I see three of them.

Sitting in a booth at Pizza Hut.

They are friends; they are in a good mood.

They eat their pizza, and they talk lots. 

And every little bit, they break into a chuckle, sometimes a guffaw of laughter.

They must a have lot of shared jokes, I think to myself, to carry on for so long.

Then they say they should probably get on with their day.

But not before one more funny ditty is told.

They all laugh again, and he gets up to leave.

He’s still chuckling as he gets up, but as soon as he turns away from them, his face goes slack.

The smile wiped from his face as effectively as if someone had dropped the shade on a sunny window.

And I see then, that all the chuckles and belly laughter have been a sham.

And it’s not something new to me; I’ve seen it, off and on now, for the last several years.

*****

Look at any advertisement from any sizable company.  They will always be happy, smiling, or laughing.

They will always be in a place where there is golden sunshine.  (Or lighting effects)

They will always be young, and good looking.

They will always be clean and well to do.

Because it seems they, and we, are more concerned with the ‘look’ we present these days, rather than how we actually feel. 

Laughing, mostly fake, has become the accepted norm.

But when we get up to leave, we feel our face go slack, and we know there is a real life to live back home.

I’m okay with being positive.  I think it’s a good thing to practice.

I also think that being positive when you don’t feel it can sometimes get a person out of the negativity they are in.

The question, though, of whether to laugh or cry, seems often answered that to laugh is more socially acceptable. 

That it is fashionable and normal.

Or so we think.