While most people's experiences with humor indubitably do not involve high volumes of chemistry, my life is loaded with humor experienced as a result of organic chemistry. More than likely, this results from the fact that I take more hours of chemistry than any other subject, spend the majority of my day in the Chemistry department, and associate myself with many fellow science nerds. From the unfortunate laughter resulting from knowing that you made a horrific mistake on your take home quiz to roaring laughter due to lab work, I always seem to be laughing about chemistry.
Last week, the identity of our first unknown compound was due in organic chemistry lab. For many students, this was a time of incredibly high stress levels and constant anxiety attacks. Luckily, I had already turned in my lab report the week before, leaving me stress-free. During our biweekly Chemistry Club meeting, several people voiced their concerns about lab that week, more than likely just increasing the stress levels of everyone in the room. After the meeting, my friend looked up at our faculty adviser, Dr. Green and asked if she believed in her. Dr. Green proceeded to give my friend an uncomfortable look, remained silent, and walked out of the room. My friend tensed up and let out a laugh of discomfort, while I let out an incredibly loud belly-laugh at her expense. In retrospect, I feel like a terrible person for laughing so hard at my friend's pain and anxiety at that moment.
After this incident occurred, my friend and I went to talk to Dr. Green about lab and what just happened, and Dr. Green apparently did not even hear my friend's initial question after Chemistry Club. This eased the tension of my friend a little, but she was still not too happy with me because of my overreaction to the humor in that situation. While she laughed out of discomfort, I laughed because I was not in her situation and it initially appeared as though Dr. Green felt the same way. While the intent of my laughter was not malicious in nature, it was perceived as such by my friend, and she confronted me for intellectually subordinating her. I immediately felt terrible about the situation, although I could not control my laughter at the time. This situation brought out the negative side of humor as discussed in class and displayed it in a real-life scenario.
Monday, February 17, 2014
Monday, February 10, 2014
Things I find funny
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