Friday, February 22, 2008

Honest, I am not Mocking This

...but it's too good to pass up:

Mr [X] also worked at the post office for several years, making a suggestion on how to improve the city's mail collection system that won him as $200 award in 1962.

--Obituary, San Francisco Chronicle, Feb. 22, 2008

On the other hand, maybe I am mocking this (link):

Woman Dies Trying to Rescue Dead Chicken

A 63-year-old woman died on Saturday night after falling down a well while trying to fish out a dead chicken.

H/T Sally.

3 comments:

The New York Crank said...

Re: Dead Chicken story

Hey, it's from a Swedish newspaper in one of the happiest countries in the world, where thanks to democratic socialism, the people don't have much to get worked up over. At least not by our standards.

Canoodle around the website you link the chicken part of the story to and you'll find blood-boiling headlines such as:

"Army castrates heraldic lion" - about retouching out the penis on the design of a shield

"Heraldists want penis reinstated on military badge" – the other side of the issue.

And, "Gender equity hits below the belt for Swedish patients" - about hospital patients of both genders getting forced to wear underpants of the same utilitarian design. (So much for girls with Swedish accents wearing thongs in beer commercials.)

Finally, if nothing else got your luttefisk stewing, this headline and story excerpt ought to:

Ikea guilty of 'cultural imperialism': Danes

Popular daily Nyhedsavisen led the charge on Valentine's Day with a front page headline accusing Ikea of "bullying" Denmark.

"...Why is it, the paper wondered, that Swedish and Norwegian place names are always associated with the shiniest, comfiest furnishings in the Ikea catalogue, while the names of Danish towns are reserved for doormats, rugs and carpets?

"'It seems to be an example of cultural imperialism," Klaus Kjøller, Assistant Professor in Political Communication and the Danish Language at the University of Copenhagen, told The Local. "

elrojo said...

that woman was not trying to "rescue" a dead chicken in her well. she was trying to get it out before it polluted the water, i know drowned rats are found in wells and have to be gotten out. some people then pump or draw out all the water to make sure there is no contamination, and wait until the wll fills up with fresh water before drawing any. it aint funny if its your well.

The New York Crank said...

Ivan, Ivan, all I can say is, you've got a Scandinavian sense of humor.

Therefore, I don't dare to inquire:

•Why did the chicken fall down the well? Was it trying to get to the other side? Didn't it know sideways from vertical?

•How come the well wasn't covered, at least with a screen?

•If the water is bad with a dead chicken in it, will it be any better with a dead human in it, right alongside the dead chicken?

•And most important of all, what about Ikea's cultural imperialism? Will the people riot in the streets?

Yours crankily,
The New York Crank