Jokes and Laughter

Years ago, Lisa’s staff and I consulted a psychiatrist to discuss some behavior issues that Lisa was having. The psychiatrist told us that he saw Lisa as someone who loved to have fun and if she didn’t have fun at work or with the everyday chores of life, she might react with bad behavior. He was a wise man and he helped to change our approach with her and indeed her bad behavior went away. Lisa loves to have fun and to joke. It’s so fun to see her laugh until her face is contorted and until she snorts. It’s hard to get her to laugh that hard since her stroke but that doesn’t mean that she has lost her need to have fun. This is one of her favorite jokes and before her stroke she wrote me a note about her love of the “pig story”. A guy found this pig on the side of the road... Not knowing what to do with it, he brought it over to the police station to ask what he should do with it. The policeman tells him to take the pig to the zoo. A couple weeks later the same police officer was on highway patrol and he sees the same guy driving in his convertible with the pig lounging in the passenger seat, wearing a bathing suit and sunglasses. The police officer, pulls the guy over and says, "Hey you! What are you still doing with this pig? I thought I told you to take it to the zoo!" "Well officer," the guy replies, "I did take it to the zoo, and then last weekend I took it to get ice cream, and now I'm taking it to the beach!"