Should I have laughed at this?

Going back a few years to the Ipswich murders ,things were going a little
slower than The Suffolk Police Force had hoped
As The Met Police had now been drafted in ,The Suffolk boys decided to run a
feature on Look East to prove to The Met that they were really on the case and
also provide themselves with some excellent PR to immediate neighbours of Steven
Wright
Pretty soon they located a Mrs Tollington an elderly lady who lived in the same street as Wright
An officer asked Mrs Tollington -- Mrs Tollington you only live a couple of
doors from Steven Wright, now in the circumstances is there anyting we can do
to help you in connection with Mr Wright
Mrs Tollington replied -- Do you think I could have his dust bins ?

Should I have laughed? While I find it hard to laugh at someone going through a personal tragedy or things like bereavement or illness,I'd be happy to laugh WITH them, but there are fortunately funny moments that come about in all sorts of tragic situations and providing I don't think theres any real malice involved then yes...that was funny!
Reminds me of the scene in Frankie & Johnny when the friends are gathered in the funeral home to pay their respects to a work colleague, one of the friends starts accusing Frankie ( Michelle Pffiefer)of being there to pick up the new guy at work Johnny ( Al Pacino) after putting up with this for a few minutes Frankie tells her to 'blow it out her arse' ...funny simply becaouse its said where its said and under those circumstances.

Quote: David Ison @ December 26 2010, 12:05 PM GMT

Going back a few years to the Ipswich murders ,things were going a little
slower than The Suffolk Police Force had hoped
As The Met Police had now been drafted in ,The Suffolk boys decided to run a
feature on Look East to prove to The Met that they were really on the case and
also provide themselves with some excellent PR to immediate neighbours of Steven
Wright
Pretty soon they located a Mrs Tollington an elderly lady who lived in the same street as Wright
An officer asked Mrs Tollington -- Mrs Tollington you only live a couple of
doors from Steven Wright, now in the circumstances is there anyting we can do
to help you in connection with Mr Wright
Mrs Tollington replied -- Do you think I could have his dust bins ?

View original

It certainly can be amusing when interviewees provide unexpected funny comments in bad situations but I don't really understand what you are saying/asking:
Suffolk Police arranged to have themselves filmed questioning the public in the hope of impressing the Met and Wright's neighbours and you wonder if it was right to find the neighbour's comment funny, or that what Suffolk Police allegedly did was funny because it illicited a funny comment?

I do often find myself laughing at the cinema and noticing I'm the only one laughing.

Quote: Chappers @ December 29 2010, 2:09 PM GMT

I do often find myself laughing at the cinema and noticing I'm the only one laughing.

View original

So you were the bloke at that screening of Schindler's List!

Inappropriate laughing has dogged me for years. I was once helping out a band in Pontypool South Wales and it was a fairly prestigious occasion for the local community. At the end of our performance the mayor stood up and gave a speech. He stuttered. I creased up. I couldn't help myself. I hated myself for laughing at his plight but could not control myself. How proud he must have been to get where he was and in turn be willing to speak in public.
To this day I feel completely guilty about it.