It is fun to be around people who are humorous. Right?

Wrong. “Probably” is the right answer. It all depends on what kind of humor we are talking about. Humor when not used right can simply hurt someone or make them uncomfortable.

Since humor is typically related to people, the fundamental question to always ask is:

(Question courtesy: Michael Allosso)

The quick outcome of bad humor is alienation. Someone who is offended by your humor may retaliate in which case you can apologize and may be settle that matter. Alternately, the person may “write you off” and ignore you and worse he or she may not tell you that they are “ignoring” you. What is the loss for you? You would never know? Bad humor is an easy way to take a step towards losing your friends.

With that in mind, here are some basic rules to remember:

So what is an easy way out? The safest option I can think of is to develop an ability to laugh at yourself. We all need to take our work seriously but never take ourselves seriously.