A Banana Peel Made College Students Cry… No, Seriously

Is there anything anyone ever says or does that WON’T offend someone else? Apparently, the answer is no. A story on CampusReform.org tells of the tragic tale of what happened when a college student discovered a banana peel hanging from a tree… no really, stop laughing. That actually happened.
 
According to the story: “A Greek Life retreat at the University of Mississippi was promptly cancelled this weekend after a banana peel was found hanging in a tree.” You know, reasons to cancel an event may vary. They could be cancelled because of bad weather, or because of an active shooter in the area, or because of the threat of terrorism. A banana peel found hanging on a tree, apparently, can now be placed under the same category as those things for causes to cancel an event.
 
ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! But wait, it gets better. According to the story: “’To be clear, many members of our community were hurt, frightened, and upset by what occurred at IMPACT,’ Interim Director of Fraternity and Sorority Life Alexa Lee Arndt remarked in an email between Greek leaders, according to The Daily Mississippian. ‘Because of the underlying reality many students of color endure on a daily basis, the conversation manifested into a larger conversation about race relations today at the University of Mississippi.’”
 
You know, I’d like to be a fly on the wall at that event so I could hear just exactly how the conversation went from “Hey, we found a banana peel hanging from a tree” to “you know, this could seriously harm people of color… BLACK LIVES MATTER! BLACK LIVES MATTER!” I mean, c’mon! How? Exactly how do you go from talking about a banana peel hanging from a tree (which apparently is now a big topic of conversation in the University of Mississippi) to talking about race relations in our society?
 
I just hope we, as a nation, will be able to get over this nightmare which will henceforth be known as “The Banana Peel From Hell of 2017”. Give me a break. Are we Millennials so insanely sensitive that a banana peel hanging from a tree will give us nightmares for weeks? That a banana peel can make us feel “hurt, frightened and upset”?
 
But let me tell you how this “nightmare” of a situation began. According to the CampusReform.org story: “Apparently, student Ryan Swanson admitted to discarding the banana peel in a tree after he was unable to locate a garbage can, and it was later spotted by Alpha Kappa Alpha President Makala McNeil, who leads one of the campuses[‘s] historically black sororities.”
 
Oh, so it was that 'jerk' Ryan Swanson who caused this huh? I just hope he knows the extent of the 'damage' he caused to the people of his community. Discarding a banana peel in a tree? Who does that? Psychopaths and Trump supporters, that’s who...apparently...
 
And you know what’s interesting? The poor guy actually APOLOGIZED for that. “Although unintentional, there is no excuse for the pain that was caused to members of our community,” Swanson wrote in his apology. “I have much to learn and look forward to doing such and encourage all members of our community to do the same.”
 
He’s writing as though he was a bully and caused some serious damage to people around him. And, to those other students, they might legitimately see Swanson as a bully. A bully to them, a bully to the planet, a bully to that tree, a bully to that banana peel and a bully to all of society.
 
And according to Makala McNeil, the person who found the banana peel: “The overall tone was heavy. I mean, we were talking about race in Mississippi and in the Greek community so there’s a lot involved.” (Yeah, a lot of b.s.) McNeil then recalled that she and her friend were “all just sort of paranoid for a second” after spotting the banana.
 
There are a lot of sentences in this article I thought I’d never say. This girl felt “paranoid” after spotting the banana. This guy was sorry for discarding the banana peel on the tree. The event was canceled due to students finding a banana peel hanging from a tree… Just what in the world is wrong with our society? Or better yet, my generation?
 
And the worst part might be this: according to The Daily Mississippian, some students left the retreat in tears, with McNeil saying that they “didn’t feel welcome” and “didn’t feel safe”.
 
So a banana peel hanging from a tree caused an entire event to be cancelled, students to leave the event in tears and in need to find safe spaces, and made them feel that they weren’t welcome and didn’t feel safe.
 
Well of course they didn’t feel welcome and safe. This could only mean one thing: the rise of the planet of the apes! It’s no longer just a movie!
 
I can’t recall the amount of times I had to face palm while writing this article. I typically write articles with passion to defend Christ, defend Trump or attack the Left. And I think that this one was the most sarcasm-filled article to date. But can you blame me? STUDENTS FELT UNSAFE AND UNWELCOMED BY A BANANA PEEL!
 
I seriously hope that the generation that comes after mine sees the stupidity of this generation and works to make society less ignorant and maybe just a little bit more abundant in the “guts” department.
 
If my generation is getting scared by a banana peel hanging from a tree, I would honestly not have much hope for our country. I legitimately hope that the next Democrat president won’t be a Millennial. Because at that point, the POTUS will be a BOTUS, the Baby of the United States.
 
However, knowing that this article itself was WRITTEN by a Millennial, I do have SOME hope for my generation and the future of this country. If there are more Millennials out there that are simply Millennials because of the year they were born in and not because of their quite literal insane liberal views, then the future doesn’t look so bleak, after all.
 
I hope…
 
Matthew 6:34
“Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own”
 
Although, that one is mostly for me and those worried about this generation, not the subjects of this article.
 
Author: Freddie Drake.