“Okay, the question we got was what are three impacts of the Great Blizzard of 1888?” Ramon said.
“Before we start, what were the areas that Professor Edwards said were most affected by the blizzard. I forgot.” Maki asked with a confused face.
“Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Vermont,” Eloise answered.
“That was almost correct, Ellen. You forget about the Chesapeake Bay, the Atlantic providences of Canada, and Maine. Also, Vermont was not one among those that were affected by the blizzard,” Anais said with a smile that can be considered to be sly upon closer examination.
“Thank you so much, Annie, I didn’t know that; I better correct my notes,” Eloise said in an annoyed tone.
“Moving on, do any of you got anything,” Ramon said with some irritation seeping out.
“The blizzard caused a transportation gridlock that contributed to the construction of the first underground subway system in the U.S, which opened in Boston nine years later,” I said in response.
“Cool, what else?” Ramon said as he began typing into our shared document.
“The telegraph infrastructure was deactivated in Montreal, Canada, and most large northeastern U.S cities. New York then put their telegraph and telephone infrastructure underground so there wouldn’t be future damage,” Maki said.
“Great, we need one more,” Ramon said as he was typing Maki’s answer.
Fire stations were also put out of action. The damage from fires alone was an estimated $25 million, which would be around 670 million today.” Anais then said.
“Wrong, it is actually around $713 million. You must have miscalculated,” Eloise said with a mixture of delight and condescending before going into an explanation on how to get the correct answer.
“Thank you so much for pointing that out, Ella. Your math skills always surprise me.”
“Guys, let us get back to the question,” Ramon said as he attempted to get them to stop.
Ignoring Ramon, Eloise said, “Well, Annebeth, I am minoring in accounting. It would be a good idea to brush up on your math so that you won’t come across as an incompetent lawyer. I could recommend some math classes for you.”
“Guys..”, Ramon said again, slightly more ticked off.
Ignoring Ramon as well, Anais said, “Well, since you're recommending them, they shouldn’t be too difficult.”
That statement really ticked off Eloise, and I could already tell what was going to happen next. Eloise then said, “You know you’re a real fucking bitch.”
In response, Anais, with an expression of anger, retorted, “From the biggest bitch of them all, that is such an incredible compliment."
Then something shocking happened.
“Would you two just shut the fuck up! Every fucking day when we have a discussion activity, you two get us so off-topic that the rest of us have to have a separate conversation that we cannot even continue because of your incessant bickering,” Ramon said, seething in anger. Making Anais and Eloise grow quit.
I truly empathized with Ramon’s feelings, and I am sure Maki and Nova do too. However, his outburst of frustration came at an extremely unfortunate time, as I had just noticed who had entered our breakout room.
“Uhm, Ramon, I think you should stop….” I said, hoping he would realize the additional presence in our room.
Unfortunately, my warning didn’t ease Ramon’s fury. “No, Minerva, every fucking time we do a group discussion, Anais and Eloise are constantly butting heads and acting like fucking children, and you, Maki, Nova, and I have to pick up the slack because they rather spend their time arguing and being assholes.”
“Ramon, would you please stop yelling and calling your classmates assholes. If you continue to do so I will have to inform the Office of Student Conduct. Anais, Eloise if you don’t resolve your issues I will remove you from my class and report you to the Office of Student Conduct as well. Ramon, Minerva, Maki, Nova, if they continue to cause trouble, please alert me. I am ending class here today.” Professor Edwards said before leaving the virtual room.
I then look back at
everybody else. Maki and Nova had the same awkward expression from witnessing
what had just happened. Anais and Eloise were quiet from being scolded. While
Ramon was mortified from yelling and having his outburst witnessed by our Professor.
I then look back at everybody else. Maki and Nova had the same awkward expression from witnessing what had just happened. Anais and Eloise were quiet from being scolded. While Ramon was mortified from yelling and having his outburst witnessed by our Professor.
“Uhm, Ramon, I am so-…,” Anais and Eloise said before Ramon interrupted them.
“¡Vete pa’l carajo!” Ramon then said to them before leaving the room.
Soon after, Anais and Eloise signed off. Maki, Nova, I exchanged expressions of uncertainty before leaving as well.
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