Way back in the stone age when I was in college, I had to take a physics course for my biology degree.
The first day, I walked into the huge auditorium, and I sat in the front of the class so I could see. A skinny, gray-haired man stood by two large chalkboards filled with equations.
He looked like one of those serious professors. The ones with caustic wit and maybe a short temper. When the lecture was underway, the professor let one rip. This was not the I’m-trying-not-to-fart,-but-it-slipped-out sound: air escaping from a balloon fart. No, this noise had no business happening outside of the bathroom.
Then the strangest thing of all happened. A hundred 18-20 year old college kids in the classroom and there was not a peep. No one laughed. No murmured disbelief or appreciation. Nothing. Even the professor hadn’t pause in his lecture or even changed his expression. He still looked very serious.
Had I imagined the noise?
Each day without fail, the professor tooted, squeaked, and whistled during the lecture. All from the wrong end. I hoped that he had on Depends or the mountain of undies with ‘racing stripes’ would be gargantuan.
Each time, the classroom hadn’t respond at all. I’d felt like I was a part of some crazy psychology experiment where the experimenters pretended to be students. They treated you different to see how you responded. Somehow this experiment involved everyone but me.
I finally broached the topic with a friend I’d made in class.
I wasn’t imagining it. For whatever reason, the class hadn’t responded through the full class. At least, I never caught a whiff of anything.
What crazy things have you witnessed that did not have the reaction you expected?
I couldn’t think of anything except something personal I wonder about. For some reason, most people I meet for the first time will pronounce my name incorrectly. Instead of Darnell, I get Donnel, Donnie, Daniel, or Daryl. It got to the point I stopped correcting people Id never see again. BUT….Here is the strange thing. At my place of employment, people that have known me for 5 to 10 years will all of a sudden call me Daryl! It baffles me why. If I correct them they say oops I meant Darnell. But I’m at a loss for the reason some longtime acquaintances can make that error. I think it must be the name itself. People auto correct in their minds to say, Daryl. I’m thinking of writing a short story about a hitman that takes out people that misspell his name. You never know where inspiration will come from. lol
Fun premise for a story! People are funny. I have a buddy that I use the American version of her name. It’s a habit at this point and I’ve been trying to switch it.