Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the booyakasha. Rather than merely a visual signal, like a hand wave, the snap combines an aural sensation, creating a more forceful and universal greeting. Mike G. Tully ‘07, Prime Minister of the Whipper-Snapper Association of American Playas (WhSAAP), said that he first learned of the snap in his hometown of Chicago, while watching the internationally broadcasted “Ali G Show.” The snap quickly became a trend across the Midwest, and as Tully and his friends became more intrigued by the intense skill necessary to perform the act multiple times per day, they embarked on a training program of marathon practices and straight egg yolk at meals. Under the motto “Fame Is Pain,” they contacted other snappers across the country, including many Andover students, including Russell T. Cook ’08. Cook is another fan of the snap, which he first learned in the deep woods of Minnesota. He made the point that he “hates it when people try to imitate” and hop on something they don’t know anything about. Other Andover students are more skeptical of the trend, including William R. Eastman ’08. Claiming that the hardest part is the “right wrist motion,” Eastman says the snap is “far too difficult” for most people, and therefore unlikely to become anything but a freak show. The rise of rap jams with titles like “Snap Ya Fingers,” by Lil Jon and the Eastside Boyz, demonstrates a need among today’s highly sensory generation for more frequent aural punctuation from the hands. Perhaps in the future, more innovative greetings will be formed from man’s most simple implements: his own hands. The “booyakasha snap” moves the world one step closer in that direction.
