I Told a Supermarket Employee ‘I Don’t Know’ — And That’s When I Understood Humor
A simple ‘I don’t know’ at a supermarket exposed how social rituals are fragile scripts. This article uses three jokes—Pavlov, a Chinese official’s avatar, and a teacher’s compliment—to show that humor thrives on cognitive dissonance. The most logical response often breaks the mold, revealing the hidden rules that govern our daily interactions and why we laugh when they shatter.