It had to be you...

I absolutely love my Italian professor this session. And professors particularly in this area are hard to find. I've been lucky to have had two great ones out of four - funny to note that they're the ones who weren't native-born Italians. Just born-again Italians, well, in Professore's case, one who was raised and lived there till he was 18. He's spunky with a sense of humor that translates across the language barrier. He taps his pencil among the books and pieces of paper scattered atop his desk in a Jimmy Fallon-esque manner when he's thinking about what to tell us next. He bumps into trashcans during grammar lessons and pardons himself to the inanimate object. "Ah, scusi..." Simply put, he's awesome.

Today during lecture, he asked us to turn to our books so we could review new vocabulary. As he flipped the pages to his book, the sweep of his fingers caused the entire book to flip across his desk, and a couple slips of paper flew out.

A magnified playback of this would reveal the humiliating part of the story.

"Oh my God," he said, and as he picked it up, he showed us what he held. "...Free Frosty, anyone??"

Yep, my 50+ year-old professor kept coupons for Wendy's irresistible flash-frozen treats between the pages of an intermediate Italian textbook. Multiple coupons, to note.

Naturally, we all laughed together and Professore transitioned smoothly into the vocabulary review.

Needless to say, I'm glad it wasn't me. Although now I've got a craving for a Frosty.

It had to be you...

There are several "sucks to be that guy/gal" occurrences that happen around campus, and where better to chronicle these events than here? I figure you guys would enjoy a quick laugh at the expense of others like I do.

Perky Girl and I are always up for catching other people tripping, spilling things, or dropping things when we're out for a giggle, even if it's one of us experiencing the stumble.

Last fall, Perky and I would meet on the lawn to chat for a couple of minutes in between our respective lectures. Here, the lawn on South Mall is a gathering place to do just that, or whatever you want to do - nap, eat lunch, throw around a frisbee, yoga-cise, study, or people-watch/eavesdrop.

The November day was one for the books - sunny with a light, crisp autumn breeze that carried frail leaves along with it. We went about our daily chat, whining about classes and gossiping about last night's episode of whatever reality show we were hooked on that season. The breeze picked up for a quick minute, and a guy who happened to sit a few feet next to us to enjoy his lunch was an instant victim.



We couldn't help but giggle uncontrollably as his shirt remained in its upright position, long after the wind had settled. Perky caught a snapshot of this incident, and the funniest part was that he didn't react at all. He just kept savoring each bite of his meal. His backside stayed exposed, for everyone north of his south side to see, and we went to class thinking about him and laughing to ourselves.

Needless to say, I'm glad it wasn't me.