Laughing and Not Laughing

What's left of my basement

When we last left our intrepid blogger, she was slogging her way through a wet basement worrying about water mitigation, insurance coverage, and the dreaded Angsty-Doodle-Damn-It. Since then, the water mitigation guys have come, done their magic for 4 days, reattached the washer and dryer, and have disappeared into the night...except for when one of the guys realized he locked his backpack in the house with the keys from the lock box. That was the comic relief. 

Or might have been until I was sitting in the kitchen eating my cottage cheese and granola dinner when a mouse skittered across the floor and dived under the fridge. Yes, I was startled; no, I did not yell EEEEEEEK and jump onto the counter, but I did call the junior son who told me to go to Home Depot and get a mouse trap. He told me this is part of adulting, and I needed to do this on my own. Google would help. Sure, it will.

Peanut Butter Bucket

Having had a wonderful mouser dog and a husband who didn't mind battling critters, my experience with mice and mouse traps was almost non-existent, and what little experience I have had did not end happily. I floated around Google for a bit, and decided I need more help than it was providing, so I did the most adult thing I know...I called my machatunim* who know everything about this kinda stuff. My wonderful machatennister** immediately cried, "What you need is a peanut butter bucket!" and said she had one all put together, I should come over and get it. She also provided the Mousy Ramp for getting said critter into the bucket. She never once mentioned the word "adulting." I love this woman. Good thing they're only 5 minutes away!

BLOG UPDATE: PEANUT BUTTER BUCKET WORKED LIKE A CHARM. MOUSE HAS BEEN DISPATCHED...but bucket remains in case he had mishbucha*** with him. 

On the escapist side, I went to see YidLife Crisis at the Twin Cities Jewish Humor Festival last Saturday night. I thought they were screamingly funny. IMHO, this is baseline Jewish humor. It's warm, it's funny, and it's hamish. The guys are from Montreal, but they did an enormous amount of prep work on Jewish life in the Twin Cities and they were spot on. 

For the record, I cannot abide the following: Larry David, Jerry Seinfeld, or Phillip Roth. I don't think any of those guys are funny. They're like Borscht Belt Gone Bad. I know, I know, I'll get hammered for saying that, but too bad; it's an opinion and I get to have one. The YidLife guys, on the other hand, are seriously funny, so if you appreciate classic Yiddish humor in the modern world, click here. 

So much for the comic relief and the plug...everyone back on his/her head. 

I write this in the waning moments of Holocaust Remembrance Day, the 75th Anniversary of the Liberation of Auschwitz. I cannot help but reflect on the beginning of the Holocaust, when so many people shook their collective heads and thought, "This, too, shall pass," when in fact, millions of people would pass through the gates of the camps and never came out. We remember...but for how much longer. Fewer and fewer people, when asked, know what Auschwitz was. My kids have seen numbers on arms, but will my grandkids ever see an arm with a number tattoo? 

YidLife Crisis really made me think about that time shift and the subsequent juxtaposition. Jamie Elman and Eli Batalion make us laugh at ourselves. They are giving a glimpse of a world that once was, is now fading, and will one day just disappear. Elman and Batalion's humor is an act of cultural preservation. This is not a bad thing. In fact, I am thankful someone is out there doing it.

Laugh at ourselves in times of crisis we do. Of course, one always skirts the issue of laughing at us v. laughing with us. That will never change. Jewish humor tends toward the self-deprecating. Is that a good thing? I don't know. Did Rabban Gamliel tell jokes about his mother-in-law? Did Rashi like a good comedy routine at Purim? Did Spinoza even laugh? Who knows! Is it possible that Jewish humor as we know it is a more recent development? And is it good for the Jews?

There is a difference between the Yidlife guys and the self-loathing Jew like Larry David, and that worries me. As the self-loathing Jew routine picks up fans, there is an inevitable increase in laughing AT us. And that kind of comedy opens the door to antisemitism based on perceptions of how we see ourselves. If Larry David consistently portrays Judaism as pointless or as worthless tribal fodder, why should David Dukes think anything different?

I'm not suggesting we stop laughing or even stop laughing at ourselves. That's who we are, but at the same time, perception is everything. 

And speaking of perception...

Right now, too many people are laughing at the Senate. They have a perception problem. Too many of We, the People seem to be of the opinion that this administration is either a joke not to be taken seriously, or a passing phase we will outgrow. Sitting on the fence is not helpful. We, the People can either begin to take what's happening in Washington seriously enough to get out and vote, or we can draw the living room drapes because that other stuff is just not our problem.

But it is our problem.

Now that John Bolton has dropped the advanced copy of his bombshell book on the New York Times, it appears our Senate is still refusing to hear witnesses in the trial of Feckless Leader. While the Dems laid out a case with evidentiary support and lots of video clips, the GOP has not addressed the actual articles of impeachment. No one seems to be saying he didn't do what all those videos and testimony show he did. No, they're simply denying his actions were abuse of power. Their refusal to allow witnesses makes me figure they are afraid and have something really big to hide. If the public ever wakes up to the reality of who is running that show, there will be revolution... from both directions. 

As I said a couple of weeks ago, this impeachment is tantamount to political masturbation. The only one who's gonna get off is the president because the Senate will let him. Everyone else is just going to be left with a...well....you know. 

In the end, the most terrifying aspect of this coincidence of Holocaust Remembrance Day and the impeachment is that We, the People have a moment of opportunity when we can stand up united to stop incipient tyranny, or we can emulate the Germans, the Poles, the Austrians, and the rest as we sit in our living rooms and do nothing. 

The Wifely Person's Tip o'the Week

If someone knocks your spigot outta the wall, don't forget to plug up the hole. 

BONUS LEXICON

*machatunim: child-in-law's parents.

**machatennister: child-in-law' mother
***mishbucha: family

[not shown but what the heck] machutin: child-in-law's father