...but we never read them!

It was a quick quip at the end of the America's Funniest Home Videos show the other night. The host says something like, "Your cards and comments are welcome... but we never read them!"

Classic setup for a contrast that catches your brain off guard. And since humor has a nugget of truth in every irony and twist, this was a double entendre with both "that's funny" and "that's probably the honest truth" going through everybody's mind at the same instant!

Like a big firework that fades into the night sky, that one liner laugh faded into a rueful reality. We often hit "send" when the other person will not "receive."

Bank on it. There will always be naysayers and nitpickers, and their feedback is pretty predictable and nonhelpful. Shake it off, right?! But maybe we ought to take the time to read the mail anyway.