I have been pretending to understand a joke at work for 3 years.

In 2021, during a team lunch, my manager Kobayashi-san told a joke. Everyone laughed. I laughed. The joke involved a reference I did not understand. I laughed anyway because the timing felt right and Kobayashi-san was looking in my direction and the laugh was already coming out. The reference was to a specific scene in a specific movie that everyone in the office had apparently seen. I have not seen this movie. I did not say this at the time because the moment had passed. The laugh had been laughed. Since then, Kobayashi-san has referenced this scene nine more times in various meetings and lunches. Each time I have laughed. Each time the laugh has been accepted as genuine. I am now, in Kobayashi-san's mental model of me, someone who finds this specific movie reference funny. Last month he said: "You always get that joke. You have good taste." I smiled and said: "It's a great scene." I have never seen the movie. I do not know what scene. I have been laughing at a ghost for three years. $2 to hear how this ends. It ends soon. Kobayashi-san just announced a team movie night. 🙏