used to tell me "If even one person doesn't laugh it's not funny".. But then I realized that by her definition nothing was funny. Honestly, there will always be *someone* (usually my mother) who doesn't find something funny,

I am not saying to never tell a joke. I am saying to consider whether or not what you are saying is actually funny before telling it.

If you have to whisper it in a friend's ear it probably isn't that funny.

If it isn't something your mother ( *your* mother, not mine) would want you telling in her presence you may want to rethink it.

If you wouldn't want someone saying the same thing about you or your child, it isn't that funny.

If your gut instinct is telling you to shut the heck up, you prolly should.

The most important reason to rethink funny is because most people who tell tasteless jokes are young (I said most not all) and if you don't learn young to discern appropriate from inappropriate, you may find yourself explaining your spotty job history to an awful lot of potential employers.