Funny People
I know it's not good to laugh at people that aren't meaning to be funny but some times it's all I can do not to laugh at some folks around here. There was this one time that a developer assured me that decrementing loops - that is, loops whose indeces start at their largest value and then work their way to the smallest, were more efficient than the more standard incrementing kind. I didn't want to argue, and I didn't want to laugh, but it was awfully hard not to at least smile. This upset him more than an argument, I'm guessing and he got very upset at me.
Then there's the situation I've run across today. One of the traders just wanted to come directly to me to get answers because he felt more comfortable coming to me than to my "boss". Now I say "boss" because this man has said We're all on the same Team, and, in fact, I don't take a lot of direction from him other than what features to implement. So when the Trader went to the CTO to get the "OK" to come directly to me, he said "Sure". Then my "boss" got very upset.
People are the funniest things. In Stranger in a Strange Land the author makes the point that humor is about the pain another is feeling. It didn't take me long to agree completly with his premise. And in the case of these two people, they brought their own misery down upon themselves. This is really what makes for good humor.
I remember doing a few really bonehead things here at work right in front of people and they (rightfully) nailed me on it. I was being a bit goofy and it cost me. Nothing major, but enough to get a good laugh out of it. Oh sure, I didn't laugh right away, but I did laugh at it later. It's important in raising good kids to laugh at the situations we, as parents, get ourselves into. It's the only thing that keeps us sane at times.
So for as long as I'm working with Bill Cosby and Jerry Seinfield I might as well enjoy the moments, because they certainly aren't.