Why so serious?

The disappointment that comes with people not laughing at your jokes can be a terrible one. You suddenly have this strange urge of wanting the earth to open up and swallow you.

If I could remember clearly, the first time I made my first bad joke was in high school. I had spoken out in confidence, loud and clear, hoping for my classmates to do justice to my joke by filling the class with laughter, but instead everyone just stared at me. That was the first time I understood the saying that silence could be deafening. I remember walking back to my seat, my head hung down-low in shame.

What brought back this embarrassing memory was what I witnessed earlier today, when me and the boys had gathered together to enjoy a good game of football.

It was on a Saturday and Saturday's were usually the days we all walked down to the fields to do that one exercise we boys all love to do, to play football. We had gotten to the field a little bit earlier than others, so we all decided to hang around and wait for the others.

It was while we were waiting for this other people than one of the boys decided it was best to crack a joke.

A bad idea if you asked him, unfortunately he didn't realize that until he was done saying whatever gibberish he had in his mouth. The deafening silence was there again.

But this time, it didn't linger long as my laughter filled the place. As expected, they all thought I was laughing at the dry joke but the truth was I was only laughing because I had been in that same position before.

_source