When I attended BlogHer this past summer, there was an awesome panel with the funniest women in the blogosphere: Wendy Aarons, Jessica Bern, Jenny The Bloggess, Deb On The Rocks, Kelcey from The Mama Bird Diaries and Anna from Life Keeps Getting Weirder.
Someone got up to the mic and said that she wasn’t funny, and asked how she could be funnier. At the time I thought that was an odd question. Now I’m not so sure. I seem to have completely misplaced my humor. Or maybe I broke my funny bone. Is that what that pain in my ass is? No, wait, that’s from being surrounded by Swiss people.
I know, that is SO NOT a politically correct thing to say. But I am in Europe now, people, I don’t have to be politically correct.
But, seriously: have you read anything funny from me in the past 4 months? Not really. What’s up with that? How do you simply become non-funny? Oddly enough, I have an answer to that: you stop being funny when you stop being able to make fun of yourself. When you start taking yourself too seriously, you become a boring mass of broken funny bones.
And that’s the problem, I started taking myself too seriously. I came here, and immediately started being a serious person. What??? Me? Everyone is already so serious here, I guess I felt a compulsion to fit in. Ok, not to repeat myself, but: what??? Me?
This ends now. Serious people are pathetic. A lack of self-irony is very unattractive. I know I may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but I refuse to be pathetic. Especially for this.
Now, if you are Swiss or you are serious, chances are I offended you now. I would apologize, but part of me thinks you could use the wake-up call, so suck it up.
Plus, since moving back, I have noticed subtle changes happening here. Switzerland is changing, people.
Globus carries Benefit. People know who Jimmy Choo is. And they are getting their first taste of sample-sale-fever. In Zurich, there’s a Starbucks on every other corner. Also, less, charming but true, the once-neutral Switzerland now exports weapons. Such a joke, right? The peak of hypocrisy.
How about a good change? How about becoming less serious? How about instead of being tight-assed the whole year and then going completely crazy during the yearly Street Parade, how about just diluting fun throughout the 52 weeks? Or at least, say, 40 of those weeks?
Gandhi said: “Be the change you want to see in the world”. So applying that same principle, I have decided to be the change I want to see in Switzerland. More humor, less biting your tongue and holding things back. Relax people! Laugh. Yes, on the street. Heck, go crazy, even smile at strangers now and then. You can do it Swissies, I know you have it in you. Just try to remove that stick from your back side and give it a try.
I’m applying the Ghandhi principle on you. You’re welcome. You can totally pay me in chocolate.
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