Fruitless Pranks...of the Fruit Fly Sort

So, I just realized today that I'm pretty glad that I didn't put anesthetized fruit flies under Andy Anderson's door when I had the chance. I saw him today, and he said, "Good to see you again." It's very possible that he's forgotten my name, but at least I am still recognized.

Anyway, it all goes back to fall semester when my genetics lab partner Aaron and I had a little conversation about "pompous professors." And somehow we started talking about Andy Anderson. Now, I've worked for him for a couple of semesters, and haven't had many problems with him. But, when it came down to the nitty gritty topic at hand, I could not deny the pomp factor. And the last few times I had seen him he didn't even seem to remember me, so, I had a motive (the same as Homer Simpson's to shoot Mr. Burns, actually).

At the time, we were in the middle of anesthetizing our fruit flies and sorting them under the microscope when Aaron brought up the fact that Andy's office was just across the hall. I knew exactly what he was implying, and burst out laughing. You see, I always made an effort to spare the lives of the sleeping flies...and was always dumping them this place and that (outside of course), rather than killing them.

In my laughter, I couldn't stop imagining how hilarious it would be if the next time he walked into his office it was swarming with fruit flies. And all we would have to do to achieve this hilarity is simply slip them under the door. Haha! It was an entertaining thought, but we held out.

Well, now that I know he at least remembers my face, I'm glad we didn't do that prank. I might be seeing him more often too, as the Bio Department might start doing classes through Distance Education (we did an IP conference for them today). I might actually need a recommendation from him someday too, so, I won't feel guilty asking for it now.