Of rhyme and reason

though assessment week has just passed us and the season calls for celebration, this is not a pleasant post...
here's some background before the main issue is presented: we have 3 projects that are due in 3 consecutive days, the most crucial of which is the 2.0 credit SPIRE presentation which, as well all know and accept, we do not have much time to prepare for...

it was with this in mind that i responded as i did when, lo and behold, i received a sms from none other than joanna seow shuzhen that she's throwing a surprise birthday party for johnson during civics tomorrow...
now under normal circumstances the idea of having a party is very nice indeed, because it is, generically speaking, a nice thing to do...

however, let's examine what's absurdly wrong about this situation...
jo is a nice person, that's a given, but is not known for her magnanimity when it comes to parties and such.. have we ever witnessed her throwing a party for any other people in class? not that i can properly recall...
furthermore, in the message, in interestingly enthusiastic language, she stated that johnson "really deserves something good"...
what on earth is that supposed to mean???
no offence to johnson, you're a member of our class and what not,
BUT where lies the necessity in stating that he really deserves something good, as compared to others not deserving something really good? its the idea of relativity you see, like the qualifier "really" means that it must be something better than what others had... the idea is that i've never seen such messages being passed around about other people...

another even more unbelieving factor to this scenario is that tomorrow is the day of the dreaded SPIRE presentation for all of us (or at least a vast majority of us), and it only makes sense that, since there hasn't been much time over the past 2 weeks, we'd like to use the only free period in class, civics, to prepare for the presentation, regardless of how short that period of time is... and even i had already planned to use that period to rehearse our presentation, and jo just so happens to be in my group as well...
she has even asked mr lee wei chai for permission to use that period for the party, and she includes in her sms that she wishes there won't be any "silly" activities planned for that period...
such things should be done at the expanse of personal time, like the example of mer's surprise party which was held in private premises and done after school hours and at a less stressful window of time...
oh and i just realized that jo hasn't even done the part of the presentation as of this hour at nite, so shouldn't she prioritize our grades and finish it before taking pains to organize something like this??

do you not realize how tight the time is for us to perfect a presentation that holds more percentage in the grand scheme of things than our bio and chem papers during assessment week combined??
do u not realize that by asking mr lee for OUR period that you are robbing us of the time we need?
such flippant organization of a party is unheard of, and trust me, to the best of my ability, i will want to keep it that way, keep it unheard of...
i speak for myself, mel and cherry when we say that joanna, you are needed during civics to prepare for the presentation we've slaved for goodness knows how long over, and there's no way i'm gonna jeopardize my marks by you not being there...
and i speak on behalf of my group, and i'm sure on the part of darius and his group members and a rather large majority of the class populace when i say that such merry-making should be kept outside curriculum hours...

i find myself being ridiculed for even having received that sms this afternoon, and i will, with the backing of others, tell mr lee how he cannot and will not in the future give away our period and our class space as and when a request for it comes up, the least of which is parties during such a dire period where our marks are concerned...

this must and will stop, i personally assure you...
and i was never known to be a liar when it comes to these things...

JOHN LEO CAINES