Dude, That's Rude: Lecture

Lecture classes are painful enough without the added struggle of dealing with annoying classmates who haven't quite learned the etiquette of taking a lecture class. That’s why we all prefer to watch recorded lectures from the safety of our beds (wait, did we mean Netflix?). For those of us who don’t get the luxury of online lectures, please keep your rudeness to a minimum. Here are some of the rudest things you can do in lecture:

By Casey M. Allen

Asking a “Question” By Making a Statement

We see you, section kid. We know you’re frustrated that you can’t be as loud and obnoxious in lecture, but please, please, don’t waste our time by speaking your mind and pretending that you have a “question.” Raising the tone of your voice at the end of your sentence does not make it a question. Suck up to the professor in office hours.

Asking a Question That the Prof Just Answered

If you’re not going to listen, we can’t stop you. But we can stop you from holding up the class by asking the professor to repeat what they just said. You will get a knowing groan from your classmates if your question was answered on the previous slide.

Bringing a Feast to Lecture

We understand that it can be hard to make it to the dhall before 9 a.m. Ec1010b. But that doesn’t give you permission to eat a full course breakfast—we’re talking baked beans, bacon, and burnt toast all in one—while some of us are trying to listen. Best-case scenario, your food smells great and we are jealous and hungry. Worst-case scenario, you never quite learned how to chew quietly as a kid and you make the rest of your classmates want to reach across the table and smack the food out of your mouth.

Blocking the Rows By Sitting On the Aisle

We’ve all been in those lecture halls with rows narrower than long-haul airline economy seating. It’s awkward and impossible to climb over the kid on the end of the row just to get a seat. We end up sitting on the staircase, and that makes us sad. Be courteous, don’t just sit on the aisle, and if you do, stand up to let us pass without too much unwanted bodily contact.

Life is hard, lecture is harder, 9 a.m. lecture is hardest. We’re not in the mood in these moments of struggle, so if you do any of these things, expect us to tell you: Dude, that’s rude.