Who knows what inspires our muse? Many times, there is no rhyme or reason. I hadn’t planned on writing a post today, yet here I am. The idea may have germinated yesterday when I was perusing birthday cards. After opening the tenth card in a row, involving farting, belching, drinking, and hot women, I concluded: Some of these cards are stupid. Do people get paid to write this drivel?
While lamenting the numerous idiotic greeting cards that pass someone’s low-quality control standards, there are also hidden gems.
Fortunately, plenty of creative and hilarious cards and advertisements exist if one looks far enough. I was commenting on my blogging friend Beth’s post yesterday. Check her site out here: (https://ididnthavemyglasseson.com/) when I thought of the entertaining series of ads that Subaru put out using dogs. As a canine lover and fan of humor, these writers hit a grand slam with this series of commercials. They’re well worth the six minutes if you haven’t seen them.
I may not be an expert on life, but I know one thing: It’s always better to see the humor in something than get angry. Some people always choose to be angry, and others, like me, thrive on laughter. There is no better antidote than sharing the mental health benefits of laughter with a friend.
Pete Springer 
Amazing blog post Pete. I too am a man who loves to laugh, I find it easy to navigate life’s challenges when you smile no matter how bad the situation is because nothing lasts neither pain or pleasure.
Being angry is not good because you will not be approachable hence smiling ensures others feel comfy around you. Laughter is indeed the best medicine 😁💯
Cheers to more laughter🔥😁
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It seems we may need a few hours or a day to get over some aggravating situation, but in the end being able to let it go with laughter is a far healthier approach. One of the ones that I can laugh about now (but not at the time) is my cable company. I called to complain about a customer service issue but couldn’t find anywhere on their website about who to write to. I called their telephone number and the technician spent fifteen minutes trying to help me. She finally left me on hold to speak to her supervisor. She came back a few minutes later and sheepishly said, “I’m sorry, sir, but I don’t think we have a customer service department.” 🤣🤣🤣 That’s one way to avoid complaints.
Thanks for reading, Mthobisi. I know I’ve seen you around on some of the same blogs we both follow.
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A great post, Pete. I’m with you on those Subaru commercials. They’re advertising department is right on the dot when it comes to knowing their customers. And laughter/humor is the best. I feel instantly lighter and happier when something makes me blurt out a laugh. Thanks for the fun. 😀
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The creativity that goes into many commercials is admirable. If they spend that amount of money, the ads need to be spot-on. Humor is always a good way to go because people remember that. I feel the stress go right out of my body when I’m laughing with family and friends.
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🙂
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Terrific post, Pete! I’m with you completely on the benefits of laughter vs anger and pessimism.. I’m lucky to be surrounded by friends and family who all have a sense of fun. I had cataract surgery recently and the following day the garden was full of them dressed as pirates with matching eye patches. I hadn’t seen the car adds before and loved them. The first one with the poodle made me laugh out loud. I had no idea why the dogs were barking in that one with the truck – until I read here that it was the mail van. Ours are always red! Happiness and hugs!
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One of the guys in my writer’s group had cataract surgery in the past six months (both eyes). One eye seemed to take longer to recover from them than the other, but he’s doing great now. At this stage of the game, it’s all about quality of life for us, isn’t it?
Your comment about the red postal carrier trucks just brought back a memory from long ago. I used to be friends with two brothers who lived next door to me growing up. Their dog was affectionate and playful with everyone until I donned my red newspaper carrier bag. (My first paying job was as someone who delivered the newspaper to folks.) Suddenly, he saw me as a threat and even bit me once—not exactly funny but very curious behavior.
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Dogs, like elephants, never forget!
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Even the Bible agrees with you A cheerful disposition is good for your health;
gloom and doom leave you bone-tired. Proverbs 17:22
I look for silly (not fart-y) cards for my brother-in-law Bill, now age 75. This year’s edition: a card that was printed to open on the left side, not the right side, as usual. The greeting: “You can’t teach an old dog new tricks, but you can trick an old dog.” Anyway, hubby and I thought it was funny.
As you can see, I’m behind on blog visits. Sorry!
This week I made the wise decision to blog twice monthly instead of weekly. After 10+ years blogging, I’m realizing my limits. 😀
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No explanations needed. I think you’ve earned the right to blog as often as you’d like. I’ve only been writing a post once a month the past few months, and that gives me more time to write. Eventually, I’ll have something to show for it. The process is time-consuming, but I love the creative challenge of story writing.
By the way, I finished My Checkered Life last night and left my review today. I thought you encapsulated the highs and challenges of married life quite well. It was an honest and heartfelt account. It was fun to get to know young Cliff and Marian. I’m always happy when any of my writing friends and acquaintances get to the finish line. Well done, Marian!
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Love the dog videos. I enjoy looking for cards in our local card shop, mainly the funny ones, then I think I must not leave without buying a card having had some free entertainment.
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Perhaps England’s cards are better than ours. I eventually find something that’s passable, but I often leave thinking the same thing, “I could do a much better job with greeting cards than this garbage.” On the other hand, I find many television commercials to be quite creative. Granted, I’m sure they have a much bigger expense account. Greeting cards keep recycling the same tired themes. When I choose to go the funny route, I want a greeting card to actually be humorous.
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I often see cartoons on Facebook that I have bought as cards and wonder if the cartoonist gets much credit.
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Totally agree Pete, without laughter the world does not seem to make much sense and I could watch the Suburu Dog videos all day.. I have on speed dial.. terrific post xx
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I think it would fit nicely in the humor section of your blog. You and your regular contributors always have a great variety of humor.
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Thanks Pete..hugsx
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Excellent post Pete. Absolutely, humor is the best medicine. And the Subaru video is too cute. I’d seen a few of them before, but I enjoyed seeing others I missed as well. 🙂
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I always appreciate your humor, Debby. Lots of the stuff you post on Facebook and on Sally’s blog makes me laugh. We have very similar senses of humor.
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Thanks for that compliment Pete. I agree, and values. 🙂
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I loved those dog ads – being in Australia, I hadn’t seen them. I agree with you, Pete – there’s seems to be a hugs push to be offended by all sorts of humour at the moment, it’s really quite disturbing. John Cleese is being asked to make all sorts of changes for the stage version of “Life of Brian.” Humour is one of the most important things that sustains us as humans. Hugs, Toni
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There’s nothing better than well-timed and well-placed humor. My favorite kind points out some of the funny parts of human nature (such as the dog commercials) rather than taking personal mean jabs at specific people. I find that mean rather than funny.
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So true, Pete
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Never spoke a truer word Pete!
Haven’t had these Subaru ads here in the UK and I think they are hilarious, thanks so much for including, I’ll be sending them on to friends and family.
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I’m a huge dog-lover and I like to laugh, so those commercials are right in my sweet spot. Since advertisers are spending tons of money of ads, it’s no wonder that they have to be so creative.
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So true, Pete. So much better to laugh than to cry.
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We had one of those moments earlier today because we were laughing at all our ailments. Who knew that sleeping could be so dangerous? We’re the poster children for the walking wounded.😊
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You sort one ailment out, and then another one appears like magic!
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So true! One of our regular jokes is to remember to pick up more duct tape since it feels like that’s what is holding our fragile bodies together these days. 😎
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Keep it all moving, Pete.
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Once upon a time I sold greeting cards and I am sorry to say that someone does get paid to write them. Considering what some card said [both sappy and/or rude] I couldn’t wrap my head around that either. I like that Subaru commercial. Make me smile, and I get interested.
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Some cards are funny, but many recycle the same dumb themes. It must be tricky finding a balance of humor vs. sentimentality. We, men, can be dolts, but we don’t all sit around drinking beer and belching/farting all day long.🤣
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I agree, Pete. It’s better to be an optimist than a pessimist.
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It truly is a mindset. I’ve been around negative people who never seem happy unless they’re complaining.
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I call them Cancers, lol. I have three in my family, born June-July and they all have the same negative attitude.
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Yes, laughter is absolutely the best medicine-still! Did you ever have your elementary kids lie down on the floor, with each head resting on a belly (like a zig-zag) and start laughing? The laughter is contagious. Thank you to Beth (love her blog.). The Subaru video is terrific! Every clip speaks to laughter and family.
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No, but that sounds like fun. When it came up to dress-up days, I loved taking part and being silly with my kids. We used to have something called Backwards Day at school where we we did things the opposite. I wore my tidy whities over my dress pants that day—Pete “No Shame” Springer. 😉
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That is hilarious! See, that’s how children grow to love and trust their teachers.
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I had never seen those ads and I loved that you shared them. I laughed out loud with the whole car barking at the mail truck. Thanks. Do you remember years ago Norm Cousins writing a book about healing his ailment with laughter?
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I’m glad you enjoyed the commercials. Writers continue to get more creative all the time with ads. Using humors in ads makes them more memorable as long as people associate the product with the laughs.
I never read Norman Cousins’s book, but I recall hearing that wisdom.
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When I find something to laugh about, my day is instantly better. Thanks for this post, Pete.
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Right there with you, Dan. A day without laughter doesn’t feel complete. Whether it’s chatting on the phone, sharing an adult beverage with a friend, hanging with my wife at home, or getting together with my buddies, I like to laugh.
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Speaking of an adult beverage, albeit a virtual one, and perhaps a few laughs, would you like to join me (David and Cheryl) at the bar on Saturday the 27th? If you’re interested, shoot me an email at nofacilities@gmail.com – It’s an easy process, I’ll send you some questions and we’ll go from there.
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Sure, I’d be grateful for the opportunity.
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I tend to be a gaffaw-er. Just sayin’…
🙂
Keep on laughing, Pete!
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You’re my kind of people, Laura. 😊 I always like a good guffaw.
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How very well said, Pete. The joy of laughter is a gift to us all. As Charles Dickens wrote in A Christmas Carol – “There is nothing in the world so irresistibly contagious as laughter and good humour.”
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This makes me think of those friends we know not to sit by at stuffy affairs for fear we might burst out laughing at an inappropriate time. I can be serious, but life is too funny not to laugh
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I am always surprised by people who seem to have no sense of humor. But even more interesting is the different senses of humor. Both my parents had a good sense of humor but totally different from the ones my brother Kevin and I had. And like you mentioned to Audrey, I rarely found Joan Rivers or Don Rickles funny and that surprised people because I was quick to laugh at comics who were edgy or crossed other lines.
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I know comedians are paid entertainers and people are expecting some of that, but I think there is a line that they shouldn’t cross. Personal attacks cross that line for me. There’s humor and then there’s outright mean.
For what it’s worth, I love your sense of humor, Geoff.
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And I like that you have a funny bone and not a mean bone in your body!
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A fantastic post, Pete. I definitely prefer laughter over anger any day. I’ve even heard stories where laughter cured diseases. Thank you for sharing!
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We laugh when things are funny and even when things are so bad they’re absurd. Somehow, that make things less painful.
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Great post, Pete:) I much prefer laughter over snger any day.
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Thank you, Denise. Congratulations on your successful book tour.
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I agree, humour is necessary for a happy life. If you look at those miserable people around, it is because they don’t laugh at things that are funny, they complain. I love to laugh and share funny stories. Thanks for this compilation of commercials. I had seen some of them but not all, so I had a good laugh to start my day, Pete.
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I’m with you, Carla. Surround yourself with joyous people who know to have fun and like to laugh. Each of us has our share of funny stories to bring to the table.
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My wife enjoys laughing at me, mostly because of the effects of old age. I give her the best laughs she has all year. I don’t mind being the cause of her merriment though, as it is preferable to arguments. 🙂
Best wishes, Pete.
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Our joke is we need to pick up some more duct tape to keep all the broken-down boy parts in tact. I much prefer going through life seeing the funny side of things rather than fixating on the negative. Always good to hear from you, Pete.
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Humor is a great balm to the soul. I find the best laughter is when I can laugh at myself. Great post, my friend!
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Yes, poking fun at myself is a full-time job.😊 Life is much easier when we don’t take ourselves too seriously.
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I’m not a fan of stand-up comics, especially the loud and vulgar types. Bob Newhart was pretty good, though. When I’m feeling crummy, I sometimes turn to my collection of Calvin and Hobbes cartoon books. They never fail to produce laughs.
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Likewise. I never found Joan Rivers or Don Rickles funny. When a comic pokes fun at themselves or the idiosyncrasies of people in general, it has a whole different feel to it.
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I love the dog tested commercials! I really laughed when they all barked at the postman truck 🙂
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Creative ideas and writing. That would have been fun to work on. Just the right combination of funny dog and people behaviors.
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I was laughing out loud at the “Dog Tested” commercials. You know, a belly laugh feels really good!
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I’d seen most of those, but there were some new ones for me that were pretty hysterical. I recall attending a 50-year anniversary celebration and one of the couples “secrets” was to always share laughs together each day.
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A wise couple indeed. Laughing together is a bonding experience like no other.
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Yes, kindred spirit here! Laughter smooths out the speed bumps in life! 😊
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I always like your weekly post about odd facts, Carolyn. You’ve given me quite a few laughs with that series.
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Glad to hear it! They make me laugh too. And just when I think that I found the oddest fact, I get proven wrong by anothrr one. LOL!
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I email Pete a humorous meme every day. I started posting them on a website I create to archive past memes at DailyHumor.Online you can link to it at the following URL and be sure to bookmark it and check in daily.
https://dailyhumor.online/
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Thanks for the daily chuckles, Lindy. One of my favorites was the one about determining whether you’re old or young by seeing the way people react when you fall. Have you considered adding a place to comment on the memes?
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I probably need to mine your blogging experience to learn how to do that. Yours is much more feature rich.
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So true. I was laughing hard at a Mother’s Day card in the drugstore last week when someone started laughing at me. She ended up buying the card I was laughing at once I shared it with her. I however didn’t buy it because I knew my mother wouldn’t get it or think it was funny.
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Great story, Jenn! Isn’t it interesting that much like food we all have different tastes in humor? My wife and I have noticed that our sense of humors are very much aligned. Sometimes we’re the only two people laughing in a movie theater. At other times, we look at each other, and wonder why people are laughing uproariously to something we think isn’t funny. To each their own.
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I know exactly what you mean. Just one of the things that makes humans so interesting
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I couldn’t agree with you more, Pete. Humor is the best medicine. The dog video is crazy good and the Mr Rogers card is a hoot! Thanks for sharing some chuckles!
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If I were to make a list of my ten best friends, the one common denominator for them is a great sense of humor. I suspect that I’m not different from most people in that I gravitate toward people who like to laugh.
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Not sure if a dog tested car is proof of reliability but they were clever. Much better than the emu commercials that are saturating my air time lately.
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Yes, while the commercials are cute, I find it fascinating that someone would buy a vehicle based on these ads. Some marketing genius has obviously studied this or they wouldn’t fork out the money.
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I love these so much and thanks for sharing them. The physical act of laughing somehow transforms and heals us. Thanks for the shoutout)
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It’s great therapy, especially when shared with others. I’ll admit I get pleasure simply by having other people in my critique group chuckle aloud when reading my work in progress.
I always enjoy your keen eye and knack of noticing things that most people fail to do.
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i agree with that and thank you so much –
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I completely agree: life is always better when you can see the humour in a situation. I found some of those ads appealed more to me than others. A particular favourite was the hair salon one, and any parent must surely recognise that last one!
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I admire the ingenuity and creativity of things like these commercials even though they’re not going to make me rush out and buy a Subaru. I found the one where the dog was trying to parallel park amusing.
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In my first career – in marketing, before I moved into healthcare – I worked closely with our ad agencies and had great fun with the creativity they brought to their work. We had a tradition that for our annual Christmas lunch they would play us a show reel of ads they had created for other clients, and then the ones that were rejected. These were usually even funnier 😊
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Hopefully, Hafod will come out with a new batch of commercials in the years to come.
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We can but hope!
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I too love the Subaru ads; makes me want to buy one of their cars just because of them! As for the cards, about half the cards I buy for ANY occasion are blanks with an appealing cover–I believe I can write a better message than most. The others, I just add my own enhancements.
BTW: your added value in this post is the answer to a question I have about reposting items from other’s sites. I suspect the link plus a little more could do the trick for me.
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Great thought about the cards. Look for the blank ones with great photos. Maybe, you’ve found your next writing gig, John. 😊
I wouldn’t count on me as far as knowing the legalities of reposting. Copyright infringement is real, so I always try to give credit whenever possible. I’ve read that free sites such as Pixabay and Pexels allow you to do this as long as you give credit to the photographer.
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My understanding is that those two photo sites don’t even require that–BUT I generally do not from a legal perspective but thank you.
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I have lived my life with the code of humor. Super post, Pete.
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Humor abounds on your site each week between your top 10 lists, dog adventures, and humorous writing. Keep up the good work, John.
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Nice of you to say, Pete. Thanks
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Well said, Pete, humour always makes things better.
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It certainly relieves my stress level. I like natural instead of forced humor. I’ve never been a big fan of crass stand-up comedy.
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I am the same 🌺
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Some of the memes out there are laugh out loud. They do help to keep things in perspective.
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Yes, who knew memes would become a thing when we were kids?
I don’t watch much television but I always find the Flo Geico commercials hysterical.
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I love your post, Pete. Full disclosure, I’m a long-term Subaru owner, so I especially love the video. Thank you for the smiles and the chuckles — as well, the reminders of the importance of laughter. ❤️
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Historically, I think television commercials have been quite good; now if we could just do something about those dumb greeting cards.
A Subaru testimonial—the company should be calling you any day for an Infomercial. 😊
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Oh…the commercials were a delight! I especially loved the ‘cat valet’…and the sweet first day of school…so poignant and fun – all of them! Thanks, Pete! 🥰
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My favorite was Siri in the car responding to each of the barkers. My phone is synced to my phone and occasionally I’ll brush a button and it will say, “Please say a command.” Does ‘shut up’ count? 🤣
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LOL! Yes — the “St. Barts/Barks” giggle was a good one! We can all relate! Thanks, Pete! 😘
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Those dog commercials are great! I love to laugh and love folks who laugh. My dad always had us laughing, even in bad times. My hubby has a wonderful dry British sense of humour and can get me laughing every time. A great post!
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My wife and I manage to find something to laugh about together each day. That’s a great sign of any quality marriage or friendship. The idiosyncrasies of human nature are something that never fails to get me laughing.
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Nothing like a bit of Comic Relief to make everything better, that’s for sure. Thanks for the reminder, Pete, and here’s to more laughs, fewer tears, and much, much less anger in the world. 😊
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We absolutely need more laughter and less anger in our lives. If I were a fairy princess (God, what an image!🤣) and could take one more thing away, it would be all the judgmental people in the world, telling others how they should live their lives.
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Nicely said, Pete. People have different kinds of humor and they laugh in different doses. Some people easily laugh – I envy them. I smile a lot but am not a laugher. A snicker is about as good as it gets! 🙂
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I know that several studies have been done that show the benefits of laughing—physically, emotionally, etc. I can’t tell you how many times laughter has gotten me out of a funk.
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