Warning … don’t do this in public.

In Issue 2291, the Curmudgeon’s Observation came under heavy fire.

CURMUDGEON’S OBSERVATION
If you find yourself sitting next to someone who irritates you, follow these
instructions:
1. Quietly and calmly open up your laptop case.
2. Remove your laptop and start it up.
3. Make sure the person who is annoying you, can see the screen.
4. Close your eyes, tilt your head up to the sky, and hit this link:
http://boortz.com/mp3/archive/countdown.swf

All the letters we received that day were very critical, with this one being typical of the others:

“You must be crazy. Open up your laptop and display that screen and you run a high risk of being arrested. I can only assume that the arrest will be the best part of the experience that you will have. In case you have not heard, even joking about a bomb is a federal offense and is taken very seriously. It is likely that they will not treat this lightly. If you are lucky, perhaps the worst of it will be getting placed on the no fly lists, the worst, I shudder to think about. This is not a knee jerk reaction but a hard look of the reality of today. Given how so many of your readers depend on commercial travel, better safe than sorry for life!”

While we thought the Observation was very funny, we agreed that these instructions could be very dangerous if done in public to an unsuspecting person. We printed some of the critical letters in Issue 2292, which than caused another barrage of letters today, all in support of the Observation. Here is a sample:

“Isn't it depressing as hell when a great joke gets taken as seriously as it seems to have been. I sent it to a dozen cronies, and they all loved it. My kid, an airline pilot, only said that when he does it, he would be in uniform. C'mon, guys, relax and enjoy the jokes. We should all have brains and be able to differentiate between a good chuckle and serious dialog.”

Next time we will add this label: “Warning… don’t do this in public." Btw, we didn't have room in the newsletter to print all the letters we received, so here are a few more:

* From Reynald Neron: I am not sure what is more funny: the countdown with a few "pretend" arabic words," or the reactions of your readers. Indeed it is a very sad world when people forget than life should be fun!


* From Jeff Cannon: Isn't it depressing as hell that what is a great joke gets taken as seriously as it seems to have been. I sent it to a dozen cronies, and they all loved it. My kid, an airline pilot, only said that when he does it, he would be in uniform. C'mon, guys, relax and enjoy the jokes. We should all have brains and be able to differentiate between a good chuckle and serious dialog.


* From Jon Guth: Lighten up! Regarding the comments from Michael D. Ewing, Jim Gretzky, and Thomas Priest about the Curmudeon's joke in Scuttlebutt 2291, c'mon guys, lighten up! Do you really think any of the Scuttlebutt readers are dumb enough to actually do that in an airport or on a plane? I, for one, thought it was hilarious, as did several of my co-workers. Keep 'em coming Currmudeon....cuz' some of us still have a sense of humor.


* From Skip Ely: (re Michael D. Ewing comments in 2291) Which of the following definitions from From Webster describe the Curmudgeon and his observation?

1. xenophobic Adj.- suffering from xenophobia; having abnormal fear or hatred of the strange or foreign
afraid - filled with fear or apprehension;

2. bigoted Adj.- blindly and obstinately attached to some creed or opinion and intolerant toward others; intolerant - unwilling to tolerate difference of opinion

3. sense of humor Noun - the trait of appreciating (and being able to express) the humorous;

Everyone thinks they have a sense of humor, only their friends know the truth. Anyone who took offense at the above observation is likely suffering from 1 and 2 above, plus a lack of 3. Lighten up it was funny. Although you would have to be an idiot to use it as described, that's what makes it so funny. By the way I think the Curmudgeon has none of 1 or 2 but does suffer from 3.