All you need is love...

...but sometimes you need a little hate too.

-*-

Let me explain. A smartass exists in my Chemistry class who constantly has to ask questions he knows are advanced ones for the 100-level course. Now, I already know how to balance an equation, and I know how to convert grams to milligrams, and I even know how to do nuclear chemistry, and you don't see me asking advanced questions about quantum mechanics and shit just to prove I know how to do this stuff. But this guy has to make sure everyone else realizes he's smarter than them, when I want to ask him how many 19,000+ word essays he's had to write (IB word count=characters without spaces/6, right?) or does he realize what just became the newest country in the world? (Kosovo, by the way.)

Anyway, point is, nobody likes a braggart, and I'm pretty sure that a lot of people can't stand this guy. If only he'd shut up for two seconds, let the professor teach the class (you know, professor=teacher, not you, You-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named), and quit holding us all up because generally his asinine questions take fifteen or so minutes from the lecture when Dr. Byrd is trying to just teach us the simple aspects of chemistry, because I'd like to get through the syllabus by the end of the semester.

Another thing that happened in Chemistry today (technically, yesterday) involves a person who did something immature. I'm not entirely sure what made me assume everybody in college would automatically be smarter than in high school, but that is certainly not the case. I'll be the first to admit that we all have immature moments--it's just a part of being human--but after a while, enough is enough. By, say, your sophomore year of college, you should learn that maybe coming to class is important. Or, you know, maybe if you ask a question about the material the teacher covered last time in class and you were too busy giggling with your girlfriend or whatever the hell she is, then maybe you should STFU and let the rest of us ask genuine questions. Oh, and they buy sandwiches for Frau Diewald so she'll favor them. ...*sigh.* I don't think I even need to say anything about that.

See, wha' ha' happen' was, yesterday in Chem lab we had 23 people in the pre-lab lecture, which everyone must attend, so we had to have a group of 3, etc. I was fine because I was paired up with a friend from high school, and the group of three girls that volunteered are the ones who normally do volunteer (we'll call them Annoying Group #1...all typical sorority girls). However, two of the girls I am talking about up above (not Annoying Group #1, but the ones who ask stupid questions because they aren't paying attention) are in this Chemistry class (oh joy, right?) with their third friend. Since these two girls are also in my German class and were last semester, I know they are both very, very annoying, have no common sense, like to goof around during class, then later make everyone else pay for it by having to suffer through the teacher's explanation a second time. Ever hear of reading your textbook to figure out how to conjugate verbs? Anywho, I am basically just setting up their personalities for all my avid readers (hint: that was sarcasm). Now, I don't know the third girl very well at all, but at a glance she acts just as annoying as the rest of them, but I can't say for certain that she is as stupid. Usually the third one gets paired up with someone random, so they never have a problem with the "omg we can't have another group of three?" which is somewhat surprising, but alright. So they are known as Annoying Group #2.

If you are lost, here's a quick summary:

• Pre-lab discussion = 23 people
• Annoying Group #1 = 3 sorority girls
• Annoying Group #2 = 3 girls who generally act like they're about five years old and are rude to pretty much anyone who didn't go to Hoover with them (that explains it, right?)
  

Point is, when we got in the lab itself we actually had 22 people, and everyone was paired up just fine, Annoying Group #1 had to split into 2 and the leftover person found another lone person with no complaints of what I heard, and all was well with the world.

OR WAS IT???
*cue dramatic music*

Silliness aside, somebody left before the lab started, or during the lab, so therefore didn't complete the lab. But "mysteriously," this person's name showed up on the sign-in sheet Dr. Byrd has us sign when we get done with the lab and he stamps our sheets. I think that's a reasonable request, but apparently this person thought they could get away with just signing the sign-in sheet when they didn't even attend the lab.

I am pretty sure, though have no real proof save for previous...experiences with two-thirds of Annoying Group #2, that the person was from AG#2, and I have a pretty good idea of which girl it was--i.e., the one who acts like she's five the most out of all three of them.

So Dr. Byrd presented us with three options:

1. He give the person a zero
2. He give the person above and below the person's name on the sign-in sheet zeros (reasoning behind that being one of them had to be the one who wrote it...logical indeed)
3. Have mercy and let that person get the benefit of the doubt THIS TIME

Personally, I agree most strongly with #1, because if someone isn't going to come to lab, and it's a lab course (meaning we have to have 7/10 labs to pass the course), but cheat and ask their friends to sign them in, then obviously they don't care about academics. However, he chose #3, and that I can also see. I hope, if it happens again, he gives that person a zero, though--especially if it's the girl I am pretty sure he's talking about, because if anyone doesn't care about being in school, it's her.

I get sick of people who think just because Mommy and Daddy paid for school they have to go to college and have no real desire to learn. It makes things harder for the rest of us who actually do apply ourselves to keep our scholarships and who want to earn degrees to make life so that we can support ourselves if we need. Sure, it'd be nice to be a beneficiary (if that's the right term) of a million-dollar inheritance, but I wasn't born into an aristocratic family, and my dad taught me to work hard if I want to be successful. I'll be damned if people like her/them/whatever hinder my education because they make stupid decisions.

Okay...I'm off my soapbox now, I promise.