Thursday, October 18, 2007

Cascading nose laughter brings unwanted attention

Hans Olo, The Stool

After following a link to a website showcasing pictures of obese cats with absurd captions, part-time 4L Cecelia Ajene was unable to stop her nose laughter from gaining momentum. “[Shelley Bachman] IMed me this link during tax, and before I knew it, there was a picture of this huge cat sitting on a motorcycle saying ‘PORK.’ That’s all it was. It shouldn’t have been funny. It’s stupid actually, but when you’re in class everything’s funny.”

Ajene’s friend, Bachman was sitting next to her as the nose laughter began to gain momentum. “I saw out of the corner of my eye that she had opened the link,” said Bachman, “then she started to do that I’m-trying-to-laugh-as-quietly-as-I-can nose laughter thing, and it was so funny sounding, she started to make me laugh. The more she laughed, the more I laughed – plus that damned cat was still on the screen.”

Eventually, both students were drawing the attention of nearby students. “I was afraid the prof was going to notice soon, and it had gotten to the point where thinking about something sad wasn’t working, so I got up and left,” said Ajene. “I was hoping he would say something funny so everyone would laugh and I would be able to get it out of my system, but it didn’t happen. Then when I came back in he called on me to read a case. Of course. Stupid cats.”