[Platapus]

People also have to realize that humour is often a side effect of grief.

http://www.selfgrowth.com/articles/G...r_in_Loss.html

Humour is also a tool that helps people cope with bad situations in which they have little control.

Although I am sure it is common in other countries, it is especially common in America. We joke about pretty much everything.

We joked when the Challenger exploded (What does NASA stand for: Need Another Seven Astronauts).

We joked about the 911 attacks ( What's Al Qaida's favorite football team? The New York Jets)

We joked about Hurricane Katrina (I heard from my brother who has re opened his bar in the French Quarter, he said business was a little quiet but was picking up now that some of his regulars have been drifting back in.)

Laughing at these types of jokes does not mean that the situation was not horrible. We joke about them because they are horrible terrible events. Because these events invoke such powerful emotions, we turn to irreverent "gallows" humour. I experienced this when I was in the military and as an EMT. Frankly if we did not laugh, we could not handle the stress.

It may sound flippant, but if we did not care, we would not joke about it.

Humour is always offensive to someone or something. That is the nature of humour.

And it is most important that just because I don't think something is funny, does not mean it is not funny to someone else.