In the past year, it seems that the most popular trend in web humor is quoting the stupidity—and hilarity—of other people. It all started with “Texts From Last Night” (textsfromlastnight.com), where one can read some of the funniest texts (usually sent while intoxicated) ever sent. I’ll be honest—I never got into that website. In fact, it depresses me, since the texts present so many unfortunate situations. So, it is no surprise that I had a bad impression of humor sites. After all, they’re supposed to be funny (hence the word “humor”), not depressing!
Recently, my perspective changed. As I was “stumbling” on StumbleUpon, I came across “Not Always Right” (notalwaysright.com), a site similar to “Texts From Last Night,” except people submit the funny things they hear customers say. Needless to say, I read it every night now! So you can imagine my excitement when its sister sites, “Not Always Romantic” (notalwaysromantic.com) and “Not Always Related” (notalwaysrelated.com), launched this summer. Their concepts are similar to that of “Not Always Right,” but “Not Always Romantic” features funny mishaps between couples and “Not Always Related” is full of embarrassing family stories.
My favorite site yet is When Parents Text (whenparentstext.com), though. Like “Texts From Last Night,” it is in text-message format, but the texts are conversations that people have with their parents and grandparents—most of whom are not too tech-savvy. All of the conversations featured are funny in a “these parents don’t understand how to text” way, but it is clear that they are all submitted with love. In many instances, the parents know about the site and joke about it with their kids! I’ve shown it to my mom, and she laughs knowing that her texts are just like many of the ones published.
Yes, all of these websites are making fun of people, but it is always in a friendly way (unless you’re on “Not Always Right,” in which case the customers sometimes deserve the scrutiny). While reading this kind of humor helps me relax, it also reminds me of an important life lesson: It’s okay to laugh at yourself (and your close friends and family)!