Other People's Pain Is Funny

Except when it's *your* pain. Then, it's just wierd. Lemmie tell ya a story about yesterday.

First off, I hate "dress" shoes. Absolutely hate them. Even after a year of working at a real job, I'm not used to them. Those with long memories will recall several times last year that I blogged about foot pain. Well, after a brief respite, the pain has come back. My left foot hurts badly enough that I've again developed a limp.

Secondly, there is a area across the hallway from my office that has printing presses and other such print-related equipment. This machinery is almost exclusively run by employees who are of Ukrainian descent. Most of them are women. None of them speak English very well. A few are outwardly friendly, but most don't interact with us English-speakers.

Today I happened to be wandering through the break area when they were coming off duty for lunch. I walked past one, and she started to laugh hysterically.

This wasn't just any old laugh. This was an "Oh my goodness that's the funniest thing I've *ever* seen!" type of laugh. This was an "I sure didn't see *that* coming!" type of laugh. The woman was almost in tears. It was near impossible to hear over the noise she was making.

She pointed at my leg. Laughing voraciously through a thick Russian accent, she rumbled, "WHAT HAPPEN TO YOU?!?" "Er... it's nothing, really. I just have a spot on my foot that..." I was cut off by peals of laughter.

"Oh my goodness!..." she gasped. "I sorry! Oh my goodness! I so sorry!" She was roaring with laughter the whole time. I muttered, "It's OK," and left as quickly as I could.

I have no idea why a slight limp was so funny. She was laughing louder than I did at the mousetrap game.