Funny Stuff From Class: the things people say

My typography class is currently designing conceptual billboards for local haunted houses in the area. During class the other day one of my students popped his head up and asked, "hey I want to have a guy hanging from a noose... would that be OK?" Another student didn't miss a beat and said, "as long as he's not black." Later in the same class a girl complained, "I can't make anything look scary." Two rows over someone said, "ask your parents how they did it." This really struck me as funny, call it a twisted sense of humor or whatever, I enjoy it when students interact on such a sharp witted level. 

To try and foster just such an environment I often find myself "zinging" a student in response to a complaint or insipid comment. In another of my classes a male student was explaining how he felt about workplace privacy when a female student interrupted saying, "Honey, I ain't nobody's fool..." At which point I cut her off and asked if there might be someone willing to adopt her. Once I walked into a classroom and everyone was being obnoxious, a student asked if I was upset and I responded that "if idiots could fly this would be an airport."

I guess the point of this post is that sometimes humor, even insults, can make us think. I'd like to leave you with one important thought, but I'm not sure you have a place to put it.