To anyone in the vicinity of Parks Library (or anyone who checked their Twitter feed), yesterday was hardly a normal day on campus.

On the morning of Wednesday, Oct. 16, a suspicious object was spotted in front of Parks Library. The ISU Police Department received a call concerning the item at about 8 a.m, and in the words of Darin Van Ryswyk, captain of investigations: The police “decided to follow pretty cautious federal guidelines, like set up a perimeter, call for assistance.”

It was a tense morning as police established barriers and attempted to keep students from potential harm, all while they and officials from Iowa’s State Fire Marshal Division tried to discover what exactly the object was.

In the end, such efforts were unnecessary as the object was deemed not a threat and nonexplosive. Following the discovery, the investigation was safely taken off campus. Upon inspection, the object was nothing more than styrofoam inside a sock.

Cordoned off in bright yellow police tape, the area between the Hub and Parks Library made an ominous scene that morning. The police presence and evacuation of the Hub may have alarmed students and individuals walking by, but the perimeter established by ISU Police helped alleviate any danger. Immediately following the update that all was safe, however, jokes and ridicule began.

Various students voiced sarcastic or downright derisive comments about the occurrence such as one tweet that reads: “Welcome to Iowa State, where socks and bean cans are a campus threat.”

Another tweet: “I don’t understand why a bomb squad was called to ISU for a socked object laying in the grass…”

These tweets seem benign enough; what’s wrong with some harmless sarcasm?

The problem with comments such as these is they belittle both the potential danger — and the heightened caution — of these situations. By joking about something that could have been seriously hazardous, these individuals disparage the safety of students and the actions taken by police officers.

What should be felt about the event, instead of sarcasm, is relief and gratitude.

Undoubtedly, each student is relieved that the item turned out to be harmless, as the potential explosion potentially would have caused many student injuries or deaths. Additionally, it is a relief to know that there is not someone out there, plotting how to harm the students of Iowa State.

As for gratitude, it is thanks to the ISU Police and the bomb squad that the entire situation was handled so carefully and swiftly. Admittedly, their barriers, reinforcements, and other protocol were unnecessary in this instance, but it is there quick willingness to contain the situation that should bring students gratitude. In a social environment where public violence (mass shootings, bombs, etc.) is more common than we desire, it is comforting to know that there are people here to defend and protect us.

Perhaps making jokes is just a way of expressing relief over the harmlessness of the situation, but it can have unwanted consequences. Every time someone laughs at the efforts made to keep students safe, future threats lose credibility. The student body and the Ames community should, more than anything, be grateful that the object, and the entire situation, was an innocuous false alarm.