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Fifteen minutes into his lecture on quarks, Professor Charles Benson’s lecture was derailed by an anecdote that is still going on.
“This reminds me of something my roommate said back at Princeton…” said Benson, at which point exasperated sighs were heard throughout the auditorium.
“God, not again,” reported Tim Berger ’17, a Physics concentrator, throwing his pens down in frustration. “Every lecture, without fail. Every lecture.”
“… so back in junior year, my cousin Kevin and I—Kevin was a couple of years older than I was, but he went to a local community college so he and I spent a lot of time together…”
“Is this the same Kevin we heard about last week?” asked Noel Powers to the student sitting next to her.
“…so when we got the Camaro running, it was the best moment of our lives,” continued Benson, tilting his head back and smiling as he relived the moment. “That car was a beautiful thing. Kevin and I painted it myself—actually, my friend Chris might have helped, I can’t quite remember—and gave it slick racing stripes. I put a straight tailpipe on it, so when I accelerated, it roared! My high school sweetheart and I actually made love for the first time in that car..”
“Oh Jesus,” reported Blake Gaines, visibly cringing.
“… so when I got to Princeton, the Camaro was the talk of the campus. Everyone wanted to see under the engine, to ride in it. We’d drive down to the shore on weekends with the windows down. So the first time I met my roommate, he asked what a nerdy physicist was doing with such a sweet ride. We got to talking, and then he said—oh wait, no, this wasn’t the first time we met. It must have been after midterms my first fall,” he paused before laughing, “One of my professors, Dr. Patterson, used to write these horrific exams for physical chemistry. The TAs were no help, so I spent a lot of time in the library…”
At press time, the anecdote had entered its 21st minute.
