Unfiltered Story #360315

(It’s pre-calculus class, near the end of the quarter. We’re discussing a parametric equation involving a football’s flight path. I’m not really paying attention, despite everyone throwing out sillier and sillier questions about the problem, until I hear this gen:)

Classmate: What is the flight path of an unladen swallow?

(The teacher snorts; the room gets a little quieter. I see my chance to jump in.)

Me: Is it an African or a European swallow?

(A few people laugh, another classmate asks how wind speed factors in, and then we all finally settle down and get back to work.)