Humor is tragedy, plus time. Often, it takes some distance for a painful moment to ferment into a laughing matter.

Many years ago I stood up to give a speech but my skirt did not.

Nudity sells, but that’s NOT what I had in mind! Everyone began laughing and pointing at my feet. Slowly and painfully I looked down and saw my plaid and pleated red and gray skirt hovering over my pumps.

Can anyone relate to a tight waistband? The button and buttonhole struggled to reach each other that morning.

This union was tenuous at best, until I sneezed during the introduction of my presentation. That button was history.

You give three speeches every time you open your mouth—the one you prepared, the one you give, and the perfect one going home in the car.

The perfect comment at this miserable moment, said to my steering wheel much later was, “You certainly got more than you paid for!” The naked truth is that I was wearing a slip.