The New Hotness

By Chhun Sun
Columnist

Ok, just last week, a friend spots me in a building where I was waiting to go into a classroom I later discovered was the wrong one.

“What are you doing here in my building,” she asked.

“What building? This building? This is my building,” I say, already conceiving the thought that I just made a sad attempt at a joke.

She gives me a blank stare, as if to say, “But, uh, anyway.”

Right then I wanted to smash my head into a willing wall several times over and over again. What I said was probably the equivalent of using the “your mama’s” comeback whenever someone insults you so bad your brain stings. It’s also like trying to find a way out of a maze alone without having a good sense of direction.

As soon as my friend walks away, I have this incredible sensation of delayed genius, reliving the moment in my head. But this time, I have a different comeback.

“What? Is this building named after you?” Maybe the retort would have prompted a giggle at the very least, if not a hysterical combustion of loud laughter.

Well, maybe not.

The point is: I need to develop quick-witted humor before I die knowing I lived a life without much spontaneity when it comes to saying something funny. We all should, actually.

Even if you are Drew Carey’s son and have the innate ability to strike up something clever at a moment’s notice, there is always room for more, especially in a world where saying the right thing at the right time will earn you major points.

When you can come up with something fresh to say out of thin air like a freestyle rapper who has the talent to make words rhyme with any beat, it gets you noticed. It adds flavor to your charm. It may help you secure the job you always wanted, or get the much-needed loan to score that dream car or house, or save you from a hurtful insult.

Or maybe, just maybe, it might give you the extra edge to get the phone number of the cutie you’ve been in love with ever since you clumsily bumped into her at the playground, causing a permanent bruise on her right shoulder. Well, that’s just me.

In the third grade, I was never good at dodgeball. When someone threw the giant red rubber ball directly at my face at a very high speed, I never had the kind of ability to throw it back. That kind of inability lends itself to my humor. I know I need to work on it because in my experience, an insult to the face hurts more than a rubber ball.

My experiences only place more importance to learn and develop a unique sense of quick humor. It’s not just for the sake of looking handsomely slick in front of others. It might save your life.

That’s why I think there should be a class taught at Fresno State about developing funny expressions at the drop of a dime. Or, maybe, it’s just me.

Chhun Sun is a senior majoring in Mass Communication and Journalism. The New Hotness is a featured column that runs every Friday in The Collegian.