Snarky Behavior

So my incoming classmates at SIPA have been introducing themselves via a list-serv, which makes me feel incredibly unaccomplished. These young men and women come from all over the world, have worked in all kinds of capacities, doing incredible things…and then there’s me. Until 6 months ago, my resume still had “scratch bowler” under “additional skills.”

One thing that is very amusing about the list-serv is how people use it to share their collective anxieties (apparently I’m not the only one who feels like a fraud). This is most prevalent around the math placement exam we will be taking during orientation… several e-mails from the international development and security studies crowd freaking out (”does anyone know EXACTLY how much math we are expected to know??], since for some it’s been 10+ years since they’ve touched serious math.

Of course, even though I can relate to it on one level, I find the group therapy aspect of “omg omg Calculus!” to be highly comical. If you really wanted the definitive answer, you’d just e-mail the university, right? But the list-serv is as much about reassurance and fraternizing as it is about sharing information (which also, by the way, is the distinguishing characteristic between web 1.0 and web 2.0).

So, with the intention of cutting some of the tension, I submitted the following message:

Does anyone know how to do the Harlem Shake? I would like to learn before moving to the UWS… I am nervous that my dancing skills may be currently insufficient. I haven’t really danced since my freshman year of college (aside from some pathetic attempts to learn salsa while in Cuba), and may be out of practice.

Thanks,

Jon

PS I need a place to live too, and maybe a math tutor, but dancing instructor is paramount.

Now, either: a) everyone in my incoming class thinks I’m a huge idiot or b) I helped to abate the tide of anxiety and insecurity that festers inside of driven people, before it boiled over. I suspect the former, since nobody has responded to my message. But I am hoping for the latter.

What would you think of the guy who sent this? Clever? Douche? Is it too sincere? Unprofessional? Not funny?

And for the record, there’s absolutely no way I could ever do the Harlem Shake, it’s not even worth trying, but I could probably learn the Chicken Noodle Soup dance.