Passing With Reservation

My UCC Sales professor allows each person two passes throughout the semester. The rule is that you have to submit a written note at the beginning of class indicating that you are "passing" for the day. For the entire class period that day, the professor is not supposed to call on you.

Except he is old. And he forgets who passes each day. And, therefore, he often calls on you anyway. This is why I never bother too pass. I'll be embarassed either way.

But one of our classmates got smart. He decided to make his "pass" note memorable. This way it would stand out and the professor would remember not to call on him. This classmate told me that he put a ridiculous excuses on his last pass. He wrote, "I pass today because I was too disheartened by the results of American Idol to concentrate properly." The student said the professor laughed when he read it and never called on him.

Thursday, this student raised his hand during class. The professor looked at him curiously over the top of his glasses and then smiled. "Are you sure you want to answer? Should I consider this voluntary?" the Professor asked.

The rest of the class must have looked confused because the professor explained, "I want to make sure I am calling on you in accordance with your note which says, 'I pass today but I reserve the right to volunteer information as the occassion arises'." We all busted out laughing. Oh I love my fellow law students.