A shared absurdity can make an inconvenience feel less privately endured.

Discomfort is much heavier when it feels privately assigned. A two-hour delay is unpleasant, but a two-hour delay in which nobody acknowledges anything is worse, because you are left alone with the sense of being singled out. Catching a stranger’s eye and both of you laughing turns it into a shared situation. Nothing has improved except the aloneness, which was most of the weight.

When the next ridiculous thing happens, be the one who says the small remark aloud. It does not have to be clever. Saying something plain to whoever is next to you costs almost nothing.