"This will be funny soon"

The above phrase is of special importance in my life. It occasionally provides a small amount of comfort in situations that are otherwise:

• uncomfortable
• frustrating
• mortifying
• stressful
• demoralizing
• pitiful
• some combination of the above

These types of situations arise with alarming frequency in my life and I've learned to use "This will be funny soon" (hereafter referred to simply as TWBFS) as a buffer of sorts against the cruelties of life. Instead of sobbing uncontrollably and bashing my head against the nearest wall (behaviors which, I think we can agree, could be classified as 'maladaptive'), I just silently repeat my little mantra to myself or say it aloud to those around me and, although it doesn't immediately transform the situation into a knee-slapper, it usually lightens the mood. At least it lightens my mood; it's entirely possible that TWBFS has the opposite effect on those around me.

The reason today's post opens with an explanation of TWBFS is that I had to make use of the phrase earlier today and I got to thinking that maybe my vidlings could benefit from learning this technique. You know. In case any of you accidentally book a flight to Berlin at six o'clock in the morning instead of six o'clock at night.

I'm not actually sure how I managed to do it, but I suppose I shouldn't be surprised at this point. This is the kid who walked into the wrong house one day after school. This is the kid who tried to get out of the car before unbuckling himself. The kid who recently left his cell phone in a taxi from Jerez. And left his hat in a restaurant in Barcelona. I am, in a word, incompetent.

Anyway, now I have to pack up and leave a day earlier, sleep in the Málaga airport overnight, and spend most of Wednesday alone in Berlin. Great. Fantastic. I also tried to plan this trip around my Wednesday morning class, but my idiocy means I'll be missing it yet again. So I got that going for me. Which is nice.

Even as I write this, the temptation to use my head to put holes in my wall is overwhelming. This will be funny soon. Just not yet.