The importance of getting LOL right

Laughing out loud (LOL) has a relieving feeling to it. Even in tense situations, a huge belly laugh makes everyone feel better. Unless it’s a “laugh at you” instead of “laugh with you” of course. There are situations where others may want to silence your joyous laughter though.

In one of my first audits at the Bank, we were auditing the tax department. It was the first day of the audit, and we were guided around by a nice tax person (there are a few actually), introducing us to several other people.

It was an open space office, so naturally, while we are there, there are professional people who work there, and some are on the phone with other really important people. Or so they think anyways.

Not many appreciate being audited. So, these visits can be quite tense. During our “getting-to-know-the-people-that-we-will-audit-tour" someone said something really funny and I laughed out loud. Probably a bit too loud.

A professional tax lady turns around. She gives me the evil eye. Then she does it. While still looking me fiercely in the eyes, she does the hand sign that I should keep it down. The “you-need-to-keep-it-down-now-or-I-will-go-and-complain-to-the-boss” sign.

That look and that sign stopped me right in the middle of my belly laugh.

To be fair though, I’m glad and proud to say it didn’t stop me for too long.

I love reading SMS that includes funny auto corrections, or where people have written something funny by mistake. One that got stuck is the one where the mother sent a SMS to her daughter, informing her of her aunt Mary’s death.

Mary passed away last night. LOL

The mother, who wasn’t fully aware of the new language abbreviations thought she had written Lots of Love – which is sweet and would have been nice. But it was so wrong.

I am probably a really bad person. I start giggling just thinking about the professional tax lady or the LOL SMS. But in my defense. It runs in my family. My mother, sister and I laughed our eyes out a while ago.

It was in reality a really sad day. It would have been my fathers 71st birthday. He passed away this last September. This was the first Christmas and birthday without him. Mom and I drove to the cemetery to light a candle for him. We met my sister and her family there too. They had just visited my father’s grave and were on their way home.

“I wanted to put a candle right next to his cross, but the candle I have doesn’t have an appropriate lid. The wind would blow it out immediately. Instead, I put it in that candle holder thingy where all the other candles are.” my sister said.

“Well, they prefer if we put the candles there anyways.” Mom replied, referring to the church personnel.

My sister (with husband and children) drives away, and mom and I walked over to dads cross. The cross was only an interim solution. It would be replaced by a shiny name plaque once ready.

It was pitch-dark, you could hardly see the narrow lanes around the cemetery. Since it was Christmas, there were hundreds of candles lit – so I guess it was quite beautiful. However, if you grew up on horror stories like I did (my best friend at that time has an older brother…) you don’t really appreciate a jet-black cemetery independent of how many candles that are lit. I didn’t want to rush my mother though. It was quite an emotional moment.

When we came to dads cross, we saw several candles lit in front of some of the other temporary crosses. The people putting them there had obviously not followed the unwritten candle holder rule.

I have no clue what went through my mother’s head. But to me, it looked as if she took aim on something. Then she dove right behind the crosses. In her crash, she even got hold of the first cross in the row. Still lying on the ground, before even trying to get up, she tried to straighten the cross that she brought down with her in the fall.

I was stunned. I was probably faster in getting the mobile and the flashlight up than I remember, but those were the longest milli-seconds that I’ve ever experienced. I finally succeeded in directing the flashlight so that we could see who’s cross it was. Yep. Not really surprising. Out of eight other crosses my mother had managed to stumble, and grab not any cross, but dad’s cross in her fall.

She jumped up as quick as a teenager that has fallen off her skateboard, straightened the cross, dusted off her down jacket, lit the candle and put it in front of the cross. Also disregarding the unwritten candle holder rule.

Then she looked at me.

Both of us started laughing so hard, we could hardly get any air.

It wasn’t any easier finding our way back to the car across the cemetery. Now it wasn’t only dark and scary, we could hardly walk straight on those narrow lanes giggling all the way back.

I could also hardly wait. I had to share this with my sister immediately.

While laughing her butt off, my sister replied, “Dad was probably annoyed because mom decorated the Christmas tree too early this year.”

It was the first time ever, that the Andersson family’s Christmas tree had been decorated earlier than the 23 December.

There is a lot of LOL in this story – both Lots of Love and Laughing out Loud. Contrary to the professional tax lady, I am certain that my dad didn’t want to silence us. He would have laughed the loudest to this story. We love and miss him immensely.

Btw, in case you’re wondering, there was no harm done. My mom didn’t even get a bruise from the fall, and the cross wasn’t broken. About the professional tax lady. I never met her again. I hope she gets some belly laughs herself every now and then.