"Laugh, and the world laughs with you; weep, and you weep alone. For the sad old earth must borrow its mirth, but has trouble enough of its own."
So wrote American Ella Wheeler Wilcox (1850-1919) in an oft-quoted poem titled "The Way of the World."
If Wilcox had seen Ryutaro Nonomura, a 47-year-old member of the Hyogo Prefectural Assembly, in his incoherent crying jag on YouTube, she might have revised her verse to, "Weep and the world laughs at you."
With your current subscription plan you can comment on stories. However, before writing your first comment, please create a display name in the Profile section of your subscriber account page.