Make me Funny

At a conference where food is served, I used to say, 'no thanks, I'm trying to cut back,' whenever the rich desserts were offered to me. My peers noticed this, and then, just for a laugh, whenever I was offered a non-food item (like a brochure, serviette, etc.) I'd still say it (with the same tone). Once, I was offered a seat, and I said, 'no thanks, I'm trying to cut back'...always got a laugh from those who knew me. Photo (at right) from my own collection.

For all you eye care professionals out there...whenever you are checking each eye separately and your patient seems to be struggling and unhappy afterwards (especially following an automated visual fields test), I would cheer them up and say, "Yeah, I know it is tough...I mean, you should see how much the three-eyed patients hate this." Kinda breaks the ice and lessens the tension that builds up whenever people feel under pressure to perform these types of examinations.

I was asked by a specialist about the doctor who saw me previously, I couldn't recall much but remembered he was young looking. Without missing a beat, my specialist said, "Yeah, I hate those young guys." I found variations on this works, but only if you are certain the person you are talking with understands the joke. Sometimes, it is hard to pinpoint names (especially for me) but faces, I always remember. You can break the tension plenty whenever someone can only recall part of something by using this empathetic response of, "Yeah, I hate or I love those..."