sentences on which we’ve left lunch this week

so… we have a habit of staying in the cafeteria and talking after we’ve eaten until someone says something which makes it appropriate or, at times, necessary to leave. this week, these have been those sentences :

monday : we were discussing the laugh of two brothers with whom we work. it’s a cartoonishly high-pitched and chattering laugh that seems more like an ironic impression of woody the woodpecker than an honest laugh. we discussed whether it is genetic or learned and the fact that another of their brothers shared the same laugh (3 out of 5). we then started discussing how when the two brothers laugh at the same time they tend to perfectly synchronize their laugh-bursts and reach an astonishing frisson (it really is unbelievable). so… it was brought up that this could be another example of spontaneous synchrony, akin to fireflies lighting up in a field in unison or people clapping in rhythm. then, someone lets out with :

“women who spend a lot of time together often have menstrual cycles that’re synchronized”

jen : “wait! you think this laugh synchronizes through the same mechanisms as menstruation?”

and the clincher was chad :

“they synchronize their laugh via hormone excretion? you’re saying this laugh is like verbal menstruation?”

tuesday : ben to susan - “fuck your grandma…”

wednesday : we were discussing reality television in light of the new series Madden Nation, in which a group of four alpha males play madden football against each other. this led to a meandering discussion of the reality genre and debate over whether or not it is a reliable source of psychological insight. gaurav brought up My Super Sweet Sixteen on mtv as an example of the absolute nadir of all reality programming; an opinion to which i concurred, ending our lunch thusly :

gaurav : “so, it’s basically watching 100’s of thousands of dollars being spent to celebrate the birthdays of ungrateful children.”

me : “yea, it’s essentially watching parents throw money at their children when they should really just kill their kids and then spend the money on a good legal team.”