We are all certainly facing some trying times over the coronavirus threat. The serious nature of the virus and the disruption to our everyday lives is not funny in and of itself. However, humor can give us some relief from such serious days.

This past week has seen some sadness and some great wit on the part of people everywhere. If you turn to the wisest man who was ever born, Ol’ King Solomon himself, we find some credence to the adage “laughter is the best medicine.”

In Proverbs 17:21  Ol’ Sol said, “A merry heart doeth good like a medicine: but a broken spirit drieth the bones.” And Ol’ Dutch (notice here that both Dutch and Solomon use the Ol’ moniker to evoke great wisdom?) sure does not want dry bones so I have been trying to laugh my way through this trial.

Way back in the 1330’s, Henri de Mondeville, a professor of surgery, suggested that laughter coupled with his treatments would be helpful. And I am sure back in those days with the crude instruments, lack of anesthesia and limited success rate, a patient could use all the help they could get to survive surgical procedures.

That may have been where the first high medical bills originated as Ol’ Dutch has often been driven to fits of explosive laughter (and a few other explosive sounds) after receiving a bill in the mail for services rendered from some medical practice. I have read about people laughing so much that they cry and I guess that was my experience with those billings too.

The internet has been full of funny quips and cartoons this past week in attempt to bring some levity to the horrible situation our nation finds itself in and Ol’ Dutch has certainly enjoyed and added to that humor when possible.

Some of my favorites concern the lack of toilet paper. One picture making the rounds is of a man spread-eagle against a car, with heaps of toilet paper rolls on the hood, while he is being searched by the police for “Possession with intent to distribute.”

Here in Dallas there is no TP to be found and mass panic has erupted. People evidently have not been washing that part of their bodies for quite some time or have forgotten that we all have running water in our homes for just such an emergency.

Another favorite quip about the shortage of the white rolls is “We feared y-2-k in 2000 and now we fear Y-2-Ply.” Of course the reference to the oft advertised two-ply TP that we all enjoy.
I think the funniest thing I have heard so far was the husband and wife, both fairly young, shopping for something to address their rear ends in time of need. The husband, ever the one to solve the problem suggested they get the brown rolls of hand towels often seen in gas station restrooms. The wife was screeching at him that her hind end was NOT going to be subjected to such cruel and inhuman treatment.

While we are being asked to suffer some real inconvenience and not little hardships, we are only being asked to isolate ourselves during the worst of the crisis and not storm the beaches of Normandy or hide in an attic from the Nazis like Anne Frank and her family.
My friends over 80 remind me daily of much harder times than these and we have television, food, shelter, the internet and advanced medical treatments to dampen the effects of this virus.
Wherever these times may find you, Ol’ Dutch and Miss Trixie wish you the very best and prayers for your safekeeping.

During the Great Depression when everything seemed lost, Franklin Roosevelt’s inaugural speech brought hope in a time of despair. It was one of the greatest speeches of all time and one line stands out to me today: “This great Nation will endure as it has endured, will revive and will prosper.”
To which Ol’ Dutch can only add. “Amen.”

Kevin Kirkpatrick and his Yorkie, Cooper, fish, hunt, ATV or hike daily. His email is [email protected]. Additional news can be found at www.troutrepublic.com or on Twitter at TroutRepublic.