Chapter 84 The "relaxing agent" to resolve embarrassment

During World War II, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill came to Washington to meet with then-US President Roosevelt, asking the United States to join them in fighting German fascism and providing material aid to Britain.Churchill was warmly received and arranged to live in the White House.One morning, Churchill was lying in the tub, smoking his oversized cigar.The door opened, and it was Roosevelt who entered.Churchill had a big belly, and his belly was sticking out of the water... It was a bit embarrassing for these two leaders to meet at this moment.At this moment, Churchill had an idea, threw the cigarette butt away, and said: "Mr. President, I am the British Prime Minister in front of you. I am really open and honest, and I have nothing to hide." After finishing speaking, the two laughed.Subsequently, the talks between the two sides were successful.

Here we cannot say that Churchill's humor played a huge role in the success of the talks, but his "no concealment at all" not only alleviated the plight of individuals and the country at that time, but also implied frank help and mutual trust.How could Roosevelt not feel it? It can be seen that humor and wit are twin brothers, they are inseparable.Using humor can often resolve embarrassment and ease the tense atmosphere. We will experience the efficacy of humor in social interaction from the following two examples. After Agatha Christie, a famous British female writer, married archaeologist Max Mawenlow, who was 13 years younger than her, someone asked her why she married Max Mawenlow. She said humorously: "For any woman , an archaeologist is the best husband. Because the older his wife is, the more he loves her."

This ingenious explanation not only reflects Christie's sense of humor, but also illustrates the harmony of their husband and wife relationship. Once, when U.S. President Reagan was speaking at the White House piano recital, his wife, Nancy, accidentally fell on the carpet under the stage, including her and her chair.Reagan, who was speaking, saw that his wife was not injured, so he said: "My dear, I told you that you should only perform like this when I don't get applause." There was a warm applause from the audience. It was originally an embarrassing thing for Reagan. At this time, if he complained or ignored it, people would feel that he was unreasonable. If he did not handle it well, his image would be greatly reduced.When Reagan was in social crisis, he used humor to save the day, and achieved excellent results by surprise, showing his wit and open-mindedness, and shortening the distance with the audience. This is an example of socializing with humor.

Humor is a charm and a strength of character.The characteristic contained in humor is amusing and joyful, and the ability contained in it is the ability to feel and express interesting people and things, and create a pleasant atmosphere.Personally, people with a sense of humor tend to be more attractive and cohesive than those without. The pianist and humorist Poch once performed in Flint, Michigan, and found that the audience was less than half. Of course he was disappointed and embarrassed, but when he walked to the stage, he said: "The city of Flint must be very beautiful. If you have money, I see that each of you has bought tickets for two or three seats." So the whole hall was full of laughter, and Boqi also resolved the embarrassing scene with a few words.

In the inevitable conflict, those with a weak sense of humor will be put to the test: to fight the crime, or to raise eyebrows?The brilliance of a humorist is that even when it comes to tit for tat, he does not let his heart be distorted by anger, but remains quite calm.The humorist still has a variety of options when he feels he has no choice. The poet Goethe once walked in the park and happened to meet a politician who had attacked him on a path.The other party said hostilely: "I never give way to a fool." Goethe immediately replied: "And I am the opposite." After speaking, he immediately gave way to the side of the road.Goethe's humorous answer not only returned the other party's humiliation to the other party, but also saved a pair of enemies who met on a narrow road from a stalemate conflict, which shows his tact.

Humor can relieve the awkward atmosphere caused by tension.There was an old man who was nearly seventy years old celebrating his birthday. Just as the whole family was sitting around the old birthday star, talking and laughing happily, while toasting and eating vegetables, he suddenly heard a loud "beep", which turned out to be The grandson who was preparing to take the college entrance examination this year knocked over the thermos bottle, and the thermos bottle exploded. The untimely sound made the child feel at a loss, and the parents came over and complained about his carelessness while cleaning up.The old man said with a smile: "This is a good sign. The child is going to enter the university this year. We can't stop at the original 'old level'. We also have to play the 'new level'. I just borrowed this sound today. Let's set off firecrackers on my birthday."

Here, the old man used the homophonic pun of "water bottle" and "horizontal", which made the whole family laugh easily, and the grandson got out of the predicament, and the atmosphere of birthday celebration became more enthusiastic. "Old water bottle" is connected with "old level", and the meaning is cleverly interpreted, so that those who make mistakes have a step down, and everyone is happy. Therefore, we say that humor not only reflects a person's easy-going personality, but also shows a person's intelligence, wisdom and ability to adapt to changing situations.But it should be noted that humor is neither meaningless gags nor unproportioned tricks and lip service.Humor must be reasonable, make people laugh, and inspire people, which requires a certain quality and cultivation.

Engels said: "Humor is a manifestation of wisdom, education and moral superiority." Lenin believed: "Humor is a beautiful and healthy quality." The words of these two great men are worthy of our careful consideration.