Truth in Joking

“Off-comments are, often, painfully on.” - Chase March journal entry September 11, 2004

I wrote that line in a journal a few years back. I had gotten into a bit of a disagreement with my girlfriend. I was trying to be witty and funny and made what I thought was an off-comment. I didn’t mean anything by it. It was only a joke.

She told me that, “there is a lot of truth in joking.”

Maybe she was right. I think sometimes when people make jokes, they might be trying to be hurtful or speak their mind. I wasn’t trying to do that. I was trying to get her to laugh. I loved her laugh. But I ended up offending her and I never wanted to do that.

What she said has stuck with me. My quotation from my journal has stayed with me as well. That is why it has become an entry in my commonplace book.