So, we're driving to my Dad's birthday party. I am going through the list of all the people who will be there with my kids, reminding them of their names -- it will be all adults, some they know, some they don't.
From the back seat I hear a certain 8-year old laugh out loud for no apparent reason.
"What's so funny" I ask.
He replies, "I'm just practising my fake laugh incase someone makes a lame joke tonight and everyone else is laughing."
I thought it was hilarious.
But he raises an interesting point. Why do we offer a fake half-laugh when we don't really think someone/something is funny? We do it all the time, don't we? How did he pick up on it? Did he figure out "people are laughing, but that wasn't funny, so they must be faking it" or did he just want to be pretending to "get it" when there is nothing to get?
Moral of the story: if you make a kid laugh, he may just be being polite.
As for me, I probably won't laugh if I dont' think you're funny. Probably. But maybe. You'll never know for sure.
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