Scottish school pupils gathered to sit exams today, but it was in the Holyrood chamber we saw the most fidgeting, nervous energy and hastily re-written notes.
Something was clearly afoot because our gaggle of representatives were positively unruly.
Could it be the itchy arrival of hayfever season? Back to work blues? The news of the Donald Trump’s impending visit?
Maybe, perhaps, possibly –it was the First Minister’s indyref2 announcement on Wednesday that got the adrenalin pumping. I don’t know why Unionist parties are complaining. It’s not like there is going to be any extra work involved for them. They don’t need focus groups or late nights strategizing, because their message hasn’t changed since 2014.
READ MORE: Nicola Sturgeon told by Tories she won't be given indyref2 powers
"No to indyref2!" I mean, it’s not even "No to independence!" or "Yaaas for the Union!" It’s just "No to voting! Down with democracy! Ban foam fingers!" We should have known the conciliatory tone and kumbaya vibes that Nicola Sturgeon was channelling yesterday wouldn’t last long.
A little-known fact about Ken Macintosh is that he has the slowest resting heart rate of any previous Presiding Officer. Down a winding corridor, hidden behind an unmarked door and not far from the hoover cupboard, wannabe Presiding Officers are taken for a series of aptitude tests. The owner of a heart that pumps too angrily or with undue speed is deemed unsuitable for such an important role.
READ MORE: FMQs: Patrick Harvie welcomes indyref2 push but hits out at economic plan
Ken passed with flying colours. It’s widely believed that his predecessor, Tricia Marwick, only just scraped through, given her penchant for vigorous commands of "WHEESHT". But today, sadly, even Zen Ken was feeling the strain.
"Please keep the noise down" he pleaded with backbenchers.
"We must set an example to young people!" From the banging of desks and V-signs being thrown, there was no evidence anybody heard him.
Jackson Carlaw took a leaf out of Groundhog May’s book and asked the same question on school subject choice he’d asked only a few weeks previously.
He yelped at Nicola Sturgeon that a "whole generation of pupils" had been "let down on her watch". Which was a bit awkward given how many of those young people are expected to be at SNP conference this weekend.
Ken Macintosh, who at this point was nearing a solid four on the Raging Scale, interjected to ask: "Would Derek Mckay and Colin Smith please stop talking to each other across the aisle?" Richard Leonard, who definitely wants the First Minister to stop talking about independence, ingeniously managed to link a question about food bank usage to indyref2.
It was so brazenly done that even the BBC’s Brian Taylor quipped afterwards that it was akin to a "single transferable question". Leonard accused Nicola Sturgeon of prioritising indyref2 over lifting people in Scotland out of the poverty they’ve been plunged into by – in large part – the UK Government’s disastrous Universal Credit rollout.
Take a few seconds to guess what the Sturgeon’s response was. What’s the first answer that comes to mind?
Ten points to canny National readers because you guessed correctly – devolution of full welfare powers.
Nicola Sturgeon pointed out that Holyrood wasn’t set up to be a mitigation parliament, fixing the damage of reserved areas of policy pursued by Westminster.
So she asked Leonard a question that she’s posed many, many times before. A question so predictable that she could have just telepathically communicated it to him and saved her voice for her big speech on Sunday.
"If, like me, he wants to tackle these issues, will he join me in asking for full welfare powers to be devolved?" In the intervening pause, there was some shuffling of papers. John Mason passed around a packet of Wotsits. Murdo Fraser sent a bad tweet. My five year-old excitedly shouted "Oh, OH! I know the answer!" And then, eventually, came the reply from Richard Leonard.
"Well given your track record you’d probably just hand those powers back!" Looking more like the Scarecrow from The Wizard of Oz than a future First Minister, Richard Leonard sat back down.
He wasn’t angry with himself. He was just very, very disappointed.
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here