Sometimes I just crack myself up

My first post underlined a problem that I have often dealt with. Humor is like fashionable footwear: what is wonderfully fabulous to one person is painfully repellent to another.

An acquaintance made this point with me at one time. He had all the appearances of someone people listen to, a man of taste. He had a great shirt and a really nice haircut. No, it was a great haircut. Let's call him that.

Me: "...so I laughed myself silly."

Great Hair Cut Guy: "Yes, but I need to tell you something."

I could see a little cloud floating around his head saying "good intentions". Great Hair Cut was urgently trying to help me as he gently touched my arm in concern. His sincere intentions were so strong I swear I could see inside that haircut that in his world I was swimming too far into the recessive end of the gene pool. There should have been alarms and buzzers going off. I had touched the side of the operation game. BZZZZZZZ. Uh oh.

He takes a deep breath and assumes a patient expression used to deliver bad news about a loved one to an unstable child.

Great Hair Cut Guy: "You say things, and you think they are funny, but they aren't."

Me: "Really. Are you sure it's not sarcasm?"

Great Hair Cut Guy shaking his head slowly: "No. That can't be it. Where are you from?"
Me (a little confused): "What?."
Great Hair Cut Guy becomes more urgent and leans forward: "Where are you from?"
Me (more than a little confused): "Iowa."
Great Hair Cut Guy: "That's it!"

Pause. His hair looms full, brilliant and triumphant in this revelation for a couple heartbeats as he positively beams with this amazing geographic discovery.

I tip my head and say carefully,"Yes, I can see that. There are dramatic drops in humor as you cross the Mississippi."

Great Hair Cut Guy: "THAT IS ONE OF THOSE JOKES!", he shrieked and fled.
I could not make this up if I tried.

I'm sure he and his hair won't ever be the same. Sometimes I just crack myself up and that has to be enough.