'HA HA HAs' and Their Consequences

Noun1.mynah bird - tropical Asian starlings -
glossy black Asiatic starling often taught to mimic speech

(From thefreedictionary.com)

I love making people laugh. It feels so good to see people’s faces explode into laughter. It is funny how many situations laughter can get you in and out of. It is so universal that it transcends any language. It is also a kind of social grouping mechanism. If you laugh together or by yourself, it sends a message to people. It even comes down to the kind of laugh that you have. Do you have an annoying laugh? A funny one? Infectious? All of the above perhaps? I have been told that my laugh is almost like a comic book laugh in that you can almost see the bubble and the words. At least that is what I have been told. I know one person who laughs with the back of their throat making a kind of rough K added to a Shhh like, kshh shh shh shh shh. It is interesting to say the least.

Laughing expressions are great too. Some people cover up their mouths, some have wide open mouths but no sound emanates from it. Some people look like they are crying when they laugh really hard. I have another friend who cannot breathe if I make him laugh to the point where it hurts his stomach. What I have yet to come across though is someone losing ‘control’ of certain bodily functions while laughing. I mean, I know some people who have farted from laughing so hard. That is just hilarious and just adds to the humor…and causes people to run for cover.

The cultural aspect of laughing is pretty interesting to me. I am half Filipino and laughter is a big cultural thing in the Philippines. If you cannot take a joke I highly recommend not going there or at the very least leave your egos behind (that should be pretty standard for any traveling anyway). In the same light, make sure you can crack a joke as well. Jokes in the Philippines are very witty, word change/double meanings etc. So the faster you are and the more observant you are the funnier you tend to be. In the end you would be more accepted there as well. I actually have a funny story about a family member….

Everyone has their own style of laughing. I have a Filipino ‘uncle’ (more like second cousin but I called him uncle) named Elmer, and he has such a unique and infectious laugh. You know, the kind that if you hear it you cannot help but laugh as well, or cannot bear to listen to if the joke was at your expense. It either cracks you up or gets under your skin. In the Metro-Manila area where he lives called Passay City, across the street from his home, a neighbor has a Myna Bird.

These particular birds have the ability to mimic what you say better than most parrots I believe, but not as cunning of a linguist as an African Grey. ANYWAY, this particular bird heard my uncle’s laugh so many times, and my uncle’s laugh being so unique and very memorable, the bird can now laugh just like him. Almost exactly like him. The funniest part is that people would call out his name in a very loud, very Filipino manner and the bird would respond using Elmer’s laugh. You have to understand that Filipinos (even the mestisos like me) have a natural ability to get loud. Filipino women have amazing vocal cords… just come over to my family’s place for dinner you will see.

One night, one of the elder female members of the neighborhood was looking for Elmer. She thought he was out and about getting drunk at the neighbors place when in fact he was watching a movie at a friend's house. She did not like that thought at all. This particular elder did not know about the Mynah bird. She calls out his name a couple of times:

‘ELMER!!’

No response, once again

‘ELMER!’

Still nothing, a little more drawn out this time.

‘EEELLLMMEERR!!’

In response she hears his laugh about 20 meters away. Feeling a bit insulted she cries out

‘ELMER! Umuwi ka na lasingero!’

Which translates to

‘ELMER! Come home now you drunkard!’

Once again she hears that laugh, it gets under skin, she cannot stand hearing it. The blood rushes to her head and the Filipina Phoenix rises from within.

‘ELMER PUTANGINAMO HAYUP KA! UMUWI KA NGAYON WALANGHIYA KA. SUSMARIJOSEPH!’

Translation =

‘ELMER YOU SONOFABITCH ANIMAL! COME HOME RIGHT NOW YOU SHAMELESS PERSON. JESUS, MARY & JOSEPH!’

She picks up a ‘Walis Tingting’ (bristle broom; twigs put together to make a broom) and starts to march towards the laughter ready to use it like a Louisville Slugger.

‘Bubogbugin kita! Akala mo sino ka….’

(I’m going to beat you up! Who do you think you are….?’)

It was at that point that she reaches the street and realizes that she was marching towards her neighbor’s front steps where the bird, looking at her with dark beady eyes, its bright orange beak giving it a comical expression, looks at her as if begging for her to keep playing this game. She lowers her weapon, but ever so cautiously, her big brown eyes darting left and right searching for any sign of human presence.

The neighbors turn on their lights and stick their heads out of their windows both curious and annoyed at this lady screaming profanities in the middle of the night, in the middle of the street. Although not an uncommon sight in Passay it was still quite a sight. She was in her ‘Duster’ (I have no idea what that is in English…its like a gown I guess) and a hair net. The embarrassment sinks in and she makes her way back to her house when suddenly she hears that laugh again…it wasn’t the bird, it is too far. Sure enough my uncle came home, walking calmly smiling. He sees her waiting in the middle of the street. In her gown, a hairnet and a Walis tingitng. The look on her face so indignant.

He burst out laughing at the sight of her. That laugh, that laugh which caused her so much touble. The Mynah bird joins in the chorus. It was like laughing in a tunnel, the laughter echoed in her ears. She cannot contain herself anymore, he is greeted to a lovely beating. She took the Walis tingting to him so hard and so fast he did not have enough time to question her wrath. He screams in a comedic semi-protest, laughing the whole while:

'Aray! Ang sakit! Ano ba ang problema mo?

Para ka namang Nanay ko! Hoy Tama na! Ang sakit!

(Ouch! That hurts! What is you problem?

You are acting like my mom! Stop it already! That hurts)

His infectious-annoying laugh just fuels her on...

'Sige, tumawa ka ng tawa! Tumawa ka ngayon!'

(Go ahead, keep laughing! Laugh now!)

.....he has no choice but to run away.

Her wrath existed not because he was late or belligerent, because his laugh cost her some shame. The neighbors giggled, turned off their lights, closed their windows and receded into their quiet darkness.

One time, I was in southern Java, Indonesia. I was sitting on a beach I had visited previously on a school trip. The area was called Pangandaran. This time around I was travelling wth my father and his friend. It was a beautiful place filled with so much life and vegetation. As I sat on the beach this person comes up to me and starts talking to me in Javanese. I speak Bahasa but not Javanese. He was a comical looking guy with black teeth (from chewing Beetle Nut) and crazy hair. He had not shaved in weeks, which to a western man is the equivalent of a 3 o’clock shadow. His eyes were wide and full of energy and grew even more as he told his story. I caught bits and pieces of his story, flashing a smile here and there to show my interest and to not disprespect him.

His story came to a climax and then he bursts out laughing. I laugh with him because this guy just looks so silly and yet so genuine. His big brown eyes turned into a fold amongst many folds on his face. His semi-toothless smile bearing all black teeth in full display. Hands in the air and bellowing like no one's business. On some level we were communicating, I am not sure exactly on which level but it existed. He told me to follow him, so I did (not always the wisest thing to do). He took me around a cove to a small inlet, a tiny beach where you could barely fit my entire eith grade class shoulder to shoulder. There was no one there. Clear water, white sand and a coral reef. It must have been overlooked by the tourists or just simply too small for them to even care. The beach had no use for locals simply because you could not access the beach via a boat. It was like my private beach. It was great and all I did was laugh. My 'friend' showed me where what was, where not to go and how to get back. Afterwhich he left me to my beach and disappeared into the jungle. At that point I thought to myself, 'Good thing all you have is a room number...' I spent the rest of the day on my own and watched the sunset. I never saw him again…Pangandaran was recently hit hard by a Tsunami, not the huge one, it was another, smaler one, but nevertheless deadly. I hope my 'friend' is alright. I wonder if that small beach still exists...

Everytime I think of people I try to remember how they laugh. I like to think I remember people by their smiles and laughter. It is my favorite way of connecting with people. I have been doing this thing I read about in a book by Malcom Gladwell called Blink. At one point of the book he talks about how a couple of scientists found that feeling happy triggers smiles and vice versa. Yup, if you smile you will eventually feel happy. So I have been trying to do so...and it works. At first I semi-laughed at myself because you feel like and idiot smiling all the time. Eventually I started to notice that it did work, I have more good days because of it. I recommend you try it. People will remember you better.

Image from www.paultonspark.co.uk