And the World Laughs with You

The beautiful thing about approaching life with a sense of humor is that you never know when you might brighten a stranger's day.

A few nights ago, four of us sat at the large community table in a local restaurant. Lauren and I engaged in our typical jabs at one another even as we visited with friends.

Midway through our meal, a woman sat down next to our party and quietly contemplated her iced tea. She seemed to be working on her powers of invisibility, as though she had been stood up and hoped nobody noticed.

As our group was winding down, Lauren left to use the restroom, leaving her lip balm on the table. (She is addicted to ChapStick and the like. Seriously. Addicted.)

Suzin said, "You should salt her ChapStick," which I promptly did.

The woman next to us could remain invisible no longer. She watched me cover the tip with salt, press it in, and carefully replace the lid. She laughed even as she avoided eye contact.

When Lauren returned to the table, four of us waited for the payoff. It might have been a full minute before she pulled off the cap and started to put the salted stuff on her lips.

We all laughed as Lauren said, "What the?" and inspected the lip balm. She laughed, too, as she shook her head and wiped off the salt with her napkin. And I gave credit to Suzin when Lauren said, "Good one."

After we left the restaurant, Lauren agreed that the laugh at her expense might have been just what the woman at our table needed.

I hope so.