After three days of Thanksgiving break spent watching TV with my family, cuddling with my dog, and enjoying afternoon naps in my own bed, I realized that I had committed one of the greatest 21st century sins: going three whole days without checking my Facebook. This past Wednesday evening as I sat on my living room couch with a hot mug of tea, I finally decided to rectify the situation and put myself back in touch with civilization.

As I perused the BuzzFeed links and holiday-themed selfies (#thanksgivukkah) that ornamented/littered my NewsFeed, I was surprised to see a blue boxed “20+” next to the “Overheard at Yale” group on the left panel of my screen. A combination of curiosity and Internet instinct urged me to click on the page.

I was greeted by a very “meta” (to quote a subsequent comment) screenshot of ‘Overseen on Overheard at Yale,’ written in what can only be described as concentric posts– if only Euclid knew Facebook. The picture had already amassed over 100 likes and 9 comments including a short debate on its relation to fractals and references to the Matrix and Inception.

I then watched a video denoted by the unassuming caption “My Yale blue dog knows what’s up”. In it, one Yalie’s adorable dog, upon being asked whether or not he would prefer Harvard to death, plays dead, waving his right paw in the air for one last hurrah before he entirely collapses. As a dog-lover I suppose I can’t be entirely objective, but I think this is the kind of Yale-trumps-Harvard production just about every Yalie would enjoy.  The post right above the video contained a link to the Casablanca scene featuring Die Wacht am Rhein, AKA the German version of Bright College Years (and also the original version, according to its Wikipedia page posted in one of the comments).

Online and on campus, Yalies are witty—one of the aspects of our community I love most. Though in recent months Overheard at Yale has taken a lot of heat, I think we can at least credit it with providing a forum for us to communicate with one another in the way we do best—with humor—even thousands of miles away from each other.  Overheard made me feel reconnected with my Yale family and the playful spirit that collectively describes us, even when we are miles away from New Haven.