One time, I had the unfortunate luck of passing by the capuchin exhibit when an egret, sitting in the tree canopy, expelled a pellet and it landed on a little girl visiting with her sister and grandmother. (A pellet is the undigestible parts of a bird's diet that collects in its stomach to be regurgitated later.) The poor girl was covered in pieces of crawfish shell and muck.
As she looked up at me, with shock on her face as pellet parts dripped from her hair, I bit my tongue to choke down a laugh. The juxtaposition of her getting splattered with something so unpleasant, yet resembling those movie moments when someone, who just got hit with a cream pie, stands in shock trying to compute the situation, was too funny to ignore.
Then, while I was giving them directions to the nearest restroom, a dead fledgling fell, or was tossed out of the tree, onto the other small child.
I bit my tongue to hold in my reaction. The pain of holding back laughter caused me to tear up. Perhaps to the lay person I could have looked choked up with remorse, but in fact it was my macabre sense of humor that was trying to escape.
To compound the problem, the giggle-loop was in effect, where the sheer thought of laughing at an inappropriate moment is itself funny, which adds to the hilarity of the situation.
Each funny thought collectively builds momentum leading to a tipping point where the laughter can no longer be held in. When the laugh is finally released, it has the force of a maniac, making you seem incredibly insane, which only adds to perceived humor of the situation.
It is a dangerous thing. People have almost died of asphyxiation from the wake of the giggle-loop's laugh exhalation.
My mind reeled for something to say and 'I'm sorry,' was the only thing I could utter. Nonetheless, it seemed so ill fitting at the time, especially with my lack of earnest.
I am sure I seemed downright insane or suffering from some unknown pain during that conversation.
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