The Unwelcome Caterpillar

A few weeks ago, our Bug Biology class went on a bug-collecting trip in Urbana. This was our second class trip so we knew how to capture bugs using our nets and jars, but I was still a little hesitant on touching the bugs. My friend and I were walking together sweeping our nets on the ground when I suddenly saw a butterfly. I wanted to catch it so I ran towards it. After chasing the butterfly for sometime, I decided to stop since I had gone far from my friend and I still had to see what other bugs were already in my net.

I found a nice place to sit where the grass was a bit shorter, so that I could identify any unwanted bugs invading my personal space. I kneeled down, placed my backpack on the ground, and opened up my net to see what I had caught. There were many beetles, grasshoppers, spiders, and I even had a katydid. After putting them into the jar, I got back up and put my backpack on to continue collecting.

After I walked a few feet, I decided to look more closely in the grass. As my eyes were focused on the ground, I caught a glimpse of some movement. I looked at my thigh and saw a giant brown hairy thing crawling up my leg towards my torso. Although I didn’t know specifically what it was, I knew there was an unexpectedly large, unwelcome insect racing up my thigh. So like an entomophobe would do, I screamed. Finally, a kind classmate came up to me and calmly asked me, while I was still screaming, if I wanted the bug in the jar. The only thing I could say in my moment of panic was “GET IT OFF OF ME.” She captured the big, speedy bug in the jar, relieving me from my freak-out. I finally calmed down to see what thing was climbing my leg.

I looked into the jar and saw a the beast. Actually, it wasn’t a beast, it was caterpillar about the size of my index finger with long hairs sticking out of it. That was the cause of my fear. I was so glad that not many people had seen me overreact to the bug because that would’ve been awkward. However, unfortunately, many others had heard me and later asked what happened. When I explained the incident, I could tell that they were disappointed. Maybe they were looking for a better cause for my scream or maybe they just couldn’t believe that I screamed because of a caterpillar. Afterwards, I couldn’t either, but in my defense, I was panicked in the moment.

The good news is that now, I’ve overcome any fear of bugs and hopefully won’t shriek next time one is on me!

Puns are Rad(ish)

The other day, I laughed for at least a minute after hearing an amazing joke consisting of puns. I love puns. I think that they’re the cleverest and funniest jokes ever. I know a lot of people don’t really find puns to be amusing, but I really enjoy them. The play on words is sometimes really clever and at other times really bad, but I find both to be equally punny. I loved it so much that I decided to share it with my friend and her cousins, who I had never met before, since they were the first people I saw after learning this new joke. After a brief introduction with my friend’s cousins, we were sitting quietly so I asked them if they wanted to hear a joke and the three said “sure”.

I was thrilled to tell it because I knew the joke was great. I mean it made me laugh for a quite some time so it was probably pretty good. First, however, I had to control my excitement to tell the joke calmly and correctly for even more hilarity. I looked at my dull faced audience, who I was ready to amuse. I then began,

“What did the vegetables say at the garden party?” I posed.

I received one semi-interested “what?” I grinningly glanced at my friend and her cousins and replied to the timely question,

“Lettuce turnip the beet.”

I let out a roaring laugh with the belief that the others were laughing with me. Once I began to gather myself, I saw slightly bemused faces. My first thought was that I had told the joke incorrectly, but I knew I hadn’t. If not that, maybe they didn’t understand the joke. I tried to explain how it was supposed to sound like “Let us turn up the beat,” but they said that they understood it. Consequently, I was in a slightly awkward situation because joke I promised to be hilarious turned out to be a flop in their eyes and I made strangers uncomfortable. I didn’t really know what to say, so we sat silent.

After a while I said, “I carrot believe you guys didn’t like the joke! In my op-onion it was hilarious.” I could sense that my friend and her cousins weren’t really amused and that they weren’t big fans of puns. One of the cousins then smiled, and said “Peas stop with the vegetable puns, they’re pretty bad.” We laughed the uncomfortable moment off and they decided that I shouldn’t use this joke again.

I guess the situation did become awkward, but in the end, we all had a fun time. So, if you ever are in a situation where you don’t know what to talk about with strangers, you can always tell a joke and have a pun-filled time! Okay, I’ll stop now for those of you who think these puns are corny. :)