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A Cure for the Comedy Allergy

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Bill Cosby:

You can turn painful situations around through laughter. If you can find humor in anything, even poverty, you can survive it.

I posted a quick tweet to alert folks about the PB&J sandwiches post.

Sometimes when I tweet, I hit send and immediately think “Why on earth would you say something so [insert self-deprecating comment here].” I ain’t gonna lie to you though, this was not one of those times. I was feeling sexy about this one and anxiously awaited my hyena pack to join me. This turned out to be relatively naïve.

It started off innocuously. Jeff light-heartedly busted my chops.

Not to be outdone, I fired back, responding not just to Jeff, but sending it out to all my loved ones in the twitter-verse.

Perhaps this was sent without due consideration; I merely wanted to continue the upbeat and comical mood. Christine warned me of where we were headed.

I was still caught up in my own comedic genius.

As it turns out, I’m not funny. In fact, the narrative quickly turned to the assumption that I’m trying to peddle my dangerous peanut butter and jelly sandwiches to children with food allergies. Here was the haymaker from my friend Chris.

This is where I stopped giggling awkwardly. Did this dude recognize the spirit of the tweets? Has he been following the tongue in cheek nature of this blog and a good portion of my social media (whoa, this is sounding narcissistic)? Was I being less than empathetic?

Tim followed it up and wanted a public apology.

Intimidating, but a bit flattering. I did some research (perhaps to prove worthy of the backhand compliment). From kidshealth.org:

Peanuts aren’t actually a true nut; they’re a legume (in the same family as peas and lentils).

Tim, with all due respect, I write a fitness blog. You think I didn’t know my kidney beans and peanuts are kin? C’mon.

If you’ve followed this blog, you know how I feel about anti-inflammatory medication and man-made ingestible goods in general. This should be your first sign that I Dancing peanutwouldn’t suggest Benadryl seriously to anyone for any reason.

What would I suggest? For those on twitter who seem allergic to humor, I have an anti-trolling oil to recommend. Yup, it comes from coconuts. One of my recent suggestions may have the common side effect of relaxation.

Coconut oil is the world’s greatest lubricant.

Yup, I said it. It’s damn slippery. The folks sneezing at the first sign of a chuckle may find it helpful.

Okay, let’s pause and discuss this seriously for a moment. I know kids and adults with food allergies have some pretty high hurdles to leap on a regular basis. I also know that people who are suffering are those most in need of comic relief. From webmd.com:

I believe that if people can get more laughter in their lives, they are a lot better off,” says Steve Wilson, MA, CSP, a psychologist and laugh therapist. “They might be healthier too.

A jokey display on twitter is a far cry from a declaration of a position on an issue. If you’d like to challenge me on one of my public stances, at least wait for me to take one.

Peace and a bottle of coconut grease,

Kap

  • http://karajackman.wordpress.com kara j

    Way to be. Hold your (freshly) ground (peanuts) and have a great weekend.

    • Gabe Kapler

      Nicely played, Kara.

  • http://www.Kelebekfusion.com kbeyazdancer

    As someone who suffers from food allergies, I got your tweet and I didn’t find it to be harmful. As you said you were feeling sexy and threw it out there. I make fun of my allergies all the time. I am allergic to strawberries but I always joke that I have a few if I want fuller lips (they make my lips swell).
    Sometimes you have to lighten up.

    • Gabe Kapler

      Really appreciate that.

  • Caitlin

    People are too sensitive these days. Everyone’s senses of humor are escaping through the hole in the ozone. On that note, I’m allergic to latex. Talk about an allergy worth joking about! It’s an allergy that NEEDS to be jokes about. Bring on the coconut oil!

    • Gabe Kapler

      Thanks for always having a take, Caitlin.

  • http://twitter.com/HutchBeav John Beavers (@HutchBeav)

    It’s the PC world we live in today. We would be so better off if we wouldn’t get so worked up about every minor detail. I read the tweet last night and thought it was funny. I also knew some people would react wrong as well. There is always going to be those folks who are going to attack. Easy solution for them…do they read the blog and don’t follow on Twitter. Instead they’d rather attack.

    Keep up the good work, humor and all.

    • Gabe Kapler

      Great point, John.

  • Jeremy

    Twitter needs a sacasm font. That would solve so many problems before they ever begin.

    • Gabe Kapler

      Wish I could RT this comment. Nice.

      • http://www.Kelebekfusion.com kbeyazdancer

        I agree!

  • Ed H

    The coconut oil is a good option… Either they need to get l*** or they need to stick it up their ***!

    • Gabe Kapler

      As always, Ed, appreciate you.

  • http://gravatar.com/101wins 101Wins

    I’m the most easy going guy ever and humor is a big part of my life, but if you had a child who’s peanut allergy was so severe that it could literally kill him if exposed, you wouldnt have made the joke.

    • CJ

      And just because he wouldn’t have made the joke doesn’t mean he’s somehow attacking people who are in that situation. This frankly seems like a really ridiculous thing to be so offended about.

      • Gabe Kapler

        Amen.

    • Chris

      Then where does it stop? Gabe’s written about all kinds of food, many that people are allergic to besides peanuts. The very nature of this blog is to help people be happier, healthier and live better. If a person can’t see a joke and shrug it off if it hits a little too close to home then they shouldn’t read, watch or listen to anything, ever.

      • Gabe Kapler

        This comment is right on point, Chris. Nice work.

    • Ed H

      The context of the joke wasn’t to make light of an allergy, it was making light of someone else throwing the peanut allergy as a rebuttal to a light comment about a pbj sandwich…. Context is everything.

      • Gabe Kapler

        This is so true.

  • Barb

    “Pass the Benadryl”. Hilarious! Especially for those of us who have seen our children go into anaphylactic shock and had to scramble for Benadryl, epi-pen, and the E.R. Sure, no big deal. Just pass the Benadryl!

    I love the jock sniffers rallying around you and shouting down those of us with no sense of humor over such trivial matters.

    • CJ

      *sigh* Yes, it sucks that your child has such a severe allergy. But cracking an obvious tongue-in-cheek joke about it is not some personal attack, while referring to people as “jock sniffers” because they agree with a point of view kind of is personal.

    • Chris

      Maybe Barb needs some coconut oil…

    • Ed H

      Jock sniffer? Is that why we’re here? Why don’t you read all 164 of the previous posts, improve yourself (you will) and then conclude why we’re here. I’m not telling you each post is a religious experience, but there’s plenty of quality experiences shared that better explain the following than “jock sniffing”.

    • Gabe Kapler

      Barb,

      Once again from Bill Cosby:

      “You can turn painful situations around through laughter. If you can find humor in anything, even poverty, you can survive it.”

      By the way, my father is in his mid 70’s and has shellfish allergies. Pops, let’s go grab some lobster and shrimp, that’s what Benadryl is for.

      Personalizing something completely non personal is a burden you’re choosing.

      As for my friends chiming in with support, did you read their comments before you attacked them? They had sense and thought behind them.

      Hope you’ll come back and see us. Really. We will all still be here aiming for health and well being, which for the record, I wish for your children.

      Kap

  • Manny Ortez

    Fight the good fight, Gabe! Eagerly await your next blog! “Heart attack? Pass the aspirin!” Bwaa-HaHa!!! “Pediatric cancer!! Buy a small wig!!” Lighten up! Jokes, people, jokes!

    • Gabe Kapler

      Laughing with you, Manny. I truly appreciate when folks connect with my intended message. Good shit.