Keep it down, and keep it to yourself

For the third time in a month I have eaten dinner in a restaurant where someone has been laughing maniacally at a nearby table at a decibel level almost equal to a jet engine. The first two were women, and last night it was a man. I'm all for having a good time, and I was laughing most of the night too, but not loud enough to make heads turn and babies cry. Imagine the noise a dolphin might make if it had the ability to fake an orgasm and then amplify it a few times--that's what we were dealing with. Of course he was also the type who had to drag the poor waiter into his endless stories, like a waiter has time for that on a Saturday night when the place is packed. Never approach someone in the service industry or at a service desk and bore them with what you think is a funny joke. More than likely it is not funny and they are hoping lightning will strike you at that moment. Can't you see the tension in their forehead just a few inches above that fake smile?