True Story Tuesday - Temporary Tourette's

For years I have been plagued by a case of mild Tourette's (no, Anonymous, you do not need to send me any links about Tourette's awareness as you did for orphans, I know what it is and that some people really do suffer from it. I totally watched MTV's True Life about it: "Stop being careless, Grandma! Careless, careless, careless!"). When someone asks a question, and I know the answer, I cannot restrain myself from eagerly shouting my response. Let's examine several case studies shall we?

Exhibit A
Setting: Crowded lecture hall. Communications class.
Situation: The professor is discussing mass media and its effect on society as a whole. As an example he is discussing Harry Potter. He is saying, "... and the really bad guy in Harry Potter. I know you know who I'm talking about..."
Reaction: I love Harry Potter; I equally love pop culture references and assume that everyone around me has not only a knowledge of, but affinity for, such cases. Expecting a reply en masse, I yell out, "LORD VOLDEMORT!!!" Cue crickets. No one else had spoken, and the professor clearly was not expecting an answer. Not only do I like a Tourette's sufferer, but a severely nerdy one, at that.

Exhibit B
Setting: Crowded classroom. Communications class.
Situation: Our professor, who only knows how to give examples focusing around her children, is discussing TV shows. Since she doesn't watch shows unsuitable for anyone older than 4, she is using Nickelodeon and Disney programs as support for the lecture. "You know, you don't often see spinoffs from cartoons, but one of my kids' favorite Nickelodeon cartoons just got its own..."
Reaction: Forgetting that just because I babysit constantly and have unlimited access to each show she talks about, does not mean that everyone else does or that I need broadcast the fact that I do. "Oh my gosh, Go, Diego, Go off of Dora the Explorer!!!!!" Crickets. Then lots of blushing and trying to pretend like Lobster was the one who answered that.

Exhibit C
Setting: Work seminar about social media. Entire office in attendance.
Situation: An outside IT consultant (read: tech geek) is teaching us about widgets. As an example he shows us the MarioKart Wii widget he has on his computer. "I love MarioKart for Wii," he says, "I always play the bad version of Luigi. I forget his name right now..."
Reaction: OMG, I LOVE MarioKart for Wii. I got a Wii for Christmas, and while I currently only have Wii Sports and Dance Dance Revolution, my parents have MarioKart, and I tear it up. "WALUIGI!!!" I yell excitedly, before realizing that, yet again, no one else has answered with me. Sensing a kindred spirit, he continued, "You play MarioKart too??? Which character do you play?" "Baby Peach," I mumbled. "Which car???" he plowed ahead, immune to my mortification. "The Super Kart," I grumbled. "AWESOME CHOICE!" he applauded. Lesson learned. For now.