Humour me, Ladies

If only this Fair Lady had a sense of humour...

I pity Mr Teo CHeng Wee. He publishes to the whole world on Valentine's day his desire to date a girl with a sense of humour and he ends up being ribbed endlessly by his collegues. "You won't need sex to entice this fellow, just make him laugh." They said. (Yeah, it's a pretty funny joke... and I guffawed when I saw it. But it sure must hurt him, right?)

I could ponder over this fascination people have over others' love lives. I could say how columns such as his pander to peoples' semi-voyueristic needs. I could even discuss how sometimes, due to the fault of either the writer or the reader, the impact created is far different from the intent. But I'm feeling dangerous. I'd discuss why I also like girls with a sense of humour. (And please, if you wanna comment that I don't need sex to entice me, go ahead. I don't laugh at recycled jokes.)

Mr Teo clarified that ultimately, the girl has to be normal. Meaning, she must not be the type who tortures kittens. Or chihuahuas for that matter. However, the gist of his column was that all other things being normal, sense of humour will be the winning criteria, because a girl that manages to laugh at herself and look at life at a light-hearted way is bound to be a happy girl, and a happy girl is just one of the things in the equation for a happy relationship.

I'll agree with Mr Teo. Of course there are a hundred and one other things that makes a girl attractive, from her physical attributes, to her character and how she lives life. But isn't sense of humour an oh-so-desirable extra? Mr Teo mentioned in his column that while guys always seem to be having a great time making a fool of themselves in the name of humour, the ladies will be sniggering along but never joining in cos it goes against the sweet, demure image ladies are expected to have.

Really? Sure, sweet and demure lie pretty high on my list of desirable qualities, but I think a lady who can get down with the boys and land a perfect punchline adds a tinge of fun to her, and wouldn't we all like to have fun friends? Even better if her punchline is witty and puts some guys down. We're not good at EVERYTHING, boys.

Ultimately, what a guy desires in a girl varies from person to person, but I'm with Mr Teo when he says that he prefers girls with a sense of humour. -Jimmy