The only effective weapon...

What’s a WMC?  I’m glad you asked.  In its very essence it’s the opposite of a WMD.  Whereas a WMD is a weapon of mass destruction, a WMC is a weapon of mass construction.  Perhaps a weapon isn’t the best adjective, but it’ll have to do for now since that’s that we’re used to thinking of in regards to destruction and thereby drawing upon its opposite construction.  Let’s break down some potential WMC’s, shall we?

This was inspired by a couple of famous people who have long since passed away.  Mark Twain said something along the lines of ‘mankind’s only real weapon is laughter.’  Helen Keller persuaded the people of her time to be an army of construction, not one of destruction.  When I read Twain’s quote in particular, it made me laugh and I even tweeted the thought that my friends might consider me to be a weapon of mass destruction if that were the case.  You see, I’ve been told by many people that my laughter is a gift.  Others, not as vocal thankfully for my small ego, I’m sure view it as a curse.  I never really developed an adult laugh is I think what the basic problem comes down to.  I never learned how to hide my laughter very well.  Instead, I just kept a young child’s type of laughter, that being a laugh of pure/not holding back anything type of laughter.

How can laughter be a weapon of mass construction?  For starters, it does wonders at breaking down cultural barriers.  Admittedly, I have laughed at inopportune times when serving cross-culturally, but more often than not laughter is an aid to breaking down people’s defenses and walls that we’re all so prone to hide behind.  If you’ve lived any length of time past your elementary school years, you have undoubtedly had your trust broken.  The natural consequence of having your trust broken is that we build up walls to keep it from happening again.  What can tear down those said walls?  There are a few ways, only one of which is truly reliable.  You can force someone to tear down their walls, although that probably won’t last long at all if it’s successful in the first place.  Or you can love someone until the walls come tumbling down.  Laughter and love go hand in hand in my opinion.  Those who love, laugh.

If you want to know if a child is comfortable around you, one of the main ways to tell is to see if they laugh around you.  Either due to something you said that made them laugh or if something else made them laugh, if a child laughs around you, rest assured that the child feels safe around you.  My friends’ kids are good examples of this.  They are very comfortable around me because we all laugh together.  Why do we so often lose this ability as adults?  People annoy us of course as we get older.  Perhaps if we tried to laugh with our annoying coworkers, it would be a weapon of mass construction in building a new friendship where we once thought one could never exist.