Sit back and grimace, and don't dare laugh. Laughing is not good for you when it comes at the expense of others in pain - not.


To add something to the pain conversation, I once made a few builders laugh uncontrollably when I stepped backwards onto a section of new roof where some bright spark had laid a sheet of tar paper (not plywood) straight over a section of exposed beams.

I still wince as I remember dropping like a stone and landing with all my weight, nuts first, onto a beam. I don't mind admitting I was not happy, suspended on my crotch with a look of total surprise, then horror on my face. It took all the wind out me, and to say my eyes were watering and stomach was churning would be an understatement.

It would also be understating the truth to say that my colleagues were laughing politely. They were laughing till they were almost sick.

It must be a bloke thing, laughing not in glee, but in relief that it isn't you with your balls in your throat?

Needless to say, I hobbled down the ladder and spent half an hour sitting in a van feeling very sorry for myself. My boss, a true clown, stopped by to see how I was doing, handed me a business card and quipped. "Sadie will check you out and make sure it's all still working properly."

I'm sure Madam would have done a thorough inspection, but that is pure conjecture on my part. I wasn't being paid enough to afford that sort of private health care.