Classroom Humor

Today in my Business Leadership class we were doing an activity that was supposed to help us think about the future and what leadership skills we wanted to develop.  As part of the activity we were asked to write down specific things we are good at, what we value and what our passions are.  After we had some time to think about it and write down our thoughts, our professor asked us to call out the things we wrote down so she could make a list on the board.  We started out with passions - people yelled out a bunch of answers, moved on to what we are good at, and then finished with what people in the class value.  Values such as friends, family, health, education, etc. were all yelled out, then one student yelled out "success".  The professor obviously did not hear correctly and wrote "sex" on the list.   When the student saw what she had written, he yelled out, "Oh, I said success, not sex!"  After the class realized what had taken place, everyone started to laugh, the professor began to erase the word, but she was told it was okay and that she should just leave it.  Then without hesitation, the student that said "success" followed with, "Well that should actually go on the what I'm good at list."  That just topped it off!  Everyone began laughing uncontrollably for several minutes after that.  I've been in classes where students have said interesting and funny comments, or professors have done and said funny things, but never anything like this.  It was the last thing I was expecting to hear and arguably the funniest comment I have heard in the classroom so far.    

Grandmothers Say The Darndest Things

A few days ago my family and I went to visit my grandmother, who unfortunately suffers from Alzheimer's.  We have gotten used to her saying some interesting things, whether it is about her past, something she currently wants to do, or where she is going to go at some point in the future.  A common activity we participate in while at Grandma's apartment is looking through her old picture albums. This is fun for all of us because we get to see pictures of her, my mother and other family members in their younger years.  It also helps avoid repetitive conversations that we would have been having with nothing else to do.  So during our most recent visit, my oldest sister was sitting next to my grandmother on her couch, I was sitting to the right of them on a small couch for one person, my father was sitting on a similar couch across the living room, and my middle sister was sitting next to him.  Grandma always likes to know what her children and grandchildren are up to, how school is going, how work is going, where we are living, and of course, if we are dating anyone "special". Though we probably shouldn't feel this way, it is always awkward for my sisters and I to talk about dating with our grandmother so we try to avoid this question, especially because it will be asked every few minutes until we are able to get her focused on something else, like a picture, or the color of a wall (yes, that has been used before). So, while we were each looking at an album from different years in the 1950's, Grandma decided to make her rounds and see what each of her grandchildren were up to these days.  I told her I was finishing up my first year of graduate school and my sisters told her where they lived and worked.  Soon after, the dreaded question arrived, "So are you seeing anyone special?" Right away we all got quiet and my middle sister tried to get her attention focused on a picture that was hanging on the wall.  With no answers coming from the three of us, she then, while looking at my middle sister and I, continued with "Are you two dating?" As you might have imagined, this caught us all by surprise, especially because it seemed as if this was a serious question.  After getting over the initial shock, I believe one of us assured her that we were not dating each other. To give her the benefit of the doubt, maybe she said that because we weren't answering her question and she was simply joking around, but I guess we will never know. Let's just say I have my own thoughts and opinion on the level of seriousness of Grandma's question. There have been many interesting and funny things that my grandmother has said since she started suffering from the effects of the disease, but I think this one tops them all!

I love my grandmother and really wish she didn't have to suffer from this horrible disease. But, I feel there comes a point when it is okay to have a few laughs and try to make the best out of a bad situation.