Anything that can make a person laugh in one sentence is pretty brilliant. Late night comedy is great for this...an hour of quick jokes, generally not intended to do any sort of harm. They often poke fun at our own craziness and worries and our obsessive self-consciousness.
I think that's why pickup lines are so great. I don't ever hear them and think "that's going to make someone fall madly in love with that person." I think "...wow! That person just broke down a wall."
The "wall" is the self-preservation technique that we build when we leave our homes in the morning. We put it up as a block between us and whatever might try to interject on our plans for the day. That's why I think people seem so much happier on vacation...they don't put effort into building walls or plans. They are open to what happens next, including the billions of other people that live on this planet, the beauty of the day around them, of the weather, of the architecture and nature. Come to think of it (and I recognize this is a bold statement to make) I actually don't think people are ACTUALLY happier on vacation...I think they LET their lives be interrupted...kind of like a million pick-up lines that make us stop in surprise and laugh. Perhaps out of shock, out of flattery, out of the beauty that is in front of us, out of joy that we have been approached or come in contact with something wonderful. Vacation is just a bunch of surprises that we allow to happen to us more willingly than on any other day.
I base some of this belief on the way I look at my day. When I have a bad day, I become self-absorbed. I don't tend to notice the weather or people around me unless they happen to be interrupting, which annoys me. Sometimes I reach out but it is usually only to complain...I become a killjoy. Who likes a killjoy?
BUT...when I have a bad day and I REALIZE what is happening...I make a conscious effort to notice the good things. I notice that it may be 6:45 am and I don't want to be up walking the dog in the freezing weather BUT I just saw the sunrise for the first time in almost a year. Spectacular. What a pick-up line! It surprised me. It made me realize something right in front of me that I might have ignored otherwise. It made me smile. The rest of my day I might still be a bit off, because I started it on the wrong foot...but now it's a little better than it was before.
It's an effort sometimes to get those pick-up lines that we crave. Sometimes it's just a downer of a night and no one approaches us to tell us how awesome we are. But then again...it's pretty awesome to see how happy those girls are dancing with their friends and having so much fun. That makes me smile. It reminds me of my friends and having fun with them. It's a pick-up line; I've allowed my plans of talking to someone new fall to the way-side to be interrupted with the reality of the world around me...and it's a beautiful reality that reminds me of other happy memories!
So next time you hear a one-liner, a joke, a pick-up line...next time you're feeling down and you make the effort to take down your wall and just let the world happen to you...smile. It's a great way to say "thanks for taking the time to be part of my life, world" (even if it's for a fleeting moment before you leave the bar).
;) "That's what it's all about"
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