Uncontrollable Laughter in Arkadelphia

     This August, my little brother left for college for the first time in his life. It was definitely an emotional experience, especially for my mother. Even though this was the second child she had sent to college, she was crying for a good portion of the trip. My brother had always wanted to attend TCU, but he ended up attending Ouachita Baptist University in Arkadelphia, Arkansas. When my brother was moving into his dorm room, I had already been on campus at TCU for about a week. However, because it was his first year on his own, I decided to make the four and a half hour drive up to Arkansas to help Mitchell move in.

     One of the coolest parts of the trip was that my girlfriend, Sydney, went with me. It made the drive so much more fun. I get bored easily when I drive by myself. Once we arrived at OBU, we helped my brother move in, which didn't take too long because they had already started working on it before Sydney and I got there. We helped with a few other things, cleaned up a spill on the brand new carpet in his dorm, and soon enough it was time for lunch.

     Our family decided to eat at some taco place that I had never been before. I had only been to Arkadelphia a few other times anyways, so I wasn’t familiar with the restaurants in the area. When I was in high school, I wanted to attend OBU. It’s funny how I originally wanted to go to OBU, and my brother wanted to go to TCU, but we ended up switching universities.

     We sat down, ordered our food, and began talking about life in college and other inconsequential things. My brother said something about his plans at OBU, and I instantly answered with a Will Ferrell quote. I don’t even remember which movie it was from, Kicking and Screaming, Elf, or Step Brothers, but immediately both of us were laughing our heads off. I was laughing so hard that I was tearing up. I couldn’t stop, and it seemed like it just got worse when I tried to stop. My brother was acting the same way. After a minute or two I had to excuse myself from the table so I could calm down.

     What’s interesting is that the quote wasn’t even exceptionally funny. Sure, it was comical and placed perfectly (not to brag or anything), but that wasn’t the real reason, in my opinion, for our uncontrollable laughter. I don’t even think Sydney laughed at the quote at all, or at least not much. I think it had something to do with all of the emotions that we had going into that lunch. My brother was leaving the house for the first time, and I got to help him move in. The joke provided a means for a release of all that emotion, and in the end we were basically rendered incapacitated for a little while. I think this moment that my brother and I shared was important for us to have because it was going to be the last time at least for a few months that we could laugh with each other.

     After lunch, we made some final adjustments to his room, said our goodbyes, and started our way back to Texas. Saying goodbye was definitely emotional, but I think it helped to have a good laugh before that moment. This moment that my brother and I shared validates, or at least supports, the relief theory of humor. There had been a big buildup of emotions the whole day, and the quote provided the means with which we were able to release those emotions. Without it, I probably would have cried a lot or done something to embarrass myself while saying goodbye.

     And for the record, I think the quote was from Kicking and Screaming. It was the part of the movie where Will Ferrell gives out finches to the kids. Then he apologizes to the parents and says something about potentially giving their kids salmonella. I’m not 100% sure that’s right, but that’s how I remember it.