The Hump Day Humor-Gram,  April 11, 2007    Issue Number 213 

1. Laughter: The Gift that Keeps on Giving  	 
2. Mike’s Fun at Work Tip   
3. Quote of the Week
4. It’s a Wacky, Wacky World 
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1. Laughter: The Gift that Keeps on Giving    

A recent study from psychologists at Kent and Liverpool 
universities found that laughter may increase altruism towards
strangers. The study showed that when people were shown funny 
video clips they were far more inclined to give money to
strangers than the folks who didn’t watch the clips. One of the 
professors, Dr. van Vugt, believes humans evolved the capacity 
for laughter as a way to release positive emotions in order to 
facilitate group bonding, which allowed our ancestors to better 
cope with hostile living conditions. So I think we’re now up 
to reason #187 why a little more laughter in the workplace may 
be just what the motivational doctor ordered.
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2. Mike’s Fun at Work Tip 

Consider adopting an “office dog” to serve as an official 
canine ambassador. I was recently speaking at the Fairmont Hotel
in Vancouver where they have a fabulously mellow, gentle hotel 
dog – a gorgeous yellow lab that beds down next to the concierge 
desk. The dog makes a wonderful conversation starter, and adds a 
friendly, welcoming presence to the hotel. And then there’s 
Heidi, an 11-year-old English sheep dog who recently retired from 
Oracle Corporation in Japan. Heidi, who even had her own employee 
ID card, spent her entire life as the official company mascot. 
Not only could a dog boost morale, the great thing about having
a dog around the office is they always laugh at your jokes, even 
when no one else will. 
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3. Quote of the Week 

“When you leave room in your heart for errors, you leave room in 
your heart for humor.” Richard Carlson 
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4. It's a Wacky, Wacky, World  

Here is, perhaps, a new workplace phrase for you to add to your 
repertoire: “salmon day”. A salmon day is when you spend your 
entire workday swimming upstream, only to have your supervisor 
criticize your work at the end of the day. Of course it could be
worse, a “seagull day” is when your supervisor craps all over!

Happy Hump Day everyone. Remember, in this dog-eat-dog world, it 
comes down to survival of the funniest, so keep laughing!  ==================================================================
Copyright Michael Kerr, 2007. mike@mikekerr.com  www.mikekerr.com