Sometimes, you’ve just gotta laugh

by Father Mark Goldasich

I remember the scene vividly, though it happened years ago.

At the time, my mom was living at Vintage Park in Tonganoxie, an assisted living facility. Coming into her room one day, she somehow scraped the upper left part of her arm. The staff suggested that I take Mom to an urgent care center, since the wound was a bit more than they could handle.

While waiting for a nurse, I tried explaining to Mom what her injury looked like since it was at a spot that she couldn’t see. My descriptive talents must’ve been lacking because she couldn’t picture it. When the nurse came into the room, she heard me and asked, “Do you have a cellphone?”

“Sure,” I said and handed it to her.

She immediately went to my mom’s side, took a picture of her injury and then showed Mom the photo. Duh! It was something that never occurred to me to do.

It reminded me of a story about the struggles that we “senior citizens” sometimes have with technology.

An elderly man had a computer problem and called Eric, the 11-year-old next door, whose bedroom looked like Mission Control at Cape Canaveral. He asked the kid to come over and help.

After examining the computer, Eric clicked a couple of buttons and immediately solved the problem.

As he was heading back home, the man called after him, “So, Eric, what was wrong?”

Eric replied, “it was an ID ten T error.”

The older guy didn’t want to appear stupid, but he had to ask,  “An ID ten T error? What’s that? Just in case I need to fix it again.”

Eric grinned and said, “Haven’t you ever heard of an ID ten T error before?”

“No,” the man replied.

“Just write it down,” the kid said, “and I think you’ll figure it out.”

So, the guy wrote it down: ID10T.

Grumbling, the older man said, “You know, I used to like Eric, the little brat!”

I’ve had many, many ID10T errors in my life . . . and not just with technology. As a young priest, I gave a workshop on storytelling at an archdiocesan Religious Education Congress. I’m not sure of the context, but at one point I mentioned how parents would handle diaper rash on their child by rubbing Dulcolax on the kid. The room exploded with laughter.

One of the teachers there said, “Uh, Father, did you mean Desitin?”

As I turned bright red, I  replied, “Well, I knew it was something that started with D! I guess that’s another reason why it’s good I’m celibate!”

Ah, the ability to laugh at oneself is certainly a gift from God. It keeps us humble and reminds us that we’re not perfect — not to mention that it makes for great stories afterwards. It can also make us more tolerant of other people when their imperfection is on display.

So, don’t berate yourself the next time that you’re talking on your cellphone while at the same time patting your pockets wondering where you left it. Or when you use the flash-light on your cellphone while trying to find where you dropped it in your car. Or wondering where you put down your glasses when they’re perched on top of your head. It’s these ID10T errors that reduce stress, help us see our foibles with kindness . . . and make God smile at how he made us.

I’ll close with the words of the German theologian and Lutheran pastor Martin Niemöller: “If you can laugh at yourself, you are going to be fine. If you allow others to laugh with you, you will be great.”

Let’s all strive for greatness.