For most people, the new coronavirus causes
mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and
cough that clear up in two to three weeks. For
some, especially older adults and people with
existing health problems, it can cause more
severe illness, including pneumonia, and death.
Those are scary words and scary prospects. But
history has shown that its heaviest moments are
often leavened by using humor and laughter as
conscious choices — ways to cope when other
things aren’t working as expected.
“There’s so much fear and horror out there.
All the hand washing in the world isn’t going
to clear up your head,” said Loretta LaRoche, a
suburban Boston stress management consultant
who’s using humor to help people defuse the
anxiety the pandemic has wrought.
“Some people will say this is not a time for
laughter. The bottom line is, there is always a
time for laughter,” LaRoche said. “We have 60,000
thoughts a day and many of them are very
disturbing. Laughter helps the brain relax.”
That explains why social media feeds are
peppered with coronavirus-themed memes,
cartoons and amusing personal anecdotes.
Here’s Diamond posting a video of himself
singing “Sweet Caroline” with the lyrics altered to
say: “Hands ... washing hands ... don’t touch me ...
I won’t touch you.”
There’s Fox News anchor Julie Banderas
tweeting: “How long is this social distancing
supposed to last? My husband keeps trying to
get into the house.”
Here’s Austin restaurant El Arroyo, still smarting
economically from the outbreak-induced