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The Lost Art of Pie in the Face
The movie studios don’t really make slapstick comedies anymore and I miss that kind of humor, unless you count the world of Sacramento real estate — in which one can almost always find a highly amusing moment as there are so many to choose from. I kinda like slapstick because I grew up with it, not to mention, it gave me a good excuse to whack my brother’s face for no reason. I laugh at pie in the face from the old Soupy Sales skits. Don’t get me started on the Marx Brothers or the Three Stooges. But today so much is PC you don’t get that kind of humor from Hollywood or media.
Not that I’m against being PC because I’m not. As an enlightened human beings of the 22nd Century (Is that right? Are we in the 22nd Century now? How did that happen?), we don’t need to reinforce stereotypical issues that harm people or encourage discriminatory opinions, but what’s a pie in the face gonna harm?
I wish I could carry whipped cream pies in my briefcase for spur of the moment chuckles. I mean, maybe for health and safety purposes they could be stored frozen in the freezer like Cool Whip and removed to thaw just before I needed them. I could find many uses for this product.
Thank you for this lowball offer, whoosh, pie in the face. Thank you for never intending to close escrow, whoosh, pie in the face. Thank you for that Request for Repair on this AS IS sale, whoosh, pie in the face. Thank you for listing with your husband’s cousin, whoosh pie in the face. Thank you for picking my brain about all the fine nuances to sell and then sticking a FSBO sign in the yard, whoosh, pie in the face. Thank you for failing to deliver loan docs, whoosh pie in the face.
See, just thinking about this makes me laugh. But maybe that’s why I’m a Sacramento real estate agent who has survived and thrived all of these decades. If you gravitate toward goofy stuff, you’ll probably enjoy Anchorman 2.
Not Every Person in Sacramento Has a Sense of Humor
The subject of monkeys came up this morning during a conversation with my husband. Well, actually he brought up the subject of monkeys, which made me ask if knows that Germany seized Justin Bieber’s monkey. I only mention Justin Bieber because a) I spotted a photo of his tiny capuchin monkey in the paper and b) who likes Justin Bieber? My husband says Justin Bieber is like Hamburger Helper. Just add pre-teens, stir and voila: instant concert sensation!
You can probably see why my husband and I get along so well. We make each other laugh. I try to bring a little humor to my client’s lives as well. Sacramento real estate is a subject many of us can chuckle about. I believe everybody has room in his or her daily routine to laugh now and then. Plus, laughter relieves stress, and it makes you feel better about the world and your place in it. Even the most horrible situation, like, say, a short sale, can be made a bit more plausible if you can find a humorous aspect to it.
Every once in a while, I run across a person who doesn’t seem to possess a sense of humor. This means I have to be careful what I say and realize if my jokes fall flat, that the jokes are probably not appreciated and, in fact, could be inappropriate for the situation. A Sacramento real estate agent has a duty to be professional. Take a former client whom I asked to appear in a photograph with me. When I asked if he minded if a reporter from the newspaper shot his photo as we listed his home, he was all for the publicity. He added: I’ll remember to shave.
I wrote back: And pants, don’t forget to wear pants.
Well, he didn’t see the humor in that. That’s probably because I didn’t catch the fact that he wasn’t trying to be funny when he said I’ll remember to shave. I thought he was joking with me. He wasn’t joking. He was being serious. He actually meant that he might have to leave himself a note because it’s possible he would forget. Maybe he had to tie a string around his finger before bedtime? Because, maybe he doesn’t look in the mirror in the morning, or maybe he doesn’t stroke his face to discover something weird is growing there. Perhaps he is fearful that an electric razor will suddenly jump from his chin and race across the top of his head? I have no idea how he struggles with this.
You just don’t know about people. That’s why it’s good to take stock upfront and make sure a person enjoys your sense of humor before you lay it on them.
Photo: by Van Newland at Pecan Street Fair, Austin 2013
