A girl I used to work with told me her sister had just died. We had worked together for some time, hung out, become friends and gotten pretty close. I understood it, I felt proper sympathy, I wanted to tell her I was sorry and be a friend...but that's not what happened.

I don't know what short circuit happened in my brain at that exact moment but I just erupted laughing. Full on bent-over teary-eyed snot-nosed choke-snort hawing all over the place. The more horrified I was that she had just told me her sister died, and that I was fucking laughing hysterically, just drove me even further and I couldn't stop. It was surreal. I jogged out of the room laughing and locked myself in the bathroom to try and compose myself.

I was in there for something like 15 minutes, and it was hopeless. All I could think about is here is this poor girl, heartbroken from just having learned that she lost her sister, sitting there listening to her ostensible friend laughing about it uncontrollably through a bathroom door.

The look on her face when I walked out of the bathroom finally...I hope I never see that on someone again. Fortunately we talked it out and no harm done but I do think she kept it in the back of her mind from then on that I might have a screw loose somewhere. Don't blame her, me too.