s we sat there engrossed in our ther- modynamics class, the sound of whirling helicopter blades kept getting louder and louder until we could no longer hear our teacher. He stopped, went near the windows, acted as if he had a rifle in hand, peeked out, aimed his “rifle” and opened fire with his mouth, “ratatatatat….” This was annoyance and fantasy in a time of martial law. We had wanted to laugh, but there was also a martial law of sorts blanketing our classroom, or so we imagined. You see, this mechanical engineering profes- sor was someone considered a “terror” by many a student. We simply weren’t sure how he would have reacted to our laughter. So we just awkwardly sat there holding tight our vocal cords and keeping the air in our lungs, knowing that silence was the best policy. But I saw the humor in his eyes and in the corner of his mouth. He must have noticed the pent-up laughter in our faces and bodies, too.
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