Have you ever had the bejeebeers scared right out of you? You can’t help but chuckle when you see someone lose all bodily control as he shakes, shivers, jumps, throws his arms in the air, and either gasps for breath or screams uncontrollably with his eyes closed. I know we should probably feel sorry for him, but our primary instinct is to laugh. When we do, does that mean we have a sadistic nature? Maybe we laugh because we are so glad it wasn’t us who got scared.

TV programs love to stage something to catch the victim off guard and make a joke out of him on national TV. I admit, some of them can be really funny, but the best ones are the ones that happen in real life.

To this day, I smile to myself when I recall going to the movies as a child and seeing something scary leap forward at the big screen and my friend all but running out of the theater. It got to where I liked to sit a row or two behind her just so I could watch her jump. I especially liked it if I had seen the movie first so I could be completely ready to focus on her at the right moment—and so I could look brave and keep myself from jumping.

Going to the movies when you know you will probably be scared at some point sounds a little irrational, but we do it anyway. We jump and, maybe, scream, but then we usually laugh at ourselves and go back for more. I have seen some people who got mad or cried though. When they do, the tendency of those around them is to want to say “Get over it! Can’t you take a joke?”

There’s just something about being in a situation where you get scared but then can feel like you lived through it and are in control of your life.

Another memorable jump time happened when I was teaching. We had been studying mythology and the students were treated to a movie in class for doing so well on the unit—Clash of the Titans. They were engrossed in watching the mythological characters in the battle between good and evil. Medusa had shown up with her hair of snakes and was about to kill or be killed by the hero.

A message was delivered for a student. Lights were out. I touched the girl on the shoulder to get her attention so I could hand her the message. I shouldn’t have done that.

She came up out of her desk in a flash, hands waving in the air, body shaking and her voice reaching octaves only highly trained opera singers have been known to reach. Of course, the room had been quiet before that, so her actions set off a chain reaction in the whole class. I hadn’t expected any of that and, of course, I jumped too. (I am laughing out loud to myself right now as I recall the incident.)

Of course, the commotion caused the class to miss the moment of truth in the movie, and once everyone could breathe again, all I could hear was: What happened? Can we see that again?  We missed the best part.

Similar, but more serious, was a haunted house I went to one Halloween. I thought it was pretty lame. I was going through thinking fake, fake and fake, when a supposed corpse sat up and said, “Hey, what time is it? Isn’t somebody supposed to come take my place at 2?” The girl in front of me suddenly just plummeted to the floor. Thinking it was part of the show, I was ready to step over her when I noticed she was now white as a sheet and didn’t seem to be breathing. Her friends started screaming, someone turned the lights on, and adults came running. Fortunately, she was all right, but right then and there I decided someone could actually be scared to death.

As I reminisce on these events, another comes to mind that I want to share. This is actually related to what got me started on this train of thought in the first place. A few days ago I saw a video where a store had displayed a table of ladies’ hats for sale. The catch was that one hat was actually on a human instead of a mannequin and when the shopper touched it, of course, she was in for the shock of the day.

Well, in my instance, I had gone to the mall with my mother. She had finished her shopping, but I was still looking for a new sweater. She was tired after all the walking we had done, and since there was no chair around, she tested the platform where the mannequins had been all dressed in the latest fashions and decided to sit on it. She told me to take my time. She was fine and would just rest there.

I noticed her sitting quietly with her eyes closed but then paid no more attention until, out of the corner of my vision, I just happened to see a lady walk up to the platform and reached to feel the material of my mother’s blouse.

My mother came unglued. She jumped and yelped; the lady fell backward and squealed, taking a rack of clothes with her. You know how you can never find a clerk when you want one, and you would have thought at least one would have shown up to see what the commotion was all about, but no.

After apologies were made all around and everyone’s health was determined to be okay, the three of us left the store together, laughing so hard we could hardly walk down the hall.

I’ve heard it said that laughter is good medicine. Guess I’ve had my shot for the day.

Author: GlendaCameron
Author, writer, radio host, and educator Glenda Cameron has been co-host of TownTalk since 2006. In addition, she serves as Media Producer and contributing writer to www.towntalkradio.com. She began her radio career in Littlefield, Texas, at KZZN, later moving to KJAK and KFRE in Lubbock. Glenda’s hobbies include guitar, piano, and scanography.