Balancing humour and understanding in your journey of life’s
Humor is about finding pleasure, fun, or laughter, in situations, manners, or thoughts that are perceived as funny. Yeah! So a day without laughter is a day not lived.
Once upon a time, since I graduated from the university and have completed the mandated one-year NYSC (National youth service corps) by serving my father’s land.
I received a notification from LinkedIn concerning a job vacancy, urgently hiring a female receptionist.
They are seeking individuals to fill in the position.
I was interested, so I did the necessary by applying for the job position.
I submitted my Résumé to the required email address displayed on their page.
After two weeks, I was called for an interview and of course I did my best at the interview. I was told by the (HR) Hiring Manager that they will get back to me, so I left for home feeling positive.
After a week, fortunately for me, I received my offer letter through my email address that I should resume work the following week. I was so happy.
So on a cool Monday morning which I was to resume, I can never forget this very day, it happened in May 2022. I woke up early from bed because I would rather not resume late at my new place of work, being the first day. I did my daily routine by doing my devotion, swept the house & compound, brushed my teeth, took my bath & got dressed. As the new employee at my new place of work, I was persistent to make a good impression on my new coworkers.
*I had always been known for my deliberate and witty sense of humor and I also hoped that it would help me fit in at my new place of work.
On my first day at work, I headed towards the reception desk to sit. After few minutes, I sighted my new coworkers chatting in the corner of the reception room. So I walked over to them to greet and introduce myself and tried to start a conversation with a funny joke. *
New Employee: Hi, I am Tommy, the cleverest new intake in this office; but instead of laughter, I was met with blank stares and awkward silence.
I could sense things getting awkward after my joke flopped. My new coworkers just exchanged glances, they were clearly unimpressed by my wit. I felt a sinking feeling in my stomach, realizing my intention was not going over well with my new coworkers. Despite the rocky start, I was persistent not to give up. I continued to crack jokes and make witty remarks throughout the day, hoping that eventually, my new coworkers would come around and see the humour in my words.
But as the days went by, it was clear that my deliberate humor was making me more unwanted than ever. My new coworkers would turn their eyes at my jokes or ridicule my attempts to be funny. I started feeling like I didn't fit in at my new place of work.
Then, during a meeting, I heard some coworkers talking about me behind my back.
They were making the jest of me because of my wittiness, calling me annoying and pretentious. I felt very embarrassed and hurt, realizing that my efforts to be funny were only driving people away. But then, something unexpected happened. One of my coworkers in the office approached me and extended a sincere apology.*
Femi: Hi.
New Employee: Hi.
Femi: Trust you are doing good
New Employee: yes, I am good, thank You. How are you doing, too?
Femi: I am doing great. I just wanted to thank you for always making work days a bit more fun with your jokes. Initially, I was cautious of trusting people too fast, but your humour made me feel at ease. Can we, please, start afresh as colleagues and I said yes and we both laughed.
From then on, It made me see things differently? I toned down the jokes at work and focused on forming real bonds with my coworkers. I realized that it’s not always about being witty in the office, sometimes, understanding and kindness matter more.
Yeah! My attempts to make people laugh with my jokes in the office have initially made me less popular among my coworkers, but it taught me to be understanding and humble. So well, it is a reminder that humor is good, but one has to be mindful of others too. Your journey from trying too hard to be funny to just being yourself is something you can all learn from.
Thank you for reading my post.