No Laughing Matter

In a previous post I mentioned that I laugh hysterically when I panic, so I thought I'd fill you in a little.  We all have quirky traits and this one I can't seem to control.  Luckily it doesn't happen often!  When it crossed my mind to write a post about it, 3 instances immediately popped in mind.  I'm in high school, hitching a ride home from a friend, and suddenly she loses control of her car.  We start swerving side to side, I wish I could remember why, but that's not important.  Anyway, my friend driving starts screaming, the guy sitting next to her starts screaming, and I burst out laughing.  It wasn't a funny ha-ha kind of laugh, it was hysterical, kind of like I had lost my mind.  Once she finally gained control of her car, she was mad at me for laughing... it was rude, bad timing, and kind of cruel.  What she didn't understand was I had no control over it; it's not something you see often.  The next time that popped in mind was when I used to bike to work during my UPS days.  I tended to bike quickly... I do everything quickly, walking, talking, etc.  Anyway, I was flying off the road to the sidewalk in front of our old apartment and swerved around the large container for recycled clothes.  I wasn't expecting anyone to be there, but sure enough there was an elderly couple in my path.  The woman squealed, her husband pulled her to safety, and I laughed hysterically.  They must have thought I was such a punk.  Being that I'm a little shy and I definitely embarrassed myself almost plowing her down, I did the only logical thing and took off.  How was I supposed to explain myself in Dutch (I barely spoke Dutch at the time) when my old friend in The States barely understood this strange thing I do.  And the third time that popped in mind my husband also got to experience.  Before I discovered how marvelous a grocery delivery service is, I used to walk about 10 minutes to the store, load up 1-2 huge bags of groceries, and lug them back home.  One day while walking home with a huge bag of groceries, I tripped in the middle of the road and fell down.  How in the world did I trip?  Maybe because I'm always in a hurry like I said, and when you mix that with the fact I'm a klutz it gets interesting at times.  Needless to say my groceries dumped out.  I was a bit stunned (who knows why), luckily a woman ran over to help me gather my things before I was hit by a car.  As soon as I was safe and walking again, I called my husband to tell him what happened.  As I tried to speak all I could do was laugh.  At this point I had experienced the hysterical laughter often enough I knew what was going on, even though I couldn't control it.  I tried to reassure him I was fine and that it actually wasn't funny but it must have been a strange phone call.  My husband's used to all of my quirky traits now, that's what over 10 yrs together will do.  I can't say he enjoys them all, but at least he knows what and who he's dealing with!