secret 29 - the giggle loop

we were watching the BBC series coupling the other night. i can see those episodes over and over again and never ever tire of them--it's just so witty, well-written and well-acted. and like seinfeld, they have a lot of phrases that enter our vocabulary around here.

the other day, the madman jeff introduced the concept of the giggle loop. be warned, to know of the giggle loop is to become part of the giggle loop. what it is is the notion that during a very somber moment, where the last thing you should do is giggle, you will strongly desire to giggle. the desire will grow and you will burst out laughing at a totally inappropriate moment.

but best to let jeff explain:



and it reminded me of my very first encounter with the giggle loop. i must have been five or six and i was with my mom at her aunt jessie's funeral. i have a very clear picture of the vestibule outside of the church, the brownish 70s carpeting on the floor, the casket there with aunt jessie in it, looking quite still and unreal. i was probably too little to entirely understand and although i knew aunt jessie, i was also too little to really know what being dead meant. so i spied a water fountain, just a few feet away from the body, down the hallway, and began telling mom i was thirsty.

i just wanted to go over to the warm hum of the water fountain, step up on the step stool and taste the cold water. so mom took me over there and held me up, because i couldn't reach, even with the stool. we turned on the water and i bent to drink. but like many of those water fountains in the 70s, the water came on weakly at first and then suddenly spurted out full force. it sprayed me in the face and i cried out in surprise.

mom tried to shush me and preserve some decorum, but she had entered the giggle loop. she said she began to think of how aunt jessie would have loved that comic scene. and later said she half-expected her to sit up in her coffin and clap her hands with delight. and she and grandma stifled their laughs there in that hallway before going on into the chapel. i think they managed to hold the giggle loop in check until in the car on the way home, when i recall them laughing about the moment 'til they cried.

have you ever had a giggle loop?