I walked into a room where several people were sitting in a few rows of seats. Someone said hello to me and I saw two fellows whom I recognized among the people, but I couldn't remember their names and so I just say hello back. I didn't go over to them, mainly because I knew they were homosexual and I didn't want to be near them.

Instead I walked on into the next room, a large auditorium with rows and rows of seats. Someone got up from a seat in the front row and I sat down in the end seat.

Gradually I realized the focus of attention in the room was on a man sitting just three or four seats from me. Somehow his seat turned around so it faced the audience. The scene resembled some kind of talk show and the man seemed to be simply talking to the audience and asking questions.

He picked out a particular person in the audience and he asked, "Where is the cheapest place to buy a ticket in the house?"

The person didn't have the answer and finally I spoke just loud enough so the man could hear me and I said, "In the basement, because it is the lowest."

The man had obviously heard me, but he ignored what I had just said and he began talking about something completely different: about laughing and the benefits of laughing. He said he had made people laugh a million times. Finally he returned to his original question and said the answer is, "In the bathroom, because it is the hardest to get into."

Apparently he had been trying to make a joke, but no one laughed. So he then added, "OK, so I miss one now and then."

It seemed he had purposely told a joke that wasn't funny to make himself look ridiculous. I found the situation very amusing and a broad smile crossed my face. I quickly realized that somehow he had succeeded in making me smile.