Whooping It Up

Here's a little story my brother Paul told me. It makes me laugh every time I think about it.

It was finals week at the end of one of Paul's college semesters at Baylor. He and his friends had finished their finals early, and were enjoying a relaxing time throwing a football around in the courtyard of one guy's apartment complex, killing time before they headed home for the break. Sometime, amidst all the fun, Paul's friend Jason got the hiccups.

Now, Jason didn't have what you might call ordinary-sounding hiccups. Everytime he hiccupped, it sounded like a high-pitched "WHOOP!" It was completely unnatural- and hilarious-sounding. Of course, the guys couldn't resist the opportunity to mock, and so began this bizarre exchange of lyrical soprano "whoops" that reverberated across the courtyard, along with a great deal of laughter.

At some point, a couple of girls came out of an upstairs apartment and called down to the guys. They were still studying for their finals, and asked the boys if they could keep it down a bit as the noise was disturbing them. My brother and his friends apologized profusely and promised to be quieter. Then one of the girls said, "It really wouldn't be that big of a deal if it weren't for all the whooping." Again, the boys apologized, the girls went back inside, and the courtyard erupted in hilarious (but subued, so as not to disturb) laughter.