Monday afternoon, Fred Nantes trekked up to the fourth floor of Crowe to meet with his Albanian Existential Literature 101 professor. There was a building sense of trepidation in the air, palpable by many passersby, as he ascended the staircase, often referred to as “nearly endless.”
Self-described as a bit disheveled and nervous, Nantes tapped on the door at the end of the dark and tortuous hall.
“Come on in,” replied Professor Giorgio in a voice that one anonymous onlooker noted as being “almost too cheery.”
Nantes said that he entered the classroom with his best pitiful face. He sat down on the chair offered to him by Professor Giorgio, but the leather squeaked just a few decibels above the socially-accepted volume, creating an awkward tension in the air.
After a brief staring session, Nantes broke the silence by clearing his throat unnecessarily. This was the 3.5 million dollar question, the one that those listening in the hall through the cracks in the door had been waiting to hear the answer to.
“You know, I’m taking five classes right now, and I’ve been really busy with my exec boards and meetings for the student groups I’m involved in, and it was really a little unreasonable to ask for a five page paper due the same day as our final exam…” stammered Nantes.
The room was reportedly “very still and silent.”
“Well, all I am asking,” continued Nantes, “is that you give me an extension for this paper.”
Professor Giorgio is a known stickler for deadlines. News of a permission to have an extension could really change everything. CTECs would see a dramatic change in pace in comparison to last year’s negatively opinionated prose. Analysts were already going wild with the prospects. This could even mean higher enrollment for his class next quarter, Chinese Philosophy in Modern French Cooking.
“There was a strange tension in the air when I walked to get a cup of coffee this afternoon,” one of the professor’s colleagues said of the scene.
Well that tension all came to a head when Professor Giorgio’s awaited answer rang out through the deafening silence: “Yes.”
Nantes reportedly was so surprised that he thought Professor Giorgio had said “no.” He dejectedly walked out of the office and got to the top of the stairs when he realized what had actually transpired. In a sudden burst of happiness he jumped up in victory.
Though not in critical condition, Nantes underwent procedures to realign his ankle, which was broken in his fall from the fourth floor stairwell.
Unfortunately Professor Giorgio, for fear of appearing weak, refused to grant a further extension.