THIS AIN’T NO LAUGHING MATTER!

By Mellisa Maxwell

Some people feel it is odd that one of our professors has the exact same thing for lunch every day. I find comfort in it. It’s not that I don’t handle changes per se –– I just have some quirks. I am quirky. For example, I don’t like watches; I can’t handle the ticking noise. I like patterns and order. I hate plastic grocery bags, not because they are environmentally unfriendly but because the paper bags are more like little boxes and thus more organized.

I find comfort in routine.

This past Friday was not good for me. I walked into the handwriting room to take my PR final and discovered that someone was in my seat. Yes, the same seat that I have sat in and taken my finals in for every final of every semester. I promptly made the offender move! Actually, I really didn’t—I merely shrugged it off and sat elsewhere, pretending it didn’t bother me. Fortunately, the person was kind enough to realize how much it bothered me and order was once again restored. Or so I thought!

We all went into the classroom to get our finals; it was a little different since it was in room 104 and that was bothersome. However, once Susan went over the instructions we sat there staring at her, awaiting the traditional joke. But we were not met with the familiar light-hearted, utterly non-offensive joke that we have all relied on to level us during the apprehension of finals. Instead we received devastating news! Susan is not allowed to tell jokes anymore! Are you kidding me! I depend on that. It breaks the routine! I was a mess.

How could I take a final without hearing a joke? Fortunately, Jordan Taylor came to my rescue and told me a joke as quickly as he could. Sadly, it was not the same. My PR grade is in shambles. I blame no one other than the fun-hater who complained. I urge the rest of you fun-haters—you know who you are—to think about more than just yourselves when you get a bee in your bonnet and go running to the complaint box (I assume that there must be one, with all the complaining going on). Start thinking about the rest of the people in the school who might enjoy, if not depend on, the very thing you are complaining about. Clearly, you have nothing better to do if you are mad about a joke.