Laughing at peoples misfortunes

Ruu_Old

I was getting into my car last night and there was a few people outside with the night being hot and so on when someone was cycling down the pathway by our apartments. His bike must have hit something and he flew over the handlebars onto his backside. He got up and dusted himself off and away he went. Thing is I couldnt stop laughing for ages after that and I wasnt the only one. Am I a bad , bad person?:p Do YOU*points* laugh at other peoples misfortunes?

Degsy

Not at all..i once saw this bloke falling down a flight of stairs in Dunnes Stores,and nearly pissed myslef laughing!!The look on his three year old grandaughter's face as they put him into the ambulance with a sheet over his face was priceless!!

Ruu

Ruu wrote:

I was getting into my car last night and there was a few people outside with the night being hot and so on when someone was cycling down the pathway by our apartments. His bike must have hit something and he flew over the handlebars onto his backside. He got up and dusted himself off and away he went. Thing is I couldnt stop laughing for ages after that and I wasnt the only one. Am I a bad , bad person?:p Do YOU*points* laugh at other peoples misfortunes?

No, I don't.
That's not funny.

6th

i think most people giggle, but theres a difference between the nervous laughter of "oh ****e!" and "ha ha fcuk i bet that hurt!"

Old people falling is only funny on tv shows in real life you feel sorry for them and try help coz they might be hurt/crying/soiling themselves.

Archeron

it really depends on the seriousness of the incident. First reaction is generally to make sure the person is not hurt, and if they're not. THEN I laugh at them. As a rule of thumb, people slpping in snow is pretty much always funny, as is people who fall while dancing but strangely, if I watch shows like "you've been framed" I actually think a lot of the videos of people hurting themselves are more disturbing than funny, especially when the audience are in hysterics depsite the fact that the person isnt moving..... Minor injury like banging your head off a table or cracking your knee off a desk: Funny.
Major injury like a leg and an arm removed by a thresher or falling headfirst into a rubbish compactor: Not funny.

ChityWest

dublin6th wrote:

i think most people giggle, but theres a difference between the nervous laughter of "oh ****e!" and "ha ha fcuk i bet that hurt!"

Think thats the difference there - I once saw somone manage to knock themselves out cold and could not stop laughing for at least 10 minutes. Had it been a car crash or something serious I cant see even thinking about laughing to be honest.

fuzzywiggle

Yeah if someone falls I would laugh. But if someone hurt themselves badly I wouldn't.

Ruu_Old

bluewolf wrote:

No, I don't.
That's not funny.

Oh you! I bet you would have been the first one to laugh and then kick the poor fella when he was down!

liamo

I can't stand most of the content of the "You've Been Framed" type TV shows. Yeah, some of the content is funny, but when you see a skier slam into a tree or some similar incident when you know that someone been hurt - that to me is just not funny.

However, one of the funniest things I've ever seen in my life was an old lady walking down the far side of the road in Terenure when her bloomers fell down around her ankles. She had her shopping in one hand and was trying to pull her kacks with the other and it just wasn't working! Some kind gentleman stopped to help her which was good because I was unable to pick myself up off the ground to offer assistance myself.

If you didn't already know, the Germans have a great word for this. Schadenfreud : the taking of pleasure in another's misfortune.

Edit: Of course, the point could be made that involuntarily laughing at someones misfortune is completely different to actually being pleased at the occurence of that misfortune.

Regards,

Liam

Ruu_Old

fuzzywiggle wrote:

Yeah if someone falls I would laugh. But if someone hurt themselves badly I wouldn't.

Mmhm, I was watching him like everyone else. It was when he walked off I burst out laughing.

skywalker

Dont really find other peoples misfortunes funny.

Degsy

I remember seeing a football match on telly years ago when there were all these dickheads jumping up and down on the roof of the stadium giving it large when suddenly one of them dissapeared into thin air..it was quite surreal.Anyway,he fell through the roof and landed on concrete about thirty feet down.It was funny coz he shouldnt have been up there in the first place!

Tobias Greeshman

If the person is for the most part alright and hasn't seriously injured themselves then I'll laugh at them. If the person is showing off and being a general prat, then when they hop themselves, it's only natural to break my ******** laughing at them. Otherwise it's just wrong to laugh at them.

Pighead

He He He. A mate of Pigheads was cycling down The Hill Of Destiny (Landmark in my village) at full pelt when a couple of cheeky midgets flew straight into his peepers rendering him blind and causing him to hit the side of the ditch, somersault into the air and collide head on into a 1500 4WD (Bloody big tractor horse built to compete against Case International's, Ford-New Holland's and John Deere top models). As you can guess there was only one winner in that collision.

Fajitas!

If it was funny, and noone got badly hurt, I would laugh.

One of my favourite incidents was seeing my friend fall down to his waist into an open man hole. It wasn't deep, but it was filled with sh*te!

We were watching him come towards us...and he just dissappeared! Classic

DEmeant0r

no, generally I don't, unless he wasn't hurt badly, then I get a giggle

super_furry

Someone falling on their arse - funny.

Someone falling on their head - not so funny.

Cianos

The same footage is sometimes used on different types of shows to make it appear funny/scary or whatever.

On a serious-toned show footage of a skier bollocking himself down a mountain would be shocking/sombre, whereas on a comic-toned show its supposed to be funny.

I guess peoples reactions depend on what music is playing in the background:p

OMcGovern

For those of you with a sense of humour, check out www.break.com

There's loads of clips of "peoples misfortunes".
You can't help but laugh at the teenager skateboarders, trying to grind a rail down a flight of stairs... they're just asking for it.

Laughing at other peoples misfortunes is a natural psychological reaction.
It's a mixture of shock, relief that it's not you who had the accident, and the ego boost from believing that they're more stupid than you and have lost face / status in other peoples eyes. Obviously this is only for the silly, and reasonably painfree accidents.... eg. asking someone the time when they are holding a cup of coffee, and they spill it

RotalicaV

Degsy wrote:

Not at all..i once saw this bloke falling down a flight of stairs in Dunnes Stores,and nearly pissed myslef laughing!!The look on his three year old grandaughter's face as they put him into the ambulance with a sheet over his face was priceless!!

Hahaha, thats the funniest post ive read in weeks.

Fast_Mover

Was talking home from college one day and there were these two schoolboys in front of me(in 4th year i say) on a narrow footpath. I was in a bit of a hurry and they could see that i wanted to pass them out so one of the guys went infront of the other guy and i passed on their inside..next i hear a loud bang on the outside of me..I looked around and wasnt one of the lads after walking into a pole..The guy infront had seen it and stepped out to avoid it but the other guy behind him was in a world of his own and didnt see it in time and bang!!..I thought it was hilarious..I laughed all the way home. Lik im sure he was ok and everything-just bit sore considering the loud bang i heard and him bent over clutching his forehead!!:D

The Jizzler

Of course its funny you laughed didnt you????

takethebiscuit

liamo wrote:

However, one of the funniest things I've ever seen in my life was an old lady walking down the far side of the road in Terenure when her bloomers fell down around her ankles. She had her shopping in one hand and was trying to pull her kacks with the other and it just wasn't working! Some kind gentleman stopped to help her which was good because I was unable to pick myself up off the ground to offer assistance myself.

Why is that not funny

Dagnir Glaurung

Normally I don't laugh but I always get hysterics when I see poor Phil Babb

Dun laoire

There is this woman who keeps sh1tting at bus stops!! She's looks oldish and obviously something wrong upstairs but i cant help but laugh. I have seen her about three times now in action and a friend has noticed the same woman once or twice before too. Sad but funny

Tiesto

haha I would be worried Ruu if you didnt laugh..
Nothing i like better than watching people fall down..

scojones

Ruu wrote:

I was getting into my car last night and there was a few people outside with the night being hot and so on when someone was cycling down the pathway by our apartments. His bike must have hit something and he flew over the handlebars onto his backside. He got up and dusted himself off and away he went. Thing is I couldnt stop laughing for ages after that and I wasnt the only one. Am I a bad , bad person?:p Do YOU*points* laugh at other peoples misfortunes?

Haha yes I do. And it laugh uncontrollably, and very loud. I can't help it, it's when I laugh the most.

scojones

Tiesto wrote:

Nothing i like better than watching people fall down..

Exactly, Peter from Family Guy wouldn't fall down so often if it wasn't funny.

Li'l Irish

When I was living in Monterey, CA some friends and I were walking down from the Presidio into town. Monterey is laid out over one giant hill, which is extremely steep and has two major roads that lead straight down from each side. So one day, four of us were walking down along one of these steep hills when this car-carrier lorry passes us heading downhill. It was obviously heading to a junkyard; all of the cars on it were completely totalled. Right behind the lorry, behind pulled on a short chain, was a large heavy passenger van.

We watch the truck pass in silence and then my buddy Russo says: 'I wonder what would happen if the chain broke.' No sooner had the words left his mouth than the lorry turns off of the main road onto a side street. The chain towing the van snaps. The van hurtles down this hill doing about forty miles an hour and smashes head on into a palm tree.

The four of us just fall down laughing. I mean, we were pointing, bent over, braying like jackasses, obviously thought this wreck was high comedy. People come running out of thier houses and start calling 911. A woman started cussing us out. Just then we realized that nobody saw the lorry; it had turned off and dissappeared. They all thought we were just laughing at some poor bastard's car wreck. We just took off, but I saw the lorry come back around the block before we left.

Naos

Recently seen a guy on a bicycle miss the pedal. Needless to say, his weight crashed down onto the crossbar. There was an audible "ooooh" in the car, followed by laughter. Guy was alright a minute later though.

blu_sonic

I think you have to laugh, its slapstick thats funny

Ruu_Old

I was just out playing mini golf a few minutes ago and a fella was passing by me on the way home on the path. He was cycling with no hands and I was roaring in the car "go on fall, FALL YA BIG SHOW OFF YA!"

blu_sonic

wheres open at 3.51 am?

Ruu_Old

blu_sonic wrote:

wheres open at 3.51 am?

I live in the US, blu_sonic. 6 hours behind Irish time

blu_sonic

ah crap i wanted to go play mini golf, well mini putt it is then

metaoblivia

I'm a former gymnast and am still really into the sport. People fall all the time and usually it's funny because they don't get hurt. On my website I have a video of one bad gym fall after another. Some of the falls are scary, but I think it's great only because no one was seriously injured and they all get back up to finish their routines. It's unfortunate because obviously once you fall you probably won't win, but it's still funny.
But when someone gets hurt, it's not so funny. I've seen those moments too and it's terrifying. It makes you not want to go back to the gym.

Dudess

Ruu wrote:

I was getting into my car last night and there was a few people outside with the night being hot and so on when someone was cycling down the pathway by our apartments. His bike must have hit something and he flew over the handlebars onto his backside. He got up and dusted himself off and away he went. Thing is I couldnt stop laughing for ages after that and I wasnt the only one. Am I a bad , bad person?:p Do YOU*points* laugh at other peoples misfortunes?

That's like that girl in Wayne's World. I would have absolutely PISSED myself! As you said, the guy dusted himself off and went on his merry way. No harm done.