AUGUST MAGAZINE CARTOON

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Humor is a powerful drug! We use it on a daily basis without even knowing it, and it's a medicine with healing and regenerative effects. At times, the things we talk and joke about in the fire service would seem crass and inappropriate to the general public, but it performs the job of defusing stressful situations in a way that can't fully be explained. Generally playful and good-natured, other times dark and sarcastic - either way, it allows us to expel stress in a way that doesn't show vulnerability. Laughter is contagious, therapeutic, and necessary for our health, station morale, and home life. Laughter can't solve every issue, but it's an effective first response that may mitigate the problem.

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