What Is So Funny About Death?

As health professionals and workers, death and suffering is a natural occurrence that we deal with everyday. So much so that many of us have developed a callous and apathetic attitude towards it, even to the point where we make fun and laugh about it.  Just this morning as I opened my Facebook, the first thing I saw was that of a status post about the "heavens opening" and following that, were tongue in cheek comments about patients who died during the shift.  As I read through it, my immediate reaction was to view these statements coming from health professionals, as inappropriate and insensitive.  But then, as I thought about it, I realized that my opinion was made because I knew these people.  Others who were not familiar with them would not think the same way I did, because without any biases, the remarks were actually innocent enough, like some private joke between people who work together.