To still be angry and embarrassed that this woman laughed at me?

[thelouise]

This morning, it was pouring down here and so the floor in my local shop was a bit slippery. I walk with crutches due to a disability and I am unsteady on my feet at the best of times. Unfortunately for me, I went arse over tit. Falling over is usually a humiliating experience because I can't get myself up. As I fell, I caught the eye of a woman who bloody laughed at me. Who does that?! In the interests of full disclose, she did walk towards me, presumably to check I was ok, but by that time, someone had come to my aid.

I am still feeling sore, both physically and emotionally. I phoned my mum (even though I am 37 ) who thinks I'm being silly to feel angry, especially when two lovely men helped me up, found me a chair, got me a drink and then walked me to my cry.

AIBU to still feel mortified and angry or, in the words of Elsa, do I need to let it go?

[3littlebadgers]

If it makes you feel less alone, I'll tell you my humiliating fall story. I was doing a presentation about communication in animals, if it could be considered to be 'language'. It was in the late 90s so I was using an overhead projector in a darkened, packed, lecture hall. I had a tape, with a selection of animal noises to the side, to use when the time came.
The time came. I attempted to go and press play, but on my way spectacularly tripped over the wire for the overhead projector, plunging the hall into darkness. I did press the play button on the way down though so the silence was broken by the glorious sound of whale song. The place was in hysterics. I was quite happy to lay there in the darkness but some misguided fool turned the sodding lights on!

[Doublebubblebubble]

Its not a case of would laugh its more a cant help but laugh..

Do people not understand what involuntary means? Really

[Shadow1986]

Could have been a nervous reaction or she might have smiled thinking you had just slipped a little and she was trying to make it less embarrassing but when you actual fell right over she realised it wasn't something to smile at and came to help. I wouldn't give it another thought, hope you're ok.

[emotionsecho]

Exactly Double, it's not malicious.

[SoWhite]

I genuinely believe that that some people cannot help laughing as a nervous response.

[ghnocci]

If it's truly involuntary, I assume it is a recognised condition with a medical name then? Is it like a form of tourettes for example?

Because otherwise it just seems like finding somebody else's misfortune funny.

[Earlybird]

Awful, but think you would do well to focus your thoughts instead on the two lovely men who helped you and were so gentle and thoughtful.

[mommy2ash]

Op I'm so sorry you fell I agree with others some people laugh involuntarily and then are mortified after. I'm one of those people if that was me I would be at home now going over te situation over and over really annoyed that I had laughed. I have to admit I laughed reading the post on this thread saying they fell over baskets at work and it was on CCTV.

[mommy2ash]

And now the whale song one has me in hysterics and I feel awful hope you weren't hurt

[SoWhite]

This good enough for you ghnocci?

Nervous laughter is a physical reaction to stress, tension, confusion, or anxiety. Neuroscientist Vilayanur S. Ramachandran states "We have nervous laughter because we want to make ourselves think what horrible thing we encountered isn't really as horrible as it appears, something we want to believe." Those are the most embarrassing times, too, naturally.Psychologist and neuroscientist Robert Provine, from the University of Maryland, studied over 1,200 "laughter episodes" and determined that 80% of laughter isn't a response to an intentional joke.

cogweb.ucla.edu/Abstracts/Provine_96.html

[SoWhite]

Or this?

People may laugh nervously when exposed to stress due to witnessing others' pain. For instance, in Stanley Milgram's obedience experiment, subjects ("teachers") were told to shock "learners" every time the learners answered a question incorrectly. Although the "learners" were not actually shocked, the subjects believed they were. As they were going through the study, many of the "subjects showed signs of extreme tension and conflict". Milgram observed some subjects laughing nervously when they heard the "learners'" false screams of pain. In A Brief Tour of Human Consciousness, neuroscientist V.S. Ramachandran suggests that laughter is used as a defense mechanism used to guard against overwhelming anxiety. Laughter often diminishes the suffering associated with a traumatic event

[Doublebubblebubble]

Okayyyy - well I think that everyone who has said that they have laughed at something similar have also gone on to say that they either felt awful for a long time after or apologised profusely. We aren't bad people. We just do something that we just genuinely cannot help. Not everything is or has to be a recognized condition because it's involuntary... Breathing is involuntary....

[Doublebubblebubble]

Xpost x sowhite

[SoWhite]

But it is recognised by professional psychologists! It is called nervous laughter. It is a physical response to a mental stimulus. A bit like sneezing when you look at a light.

Its not a condition, and therefore doesn't have a medical name!

[SarcasticAndRabidAngryHarpy]

I think laughing when you don't mean to is quite common. It's not a laugh, it's just that some people when startled scream, others inhale sharply, others huff out a breath, some people freeze and hold their breath and some people laugh. It's just a quick surge of adrenaline (she was moving to help so a reaction) and her response to a brief surge of adrenaline is to laugh it off.

And no, those of us that have this (I am one) cannot control it. Might as well blame the screamers for over reacting (can't they learn not to scream, it's too loud), the indrawn breather for over reacting (melodramatic much?) or the freezers for being useless for a few seconds in a crisis.

As a laugher can I just add that I'm a nurse; old-school tea and sympathy trained. I'm kind to animals. I'd be the person getting you up and offering help. I also laughed at myself when I fell over at Alton Towers this summer, broke my nose and left a sizeable puddle of blood in front of the log-flume. Laughter and adrenaline got me to the toilet, washed the blood out of my long hair and clothing, took paracetamol, helped clean up the blood a bit and got me onto the next ride where I promptly went into shock

OP, many sympathies and I hope you're feeling better. You might as well assume the best of the laugher. She might be sitting somewhere now kicking herself.

[SoWhite]

Double xpost double

[ShamefulPlaceMarker]

Even if it was an involuntary nervous laugh, surely the polite thing to do would be to go up and appologise to op?.....abbsis did you apologise to old lady on behalf of your dd?

[SarcasticAndRabidAngryHarpy]

X-X Post SoWhite and doublebubblebubble

[LillyInTheMoon]

I have a nervous laugh. I have absolutely no control over it.

My sister turned white, fainted and started to have some sort of fit in the middle of a shop once. There was nothing funny about it, it was absolutely terrifying but I burst out laughing (whilst also trying to her her). I was completely unable to contain the laughter. I was terrified as nothing like this had happened to her before. I completely lost control of myself.

It also happened at my dads funeral.

I'm sorry about your accident, OP, hope your not feeling too sore

[scarlets]

Nervous giggles I reckon. Especially with you being disabled - she was probably startled. I'd have a heart-stop moment if a person on crutches looked as if they were going to take a tumble. I don't react to sudden stress by chuckling, but some folk do.

[ghnocci]

Fair enough, a defence mechanism against anxiety makes sense.

It would be nice if all people apologised in this situation though so people like the OP weren't left feeling upset and angry.

[lorelei9]

OP, I'm sorry this happened
how are you feeling now, hope all okay?

I must admit I don't understand the nervous laughter thing. This is a better explanation than I've heard before but I'm not sure I'm convinced. Some people are just malicious or stupid.

[Grilledaubergines]

Horrid for you but I'd say it was nervous laughter which is no comfort to you but wouldn't be much nicer for her. She'd probably have felt so awful afterwards.

Or she could be a complete twat.

My guess is the nerves though.

[doitanyways]

You can control it, though.

I always want to laugh when there is a minutes silence on November 11, but I don't because I'm an adult and realise it is completely inappropriate and very, very rude.

YANBU op

[lorelei9]

something else I wonder is if any of these people have fallen and hurt themselves. When I was on crutches, I was amazed how many people seemed to think that meant I had my usual mobility - it genuinely came as a shock to me to find that anyone was that thick.

so I hope I'll be forgiven for thinking that this "laughter" is not necessarily a nervous reaction that people might regret later on.