Oftentimes, people say that laughter is the best medicine. Sure—laughter can cure bad days, and hard times, but laughter is not the only way that we can cope with problems. We as human beings go through many emotions, and as you can tell, laughter is only one of them. When people face tough situations, their reaction to the episode can be with tears, laughter, or both.
When we go through extremely hard and agonizing incidents, sometimes the only way we can cope with the pain is by laughing. In contrast, problems that we find to be the most wearisome can make us feel confused and troubled. It is often true that our responses to dilemmas in life are based upon laughter or tears. In Dick Gregory’s autobiography …show more content…
During Dick Gregory’s life, he faces trials and tribulations as well as discrimination; he copes with his complications through laughter and he learns that laughter can be an affective cure, yet it can also be useless during tragedies.
During Dick Gregory’s early years, he uses his Momma’s advice to get people on his side; he laughs at himself first before anyone else can. Dick Gregory learns the power of a joke while growing up. He is raised on welfare and kids in the neighborhood give him a hard time about it. For instance Dick gets made fun of a lot, but he learns that if he can make jokes about himself first, then the other kids will not climb all over him. Dick Gregory writes, “They were going to laugh anyway, but if I made the jokes they’d laugh with me instead of at me. I’d get the kids off my back, on my side. So I’d come off that porch talking about myself,” (41). Kids are always tormenting Dick Gregory and instead of using tears to cope with this occurrence, Dick uses laughter. From Momma’s words, he uncovers that laughing is a healthier way of dealing with a situation rather than crying. Dick has the choice of how to react towards the kids in his neighborhood. Dick can choose to brawl with