If any of you read a newspaper or picked up a magazine over break, you know that a great tragedy has occurred. This tragedy shocked the western world and its repercussions are unthinkable. “Seinfeld,” the NBC sitcom, has called it quits, and I’m not sure if this country can survive such a devastating loss.

There is no way around it. After this season, “Seinfeld” will be no more. No more will we share a half hour a week with the four characters we have fallen in love with. No more of Jerry’s snide comments or George’s lies. No more of Elaine’s sex life or Kramer’s schemes. I tell you, it’s a tragedy.

For those who have never seen the show, I’m probably speaking a different language. A lot of people have heard about it, but could probably care less about a “dumb” sitcom.

To those who don’t appreciate what we’re losing, let me fill you in on what “Seinfeld” is about. To quote George Costanza, “I think I can sum up the show for you in one word: nothing.”

It may seem hard to believe, but “Seinfeld” is about nothing. Starting in the early nineties, this sitcom charted its own course. Instead of following in the wake of “The Cosby Show,” “Family Ties” and the “Growing Pains” era, this show skewed off on a tangent that television had never experienced before.

This show was unique. There were no plots about family differences, and laughs were not obtained from sibling rivalries. There was not a traditional setting such as a bar, house or school. There were no riveting courtroom scenes or suspenseful “To be continued. . .” episodes.

And in its chronicles, you will never find an episode with a deep underlining message. “Seinfeld” was and still is about everyday experiences.

It’s about a good conversation at a small coffee shop or waiting to be seated at a Chinese Restaurant. It’s about taking a number at a bakery and about losing your car in a parking garage.

However, for the same reasons this show is praised, it is also knocked down. “Seinfeld” has been criticized for having no educational value and for lacking morality.

Now I admit that they have crossed the line in the past. Whether the topic be Elaine’s “spongeworthy tests,” determining who was “Master of His Domain” or the menage-a-trois episode, Seinfeld has covered the list of taboo subjects. But hey, there are no steamy sex scenes, no butt shots and no violence, which cannot be said of television’s other popular shows.

And true, no message such as “don’t do drugs” was ever conveyed by the show, but that doesn’t mean there is no educational value in it.

Over the years, “Seinfeld” has taught us many things. For one, it has given us fashion sense. We know not to wear sweats in public because it just means we’re giving in to the world, or that a pirate shirt will probably never catch on. It has taken brand name products from obscurity to popularity, Heineken, Snapple, Drake’s Coffee Cake and Clark Bar to name a few. “Seinfeld” has shown us that there are more desirable ways to go through life. It has shown us that not everything in this world is a life or death matter. It’s okay to take it easy once in a while. You can take the time to hit golf balls into the ocean or play a game of Risk.

Seinfeld taught us it’s okay to not get stressed out about little things — unless it’s a good parking space. And it’s okay to show the child in you. You can be obsessed with Superman or admit that you watch Melrose Place. After knowing all that, I just have to ask the question: How can anyone not like him?

So I hope I have given the Seinfeldelly-challenged a taste of what you have missed. Perhaps you might want to check out the reruns. They’ll make you laugh, which is all a sitcom really needs to do, isn’t it?

“Seinfeld” is about a lot of things. But most of all, it’s knowing that for one half-hour a week, we can turn on our TV, sit back and do nothing.

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Jackson Lashier is a freshman in journalism and mass communication.