Hello.

My name is Connie Kinsey.

Enough with bitchin’ and moanin’.

Prepare to laugh.

I am often funny without intending to be.  However, with that said, I do have a goofy streak and I’d much rather laugh than the alternative.  I have always infused humor into everything I do – it’s my interface with the world, but I’ve noticed something the past few years:  I have been whining far too much.  I blame the Great Pandemic of 2020 and COVID.  Things have been bad.  And then they got worse.  And then they got dire.

Enough.  Just enough.  Whining is easy.   Any toddler can do it.

The past couple of weeks at work I have done little but try to wrangle deserved customer assistance from unwilling and incompetent vendors.  I have had to resort to unleashing my Inner bitch on the unsuspecting.  It’s not pretty and I’m not proud of it.  But I do have to admit it is effective.  When I go into Raging Bitch Mode, I’m told I’m terrifying.  I refer to it as “my hair is on fire.”  I usually get what I want when I go nuclear.

I am, honestly, slow to anger for the most part. I don’t do road rage.   I don’t lose my temper with shop clerks.  I don’t make rude gestures involving fingers.   It takes repeated affronts to unleash The Bitch unless the afront is racism, abuse, or some other egregious behavior.  Or calling me a liar or treating me as if I’m incompetent.  Those two are triggers, I will admit.  And I will knee-jerk.

But I am not here to whine about the weeks I’ve had with unruly machines.

I am here to reclaim my sense of humor.

I have a great one.  I can laugh at myself, and I can laugh with you.  I do try to make sure we’re all laughing.  I despise unsolicited criticism and laughing at the unsuspecting unless we’re talking about kids for the latter.  Kids are often funny without trying to be.  Their very existence makes me laugh. 

My default reaction is to laugh.  I used to laugh out of nervousness.  If I didn’t know what to say or do, I’d laugh, make a joke of it.  Turn my insecurity into shared humor.  I’m not sure that’s healthy, but I’m now more confident and I don’t do that any longer.  My laugh is almost always genuine.  I can find humor in the most unexpected of situations — funerals, deathbeds, psychiatric wards, airports, service departments, and doctor’s offices.  My divorce hearing was one big laugh fest – all of us cracking jokes and carrying on. I can laugh anywhere given even a modicum of opportunity.

I hereby reclaim my birthright to laugh.  To laugh often, sincerely, and kindly.  I will work to reduce my whining to a minimum and bring humor to every situation I can. 

To laugh is to release so many good hormones in the body, one can’t but help to feel better for some time afterward.  Only hugs from a loved one rival laughter for making folks feel better.

So.  Be forewarned! 

My name is Connie Kinsey.

Enough with bitchin’ and moanin’.

Prepare to laugh.