"Sarcasm is the tool of the devil," it's often said.
If that's the case, my pointy red horns are custom engraved.
The 24-hour news cycle running our world is constantly being infiltrated with commentary, humor, satire, wit and - of course - sarcasm. Take a peek at some of the most popular television shows like "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart" and "The Colbert Report," and it's no joke that humor is the way to young people's hearts and minds.
For our marketing students out there, don't forget to add "wallet" to that list.
The true blending of news and satire is its own book, let alone another column. But it raises an interesting point as to the line of what's appropriate.
Day-by-day, that line continues to blur.
The public is often insulted when otherwise joking material crosses its path, be it a side-jab about heritage (Irish drinking), hair color (blondes) or one's school.
Ball State University is no stranger to one-liners, especially in this publication. Most recently, the summer orientation guide left some readers less than pleased.
Then again, no university is really foreign to targeted jokes. Be it "Moo, Moo Purdue [University]" or some sort of football joke about Indiana University, every school takes its fair share of blows - from outsiders AND insiders.
People are enabled invisible credentials in certain social situations. Having any sort of involvement in something allows us to poke fun at it with confidence. It's much easier to crack on your best friend's date-gone-wrong than to a random stranger's lacking love life.
Sports fans know this technique by heart, especially fans who stick with a team through-and-through. You celebrate the good games and criticize the trades, the fouls and the losses. More often than not, these fans are bashing their favorite team for doing something wrong - not out of hate, but love.
(Cough.) Cubs' fans.
One of the best pieces of advice I've received is to treasure the ability to laugh at yourself.
Consequently, it's also one of the most difficult suggestions to follow.
Humor is our warm, cuddly down comforter in the cold world of embarrassment and awkward situations. Like the Peanuts character Linus, we toss that blanket over our shoulder and lug it around, gripping it tightly in times of need.
Some people are just more accustomed to having that blanky. Regardless, we all know how to use it - and we do more often then we realize.
We typically wouldn't crack on something if we didn't have some sort of passion for it. More often than not, for every good kick in the shin, there's some amount of friendly love behind it. Otherwise, it really wouldn't be worth our time to comment on it in the first place.
So hang tight to your blanket of puns and jokes. Treasure the ability to laugh at yourself and the things you love - even if it is the university you're attending.
Just make sure you wash that imaginary fuzzy cloth every now and then. Jokes, like laundry, tend to get old and smelly after while.
And that's not sarcasm.
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