Do You Hear What I Hear?

A freshman from the University of Minnesota showed up at my Laughter Club to conduct a survey for a class. Her team had the subject - Laugh Out Loud. She had the smile of an 18 year old, white and devoid of the coffee stains that await her from daily trips to Starbucks. She wore the college-student uniform of faded jeans, sweatshirt and pony-tail held in place with a headband. She was open and polite. Bright eyed, and actually grateful that her parents were sacrificing to pay for her college tuition. Perfect.

We had 10 laughers that night, ranging in age from 7-85. A group that normally would not mix. We guffawed, danced and did the "Santa Conga Line" - HoHo, HoHo, Ho Ho. We put kiddo in the middle of the circle to be the Christmas tree, and decorated her with Laughter Lights, Bulbs and Tinsel.

Anyone willing to participate was asked to fill out a survey of questions about the group such as, What motivates you to come to Laughter Club? We have a very generous and kind-hearted group who happily answered the questions. Kiddo wanted to fill one out too. After all, she is a charter member of our group, joining when she was just 4 years old. She carefully printed her answer to the first question: How did you hear about Laughter Club?

By listening.

My husband and I giggled about it later, but, as I thought about it, I realized she was right. We get many invitations to participate in life each day. The answer to most of them is something like, that won't work, I have too much to do.

Somehow, through all the noise of life, these laughers heard the invitation. In a clear moment, they listened and tuned into the opportunity. The static of life remained, but they focused on something fresh for a moment.

Later, I drove the college student to her bus stop. I asked her what kind of music she liked. She replied, "Oh just about anything." I started flipping through the dial. Then, I remembered that "Fresh Air" with Terry Gross came on at 8:00 p.m. Delighted, I flipped over to MPR and asked, "Do you ever listen to "Fresh Air?"

"I think my parents do."

I supposed that was right. Even though I feel like that lovely, open 18-year-old, and consider myself young in my thinking compared to some of the parents I meet, I am indeed not 18. I have become like my high school girlfriend's dad, who insisted on listening to talk radio as we were driving home from our local ski hills. At the time, I thought I would die if I had to listen to that droning voice reviewing the news for one more second. What a boring, nerd! And, what a waste of a good car sound system.

As usual, my judgement of another is now being visited on self. I am the geeky parent listening to the news. I have chosen to ignore the static of my To-List and tune into Terry Gross. Of course, Terry Gross is way cooler than whatever Mr. Fleming had on the radio in 1986. Still, I was left with the reality that what we listen to is a reflection of our ability to give a fresh idea an audience.

So, I conceded to her, "Yeah, they probably do listen to NPR," and to myself, I am not 18. My teeth could use some whitening, which is $250 I'm spending on something more important. I never wear a ponytail because I don't want to waste time making perfect ponytails on kiddo's head plus mine before school. I can wear a hat. I don't wear headbands, as I look like my mother circa 1975 when I do. Sweatshirts add 10 extra imaginary pounds to the 30 actual ones that, as my husband says, are "bought and paid for." And so, I laughed out loud.