America's Most Stressful Videos

I've never been a fan of America's Funniest Videos.  Even from the time I was a child, I could never stand to watch for one main reason - there's nothing funny to me about people getting hurt (which seems, to me, to be the main theme of the show).  Keep in mind, I was the child in the nursery who cried when the other kids did, just because it hurt my feelings that they were so upset (sensitive much?).  So there's never been anything funny to me about people falling down stairs, out of hammocks, through windows...  running into chairs, poles, other people... brides' hair catching on fire, people passing out, children knocking each other down...  You get my point, right?

And here's where Nathan and I differ.  He loves the show.  In fact, we TiVo it so he doesn't miss an episode, and he usually watches multiple shows in one sitting.  There's little on there that bugs him, whether people are hurting themselves or not.  His favorite videos, however, aren't the falling ones, or the pet antics (which even I find tolerable).  He loves the videos when people get scared (bonus laughs if any man screams like a girl in the process).  And I can always tell when he's been watching it quite a bit because he thinks it's really funny to try to scare me (possibly because I make jazz hands when I'm frightened).  For example, last night when I was shampooing my hair in the shower, deep in thought, eyes closed, and suddenly felt a hand on my back.  I probably don't need to tell you how startled I was, how loudly I shrieked, or the fact that it's a miracle I didn't land flat on my back... 

All that to say, it used to drive me crazy that Nate would watch AFV.  I mean, how could he, when I despise it so intensely?  And then I started to listen to him watch it from the other room, and I realized that I was laughing just as hard at him getting a kick out of it as he was laughing watching it.  And then I started sitting next to him while he watched it, and reading a book, or playing a game on my phone.  It was even funnier to listen to him crack up in close proximity.  And then I started actually watching it with him, just to see what made him laugh the hardest.  And I have to tell you, I still don't love AFV, but there's nothing that makes me happier than listening to Nate laugh - it's completely contagious, and one of the first things that I fell in love with when we met. So anything that tickles him that much has to be at least okay with me.

Besides, to add to the hilarity, we both sat around watching it last night in our best white trash tee shirts with the sleeves cut off.  Bet you'd pay a lot of money for a photo of that, right?  Keep in mind, I'll deny it ever happened right after this...