A Cosmic Joke
Or how I found humor in tragedy.
BEDTIME STORIES
Or how I found humor in tragedy.
Textual version at the end. A narrative version told in Why Humor Allows Us to Overcome the Tragedy of Life And Death.
Sign up for my comics newsletter if you don’t want to miss new comics I publish every few weeks! (No account needed to sign up.)
Textual version:
When I was studying at the university, we had to read a collection of short stories. In one story,…
a woman got hit by a small meteorite. But she was completely fine in the end.
At the university, the professor asked me to comment on the meaning of that story.
I said: “I guess the point is that our lives are one big comic joke. Out of all the things that could potentially kill you, you could also get hit by a meteorite.”
Professor: “You think life is a joke? Have you ever experienced a tragedy, hm?
“Erm, no I guess I haven’t.”
10 years later.
On the phone: “Ana, grandma died.”
At the funeral, I ask my mom: “Have you had the chance to see her?”
Mom: “No, the funerary agency did everything and the coffin was closed.”
Me: “Oh.”
Me: “For all we know she could still be alive?”
My dad: “What is going on?”
Me: “No one has seen grandma’s body. How do we know she really died?”
“Let me try and open it.” And he tries to open it: “Arghh.”
“Dad, it’s ok, you might break something. It’s supposed to be closed.”
“Ok.”
It was in this moment that I found humor in tragedy. What a cruel joke this was…
We all die and before we die we suffer. What an existence.
At least we can always crack jokes at it. Just like my grandma said the last time she danced in our apartment: “That’s right my dear. There is always a reason to laugh. What else can we do, huh?