Buh-Bye, Missed Opportunity

Dear Professor Smith,

While scrolling the internet, I stumbled upon the syllabus from a class you taught at Stanford Continuing Studies…I Laughed So Hard, I Cried: Writing Comedy and Tragedy. I practically fell off my chair with excitement looking for the ‘enroll’ button, only to notice ‘2023’ printed at the bottom of the page. Since it’s currently the year 2026, the class is long since over!

This disappointment feels like a personal tragedy as I fail to find any comedy in missed opportunity. As a consolation (aka, booby prize), I joined Stanford’s email list that lets prospective students know if a class is ever offered again. So while I live like a lady in waiting, I’m also going straight to the source by reaching out to you, the professor of the course. Besides, I think that email list is stringing me along, and I’m not even playing hard to get. I’m a sure thing! 

If this letter resonates with a sense of desperation, it’s because I’m over fifty and afrAId of ChatGPT. I fear it will soon learn to write comedy and tragedy with such accuracy that we’ll laugh at how we humans once thought it couldn’t. That’s no laughing matter. It’s actually something to cry about.

Thank you for considering a student who wants to learn how to spin disappointing life events into tears of laugher. Or laughter through tears, which Steel Magnolias taught me is Truvy’s favorite emotion. She was the character played by the one and only Dolly Parton. And Dolly is certainly no lady in waiting.

With tears and some tittering,

Suzie McCormac