I get flak when I don't laugh at my co-workers' lame jokes. Should I humor them?

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Dear Prudie:
I am a young management consultant who has so far earned high marks from my superiors. Recently, however, I've repeatedly faced a situation that I fear might become a blot in my personnel file. At a tense meeting with a client several months ago, one of the other consultants made a joke about an error he'd noticed on a spreadsheet. The room burst into laughter while I sat there expressionless, not even feigning a smile. It just wasn't funny. A couple of weeks later, the same situation happened. This time, my supervisor asked me after the meeting why I had been so "rude" not to laugh after the client made a pun. When it happened a third time, someone remarked how I must be having a bad day. I'm not a gloomy person. I am a natural-born storyteller who can cause a small crowd of friends to bend over laughing with an off-color joke. I've even dabbled in stand-up. Should I just get with the program and pretend office humor tickles my funny bone, even if I'm actually laughing at the boss's terrible haircut?

—Mirthless

Dear Mirthless,
So have you heard the one about the young management consultant who walks into a meeting and—oops, sorry, I guess that's not funny. Your sense of humor may be so exquisite that you find the attempts by colleagues and clients to bring some levity to a discussion of collateralized debt obligations or capital assessment stress tests to be a stress test for you. But you need to keep in mind that when a colleague or client makes a jocular aside, that is not the time to indicate that your true calling in life was to be a judge on Last Comic Standing. There's this thing that people do when they all work together that your supervisor tried to clue you in on; it's called "getting along." So when someone makes a remark (in particular a client) that has everyone chuckling, just for the sake of group unity, you are supposed to engage your zygomaticus muscle both superiorly and posteriorly. In other words, "Smile!" You've already been warned that your attitude is grating on people. Unless you are able to simulate some camaraderie, despite your excellent work, you are going to hurt your career. Of course, being out of a job will allow you to wear whatever facial expression you like during the day and concentrate on your stand-up career at night.

—Prudie

Dear Prudence Video: The Condom Wrapper

Dear Prudie,
Almost two years ago, I cheated on my husband once with a co-worker. As a result, I quit my job and never again went back into the store where I worked. Both of these actions were at the request of my husband after he found out. There were contributing situations that led me to cheat, but I understand that there's no excuse. My husband forgave me, and our relationship improved greatly. However, I was extremely close with my (female) boss and continued to speak to her. My husband told me more than once that he did not like that I still spoke to her, because whenever he heard her name, he was reminded of a hurtful situation. About nine months ago, after ending a conversation with my friend rather abruptly because my husband came home from work, I decided that, to prevent another roadblock in my marriage, I would not speak to my friend anymore. She agreed, even though she didn't think it was right that my husband was uncomfortable about us speaking, especially since she had severely reprimanded me for what I had done. One of the worst days of my life was the day I said goodbye to her; I wanted so badly to continue our friendship. Do you think I should ask my husband if I can speak to her again?

—Missing My Friend

Dear Missing,
Is one of the contributing situations that led to your cheating the fact that your husband is a controlling, emotional bully? Requesting that you quit your job on the spot is extreme, but insisting that you end a friendship with your female boss—who disapproved of your behavior!—is inexplicable. What's next? He suggests that when you go out to run errands you wear a chastity belt? Not that he would force you to do it; it would just make him feel more comfortable about what you're up to when you're out of his line of sight. You shouldn't ask your husband if you can resume your friendship; you should tell him that breaking off the friendship was a mistake you need to rectify. Say you understand that being reminded of your infidelity is painful to him, but "Janice" didn't abet what happened; she objected to it. Explain that it's time the two of you put this episode behind you and that since you've rebuilt the trust between you, you need life to be more normal again. If he tries to stop you, then you need to see a counselor together, because there is far more wrong in your marriage than your one-night stand.