A student who'd been enjoying a meatball sandwich while sitting an online test was left distraught after one meatball dropped onto her keyboard, landing on an unfortunate button. She claimed it caused the economics test to be submitted before she'd had time to answer the majority of questions.
To her dismay, Sam Lee, who studies at the University of Georgia, in the US, ended up receiving a disappointing grade for the test, blaming the pesky meatball. Hoping to resit the, she decided to explain the bizarre situation to her professor in an email she's since shared via Twitter.
In the hilarious yet unfailingly polite email, Sam, who goes by the username @easycheese02, wrote: "I had some technical difficulties and outside distractions during the test today.
"Something hit my computer and caused it to submit the test when I had less than half of the questions answered. By something, I mean a meatball that had tragically fallen onto my keyboard as I was taking the exam.
"This said meatball caused some malfunctions with my laptop and caused the test to submit itself. I completely understand that a falling meatball is no excuse for the failing grade on this exam, but is there any possibility of retaking this test?"
Thankfully, Sam's professor turned out to be a sympathetic sort with a sense of good sense of humour, who replied with some amusement that this was "certainly a new and unusual excuse for a low score!"
Much to Sam's relief, he continued: "But for that reason it seems unlikely you've made this up. I've extended your deadline for the module six test until midnight tonight. I would recommend you take the test either before or after dinner."
Sam's followers were left howling at the blunder, and were thrilled that she was allowed another shot at the test, which she happily went on to ace.
One person tweeted: "As someone who's taught college classes, I can assure you that this level of excuse would have made my day.
"My favourite was a student who missed an exam because her new puppy got sick. Instead of a vet's note, she brought the puppy when she made up the test. It peed on my office floor."
Another chuckled: "I taught at a university for 10 years. Once during summer session, a student handed me a note apologising for missing the Monday class meeting, [explaining,] 'I was in a wet t-shirt contest over the weekend, and I slipped and hurt my neck'. 'I wasn’t feeling well', would have sufficed."
Have you experienced something strange or unusual? Email us at julia.banim@reachplc.com
