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At The Gamecock this week we received a lot of letters to the editor that were, sadly, not put in print.
Apparently, some guy called Ryan Holt was caught on camera having what can be best described as a "hissy fit."
Now, he's not the first nor will he be the last to get stressed out enough to yell at people. That needs to be remembered.
But the letters from you, our good readers, ranged from outright anger to brilliant, side-swiping humor. If we had printed a story on Mr. Holt, they would undoubtedly have appeared.
What Ryan Holt did was human. A man wearing a Texas A&M shirt might barely qualify on those grounds, but it is a qualification nonetheless.
I can't say whether Holt's sojourn to D.C. to hobnob with politicians was successful. I can't say whether he convinced them as one of the voices of students in America, or whether he was there for the photo ops.
What I can say is that he is the democratically elected representative of the student body at USC, and despite having a bit of a stroppy moment, he did not do anything wrong.
Even in a temper-tantrum moment, the man actually gave a damn about SG money. Come on, that is impressive.
He made sure that the joke wasn't costing you or I anything. In a bad temper, probably thinking things were going to be worse than they are, he immediately asked if the money was, for all intents and purposes, "dirty".
Kudos to the man.
Even the question of air, as ridiculous as it sounds, comes at a price. The SG offices have a machine for helium pumping that costs money. Mr. Holt covered all his bases, not for him but for all students. Eighty bucks may not seem like much, but to a small student organization that could be a social or a great introductory meeting.
Not only that, Mr. Holt probably flew back from D.C. that day to a bunch of homework and he probably had to go to the Student Government offices to pick something up. Maybe he wanted to talk to his fellow SG officials. He probably smelled really bad, an issue of pity or disgust depending on your stance of immediate showering.
Either way, only SG people, especially Ryan Holt, can really give a defense of his behavior -- if a defense is actually necessary.
They blew balloons up in his office as a prank. It wasn't really funny or witty. I expect more from the forward thinking democratically elected representatives. Where's the D.C. mystery? Dead hookers, illegitimate children, racist novels, affairs and gerrymandering are staples of corrupt politicking. And Mr. Holt did something in response that would chill most politicians to the bone. He was honest, and he cared about us, even to the point of anger.
Let it drop, people. I expect Mr. Holt laughed at it in retrospect just like we all did when we saw the video. Enjoy it in the moment as a silly bit of banter, but don't let it color your view of a guy who always helped out people beyond the call of duty.
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