The first day of class has come and gone, which means only one thing: the students that set up residence right next to the attendance scanners have retreated into hiding after another successful start of the semester.

There is a very specific breed of students that this description refers to. They enter their new classrooms at the start of the year with just one mission in mind, which is, of course, to police the attendance machines we all hate.

As most students at this fine university know, the attendance scanners are located typically either in the front or back of most all classrooms. They usually work without fail, ready to snitch on the first student who forgets to scan in or sleeps past their alarm. However, on the first days of class, most scanners have not been properly programmed for the task.

These scanners that have now become more than a decoration on the wall look harmless. To the naked eye, they look like any other attendance reporter. But let one student scan an ID on this machine and the truth will rear its ugly head quicker than lightning. The scanner will emit a horrible screech.

The screech is not the worst of this experience. What is truly frustrating is that without fail, every single time, someone who has sat directly next to the attendance scanner will announce to you that of course, you dunce, the scanners are not on. How dare you interrupt their absolutely sacred five minutes before class starts with that awful sound.

I take issue with multiple accounts. Firstly, let us analyze the situation. If a student has a particular aversion to the sounds that attendance scanners make, then why, dear God, would they make the choice to sit beside the scanner? It is a mystery I will have to ask the heavens above for clarification on.

Secondly, why the need to announce what is so painfully obvious? I wonder if these students believe that every person who has the misfortune to scan an inactive scanner is actually a freshman and that this is their personal cross to bear to welcome these students to Mississippi State University.

Finally, in the interest of evening the score a bit, I will confess. I purposefully scan these inactive scanners. Even when I see that they are not working. I do not trust these machines, and if I break the habit of scanning in for one day, I firmly believe that I will never again be able to remember to scan into class.

Maybe we are all flawed beings. Maybe grace and forgiveness should be the first lesson of the new school year.