We, my family, were eating in a sports bar/restaurant a couple of days ago and something tickled our funny bones and we ended up laughing hysterically for a few minutes.  In the midst of our mirth I noticed people at surrounding tables staring at us.  Staring like you stare at someone with a large growth in the middle of their forehead.  I wondered if we were being too loud and then thought "How can you be too loud in a sports bar?"  No, there were definitely people being as loud as we were so that wasn’t the issue.  Then I wondered, "Is it really so rare to see people laughing, hard, in a public place?" Unfortunately the answer was yes.

I consider it one of the great fortunes of my life that we have teenagers and yet we still have our moments of absolute joy and between those there’s lots of "regular" laughter.  I’m knocking on wood as I type this.