This is the story of the most awkward thing I've done this week:

(NOTE: This is not to be confused with my dumbass moment of the month - found here.)

So this past week has been hell for me, class-wise. Just about every one of my classes has decided to have a midterm and/or a paper in addition to our normal load of class work. Last week, I had to miss my Lit class, my CSC class, and my Psych class - all to do a midterm for my damned Sociology class (doncha just love college gen ed requirements?).

Well, I had Psych today. My Psych course is a block class, which means it is two hour and fifteen minute classes squished together with a ten minute break in between so that you can crawl your way out into the middle of the traffic circle ( string **** L'Enfant, string **** Banneker, and string **** D.C.) outside and hope for sweet sweet release. Well, today we had a test. In normal classes, that would mean that I'd get to take a test, pack up my stuff, head back to the dorms and drink away all the brain cells that remember what the string **** Successive Approximation means in relation to Skinnerian Behavioral Modification Techniques. In this class, however, we get to take a test for the first half and then come BACK the second and get a lecture going for our next section. *shudder*

<I'll forgo mentioning how pissed I was that I spent election night buried in psych books... although looking at the results; I'll admit that it IS probably for the best. Though the election night drinking game would have been MAD fun.>

I'd been studying for this test for the past couple of days. I'd read all the chapters, I'd read all of the lecture notes that our prof was so gracious to post online for us. I read them especially carefully to cover the day that I had to miss because I was writing about starving people in Africa or something... I don't really know. (In the end, I googled most of the information for the Sociology paper.)

I sat down and took the test. I had the thing pretty much nailed until I got to the last question. He made sure to note that the question was only mentioned in class (not even in the lecture notes). Normally, I'd be able to suck it up and bomb a question for missing class. Unfortunately, this is the essay question. It counts for 50% of the exam score. Just as much as the short essays and multiple choice combined. Compounding this, we only have 5 grades for the semester - all weighted equally. Therefore, I calculated as I stared in disgust at the page laying before me, this one question about an overweight girl named Shannon, or some **** like that, accounted for 10 ****ing percent of my final average.

I bullshat an answer, and stormed out of the room. As I sat in the middle of the center lane of Ward Circle with car horns beeping and the sounds of busses careening off the road and taking small cars full of school children with them echoing in the background, I thought about the test and how I should probably talk to the professor... and how hard it would be to stay on his good side, and at the same time, not concede my point that he's full of **** and should be killed. Eventually, my phone alarm went off and told me to go back in, so I did.

I bought a bottle of water before I got back to class. I figured I could chuck it and knock my professor unconscious... or at least daze him long enough to get a Bond-esque judo chop in and run out the door. When I got back in the room, I saw that our TA was holding the laser pointer, ready to direct class. Apparently my professor had an engaging date somewhere in a basement with a Great Dane, a Dixie cup, and some tasty lube...

She's taught a couple times throughout the semester. Apparently, its something that they're doing to teach undergraduate students humility. "If people are this full of **** when they're in graduate school, just imagine how full of **** YOU must be."

So she's giving a lecture on different methods of treating psychoses... or something. I didn't really give a damn; I was still pissed off over the whole issue with the test. Finally, I pulled out my laptop, turned it on, and decided to go bash-ing. That rarely fails to make me smile.

I made it through a couple of quotes, and finally, one hit me just right - in the way bash quotes are prone to do. I was mid-mouthful of water, and I did a damned spit gag across my monitor and laughed hysterically. My entire table, my monitor, and the back of the person sitting in front of me - all covered in a solution of water and saliva. The entire class stopped to look at me. Politely, I stopped laughing, and began to mop up the mess.

Their gazes stuck on me though - and seemed a little more contemptuous than a classroom of college students might usually be. I looked up at the note board and the first two words I read were: "Kitty Genovese"... in any other class, I'd have picked up my stuff and walked out. I was still pissed about the test. So I decided I'd wait it out. Eventually, everyone turned back around, and I went back to reading bash quotes and snickering softly to myself.

-Aur

Had to google Kitty Genovese (I would have gotten Phineas Gage, damn it!), but yeah, that's... uh... a pretty sucky place to laugh at something completed unrelated.

Bash quotes?

Kitty Genovese?

I never paid attention in class.

Besides, not as bad as one moment I had to leave my psych class. My professor had everyone hold up there hands with a number (1 or 2) if they needed to go to the bathroom. Well, number 3 for the ladies meant feminine stuff. The funny part about it was, in high school, i had a buddy of mine who was a real pot head. When he wanted to go to the bathroom, he's always raise his hand with 3 fingers up, meaning he was going to smoke pot in the boys room, which let us know it was time to go to the bathroom first (it was a study hall, so more than one person went at once).

Then one day, a girl raised a 3 in the air, the first time i saw it, for some reason, I laughed my ass off thinking about something that same high school friend had done the previous night. Well, let's just say she had a water too. And I didn't get a salivated mixture with it when she dumped it on me. I felt like a total ass, but still thought it was funny.

Ah yes, how to get a pigeon to do amazing ****.

As for the essay question problem, well, teachers do design tests based on the idea that you're in class. It's not really some sort of terrible idiotic assumption to make.

At least he was willing to tell you it was from class. Other profs wouldn't even do that, they'd just give you a completely ambiguous question.

Be in class or get someone's notes from class, that's the best advice I can give you.

True, but I do believe basing 10% of my course grade on 1 class, and not having even partial supplimation in the test is a bit much.

Kitty Genovese, in short, is the classic story used to demonstrate the psychological phenominon of Diffusion of Responsibility. She lived in Queens and was coming home early in the morning. During the walk between her car and her apartment building, she was attacked. People saw, told the guy to stop (from their windows)... he shrugged it off. No one really did anything. She kinda crawled to a doorstep to die as the guy made his getaway. The people in the apartment building left her on the doorstep. The attacker ****ing CAME BACK, and stabbed her one last time. An hour or so later, someone called the police. Yeah, sick ****.

Dahne, http://www.bash.org - IRC humor.

Aura i feel for you. I have a story of college sucking hard this last semester. This was to be my final semester and as per the advising office and my professor responsible for reviewing my transcript i only needed to take 1 upper level class and a language to finish. So i sign up for the classes file all the correct documents, order gown cap, dated announcments, and class ring. 1 ****ing month before graduation passed all of the filing deadlines the office of the registrar send me a letter stating they made a mistake and I am one class short of graduating, therfore not allowed to participate in commencement. I took a job and had a pending job with the NSA after grad. now i have to take a winter class, and wait to graduate 6 months later. God damn buerocrats.

Oh ya! I always forget her name. Pluralistic Ignorance. Studied some more advanced experiments people did on this phenomenon this year. It's quite amusing. Moral of the story, if you want help from a crowd, single out one person and yell at them specifically. Others might help him or her help you, but if you don't target one person, everyone will continue to think nothing is wrong (mostly because no one else is doing anything which, in turn, is because no one else thinks anything is wrong).

Does seem a bit of a piss, but that means that this midterm was worth 20% of your final grade, and one question was worth 50% of it? Is this an introductory psych course? I'm curious as to what the question was: I can't think of anything from my intro course that could have been based on something mentioned in lecture without incorporating at least one or two textbook principals.

It wasn't a psychological principle, just a random case study he'd talked about. Wasn't mentioned in the book or lecture notes. This is actually a 300 level theory course, sadly. Introductory Psych courses are notoriously easy here. This prof has a history of grading like an ass, though.

This was a case study in mob mentailty from when I psych class as well.

Oddly enough, we had to particpate in studies for the class as well. They placed 2 people in a room & had them sit there alone. Guess what? I skewed those number! Ha! I never meet a stranger, lol. The TA said I was only person they had that engaged strangers in conversation so quickly & got to know the person.



It sucks that 50% of your grade for a test was an essay! Profs are sneaky bastages.

Heh, that reminds me of one time in my english class in high school. My friend and I were goofing off and talking in the back of class when, for whatever reason, I blurted out "Like I care!" in response to something he said. Everyone looked at me with a shocked expression. It was only after the class that I learned that I made my exclamation while the english teacher was telling the class about a car accident that almost killed her.

"...They watched as her assaliant walked away. Now, we must all fear evil men. But there is another kind of evil which we must FEAR most. And that is the indifference of good men."


Pretty close anyway.

for the ref, Wraine. Every time we study that case in ANY class I have, all I can think of is that movie.