Sometimes you have to think.

Years ago when I was still in college I had come home for the weekend to see my family. My brother, who was in high school, and I went out for Chinese food. So we are sitting there eating when I notice that someone had painted in pretty big writing some sort of message on the back wall.

I stare intently for a while, but I can’t figure out what it means.

Finally, my brother says, “What are you doing?”

And I ask him, “What is nomsg?”

He says, “What?”

I repeat it again and motion for him to turn around and look at the wall.

Well here is where I might want to point out that my brother and I laugh a lot—especially at other people. We’re not cruel per se, but we do bust a gut at the expense of other people—although for the most part we try to do it as politely as possible. Yea ok that’s not true. If we know you—we’re just going to laugh.

So he turns back around to me with his entire head already shaking from laughter, his face beet red and trying desperately to speak through the tiny gaps of hilarity is what sounds something like, “Nomsg! Nomsg!”

“Yea, what is it?” I ask laughing a little too because something is obviously funny enough to have sent him in to that laugh of silence where concentration is vital to the bladder control.

So he takes a deep breath and looks at me with such happiness and bliss as though I had just handed him a priceless treasure. “It says, No M-S-G.”
TAAAAA-DAAAAA

Wow, what an enlightening moment for me.

No MSG.

Well it does make sense seeing as how we’re in a Chinese restaurant. So now sure I’m a bit embarrassed, I mean really that has to define brain fart. But like I said we laugh at people—most importantly though we laugh at ourselves and soon I too was concentrating very hard on not further embarrassing myself by peeing all over the red vinyl booth.

As the laughter waned a bit, my brother explained that even better than my complete lapse of intelligence was my body language as I tried so diligently to decipher this mysterious code upon the wall. He said I looked like a dog when they tilt their head a little bit as if to better understand—or get a different perspective.

And that is it isn’t it? I was trying to get a different perspective. Trying to look at things in a different way and see if then maybe it would make more sense. Luckily for me my brother was there to shove that perspective—or better yet, incredibly obvious answer in my face. All the while enjoying himself so much more as we both realized that I would never ever live that moment down.

So sure I’m kind of throwing myself under the dork bus here by sharing the story but I learn a little bit about perspective when I think back on it. Perspective and a crap load of laughter—now that’s my kinda therapy.