Unintentional humor

Another one of those humorous juxtaposition photos of mine. I saw this in the supermarket the other day. I pointed out the humor in it to the lady standing next to me in the check-out line. She said she never would have noticed. Do you see what's funny about this picture? I seem to have a knack for this. Without even looking for it, I see all over the place funny incongruities between things that are haphazardly (or sometimes intentionally) placed together. Notice the label on the rack that this booklet was placed in: "Not for Adults". (Silly wabbit! Low-Calorie Dieting is for kids! Now wait a minute...that means adults are no dummies!)

I actually didn't have my camera with me when I first saw this, so I came back the next day to get the photo. Fortunately this checkout stand was closed when I came back, so I wasn't making a nuisance of myself holding up the line. Amusingly, by the time I came back, they had changed the booklets that were in the rack. The original ones I'd seen were just as funny in the context, something like "Walking for Fitness."

Another thing I find amusing about this is that we're not used to seeing "Not for Adults" on things in the tabloids section of a supermarket checkout stand. Usually it's the other way around: the Playboys and such which are "For Adults Only" -- though fortunately I think the public outcry for common decency has gotten the worst offenders moved away from where kids can see them.

There is so much to chuckle and smile at out there, if you're attentive to it. I think my attempts at living a somewhat contemplative life have made me more aware of my surroundings and have helped me to notice things like this. Being a photographer is part of that. Having the sense of humor to enjoy such things is also key. I'm not sure how I developed that. I think it was part of the heritage my parents gave me.