Am I a bad person?

I have this weird sense of humor. There are certain instances where if a specific event happens, I cannot contain my laughter no matter how serious the moment, irreverent and ill-timed my humor may be. There is just something incredibly hilarious about watching someone fall down the steps. I don't care if it's the President, the Pope, my pastor, my mother, or wife. Even baby girl is not exempt. Speaking of her...

We have a gate at the bottom of the steps to keep her downstairs. Sometime ago, she figured out how to move the thing out of her way. The only thing that prevents her from climbing the stairs is a firm admonition to "leave the gate alone". Well, on this particular instance, she decides to ignore my warning. So she climbs up the stairs, smiling with that impish grin. Halfway up the stairs, she thinks she's grown and decides to stand completely up on her two feet without holding onto anything. Not only does she stand up, but she had the nerve to do a little dance. Laughing, she's obviously enjoying her moment of independence because she has a look of giddiness on her face.

Now it's amazing how quickly one's demeanor can change. Suddenly she lost her balance. The look on her face turned from sheer enjoyment to sheer panic in a heartbeat. She had this look like Wile E. Coyote right before he fell off a cliff, the words plainly spoken on her face, "Oh, sweet Jesus, help me!!!!" She falls backwards down the steps, her head hitting each and every (carpeted) step. She doesn't stick the landing and lands in a heap. At least 15 seconds must have passed before even a sound came out her mouth, although her mouth was open. She was terrorized, in a state of shock.

When I saw this unfolding, two instincts automatically took over. The first instinct, was to run over to pick her body off the floor. The second instinct -- a nano-second later -- was to bust out in uncontrollable laughter. I tried to rationalize that if I laugh, she might not cry as hard. Ultimately, I realize that's incorrect. I laughed because she reminded me of a slinky falling down the stairs. The wife (if she was there at the time) would've freaked out. Me? I thought it was too funny. I'm laughing right now just thinking about it. My brain says "stop laughing you insensitive clod! You're daughter could have snapped her neck!" But I just can't help it. There's certain things in life that are priceless. That moment was one of them. But I wonder, am I a bad person?

--PoppaWheel