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Fanfare

The other day, I arrive late to class, which the professor notices. To compensate for this, I try to communicate through my posture and facial expression my extreme attention to, and interest in, the material being presenting. In the middle of one of my head nods, which is meant to signal not only my approval but my deep understanding or ability to relate to what the professor is saying, my phone rings.

But it’s not any old ring.

The ringtone is called “Fanfare,” and it sounds like the trumpets used to notify the people of their king’s arrival. (This is somewhat fitting, if you know me at all.) Surprised to hear my phone ring - and more than a little embarrassed - I quickly walk out of the room and down the hallway. Within seconds, however, I notice that the ring is no longer quite as loud. In fact, it seems to be fading. It is then that I realize that I left the phone in my backpack, which is sitting on the floor next to my seat in the classroom. I turn around and run into the room.

My phone is still ringing. LOUDLY.

I stop at my bag, look around at my classmates, quickly apologize, and run out of the room again, trying to grab the phone out of my bag so that I can silence it once and for all.

Of course, I couldn’t return to class that day.

You may be wondering, what’s the point of this story? 1) Backpacks have big pockets that make locating little things like cell phones difficult to do quickly, and 2) Silencing your cell phone before class starts allows you to feign interest much more convincingly. So …

Avoid embarrassment. Be sure to turn off your cell phones before lecture! (This is doubly true for repeat offenders. And there are many.)

Next post: Why I like first-years.