Okay, so yesterday I may have griped a bit much about being tripped over a footstool. My foot seems perfectly functional now.

The other aspect of gravity is that I never realize when it is called for. I'm deadpan when I should smile, and I often cannot keep a straight face when it is somewhat important to do so.

One such example occurred in the second grade, when my diet-pill using, evil second-grade teacher called all of the girls off of the playground to yell at us over something. Maybe it was for wearing skirts and still playing on the jungle-gym. or maybe it was about getting dirty or being too loud. I had no idea what we were being called on the carpet for, and my mind wandered to things that made me end up fighting back laughter. I remember being asked what was funny, and not feeling able to tell her that it was just something that my mind had wandered to while she was ranting about something that was probably best solved by a sandwich. So I said, "nothing."

That did not go over so well. But it seems my laughter was contagious among some of the other girls, and, whether it was nervousness or something else, many other girls were now having difficulty keeping a straight face. Looking back on that hunger-induced, pointless diatribe and the way that it was undermined by an ADHD kid's loose grasp on the gravity of the situation, I am grateful for my inability to be serious when it was most likely appropriate. I am also grateful that she wasn't further enraged. Sensing her defeat, she angrily sent us all back onto the playground. I was still a bit wary about getting into trouble, but whatever it was that had struck me as funny would not leave my mind and allow me to let the teacher's wrath bother me.

Gravity, levity-- I sometimes do not know which is called for, but I think I would rather stick with levity. I have never gone so far as to laugh at a funeral (I generally do not attend such events), and occasionally it has brought an abrupt end to the anger of others. Yes, sometimes the inability to remain somber can make me look a bit inappropriate, but such events are generally forgivable and I usually do not run off people who are in bright, happy moods this way.

So a few people think-- okay, know-- that I might have an ill-timed fit of giggles. So what? I have since learned to excuse myself from the situation. And since I am no longer a second-grader being cornered and reemed by a teacher, such a solution is generally more easily implemented.

Being a grown-up has some advantages. I just hope the expectations of decorum are never shattered by uncontrollable laughter in a courtroom or in front of a boss. Turning it into a fit coughing fit might be a good solution. Or maybe ritalin. Perhaps the other form of gravity will be able to attack at just the right moment to both hide my face as I begin to crack a smile and erase that smile with the fear/pain of falling. Or it could just make everybody else begin to laugh.

Now if I can just navigate around the livingroom furniture, I'll be all set. Maybe if I wore steel-toed boots . . . .