Actually, Laura, I think we laugh because we are glad it didn't happen to us. But of course there is also a kind of humorous satisfaction in seeing somebody self-important making a fool of themselves.
Pennies saved one and two at a time by bulldozing the grocer and the vegetable man and the butcher until one's cheeks burned with the silent imputation of parsimony that such close dealing implied.
And when you have given your ball, she added, I shall insist on their giving one also. I shall tell Colonel Forster it will be quite a shame if he does not.