The fact that something will be funny later brings me so much comfort. I prefer to laugh about something rather than punch a hole in the wall. 

I’ve lost count of how many times something has happened to me, around me, or because of me that was insanely frustrating—or maybe even embarrassing or even sad. And yet, in many of those moments, I knew in the back of my mind, without a single doubt, that in a day or so it would be so funny. It’s a real saving grace.

Story time…

I think it’s a rule, more spoken than unspoken, that humans and printers are mortal enemies. My roommate and I got a printer about four months ago, and only just set it up. Well, actually it was her dad who got it to work (thank you sir).

I remember when we first got that printer. It was new in the box, but missing the power cable. Naturally, we wanted to call customer service about it. 

My roommate and I were sitting on the floor with the printer between us. I had the website open on my computer. I clicked the “click here to contact customer service” button. My roommate read the printer’s ID number to me and I typed it in. It took me to a different page, asking for the same info. I typed it again. It took me to the first page with the “click here to contact customer service” button. I clicked it again. It asked for the printer info. I typed it in again. The cycle repeated.

After a few tries, I finally poked around the website for a different way to contact customer service. I found it. I clicked it. It took me to a whole different website by the same company, asking for my printer info and a series of questions as to why on earth I would try to contact their elusive customer service team. I typed it all in…

…It took me back to that first website page on the first website with the “click here to contact customer service button.” 

I took a deeeeeeep breath.  I clicked the button. It asked for my printer information. Again. I typed it in. Again. The cycle started, again. I swear that we sat on that floor for a whole 45 minutes, going in a single circle, losing our freaking minds. 

I turned to my roommate. I was laughing, but I’d classify it as manic. Definitely manic. I remember saying something like “I may be laughing right now, but that’s because I don’t know what else to do.” 

I was pissed off. I hate printers. Was there even a “customer service” to be reached or was I just another naive explorer losing her mind in search of El Dorado? Was this my Joker origin story?

But even though I could feel my face was hot with rage, I knew something for a fact in the back of my mind. Something irrefutable. And so I turned to my roommate, and told her: “I’d be crying with frustration right now, were it not for the fact that in twenty-four hours this is going to be so funny.” 

And you know what? I was so right.

So keep laughing.

Keep that perspective. Sometimes, even the simple knowledge that something will be funny in a day or two is enough to keep you sane. Especially when it comes to the little things.

At the end of the day…it was just a printer.

And now, instead of me wanting to strangle an HP exec with the replacement power cord I had to order by myself with no certainty that it would even work, I have a fond memory of my roommate and I losing our minds in the middle of our apartment, knowing that we’d be laughing for real about the whole situation in a day.

And isn’t that wonderful?

You know what else will be funny later?

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