So, I've been thinking about this more since Gabi asked if it was a "feedback wrapping" (per the interpersonal communication curriculum utilizing Seashore, et al). I don't think it was just my wrapping. I think folks might have recognized their own reactions, at least some of them. Today, while I was sharing some of this "story" with Uncle Sam, I again characterized it as "funny", and we did laugh together. David shared that he'd had a similar, somewhat taken-aback (?) reaction upon meeting me for the first time. It is funny, on one level, that we (people? in a universal sense?) are so sensitive to first impressions and... maybe the laughter is a self-laughter that also protects us from recognizing how strongly these first impressions (especially of difference) may affect our willingness to learn about/try to understand someone else? I dunno. I'm reaching....trying to understand....I don't think the laughter is a "bad" thing. It definitely protects me from some pain, but it also...opens communication? Maybe if we share the laughter together, we somehow "own" or acknowledge a connection, a similarity?
