Thursday, September 30, 2010

How Did It Get Around - carrier pigeon?

Talking with my old college roomie about his son getting a car (YIKES!) reminded me of a couple of stories from my youth.

The first involves a brand new Trans Am or Camaro that someone bought from the police department for $500.  The story behind the car was that someone was driving it and it left the road and ended up in a field.  The driver died, but wasn't found for several months.  As a result, there was a smell in the car that wouldn't come out, thus the cheap price.



The second story involved Rod Stewart and having to have his stomach pumped after falling ill during a show.  For decency's sake, I won't mention what was pumped, but safe to say, it wasn't Krystals.

When I left my small town (Waverly) for college, I started meeting people from other areas and states.  Through conversations (how, I don't know), these two stories popped up over time.  Ironically, several people indicated they had heard these stories as well.  While the details may have differed - some indicated it was a Mustang that was wrecked and the amount of "substance" pumped from Mr. Stewart varied from a pint to 2 quarts; the gist of the stories was the same.

So, what is so big about these stories?  Well, for those of you who have always had a cell phone, computer, or access to the Internet, you may assume these stories started in a single location and went viral in the Internet and e-mail worlds, Well, you are wrong.  The only methods of communication we, as teens, had were actual conversations (weird huh), wired telephones hanging on the wall in our parents' kitchen, and letters that were written out and given to the US Postal system to deliver. 

So how did these stories make the rounds?  I seriously doubt anyone wrote about these or called out-of-state friends/family.  These weren't in the Star or National Enquirer rags.  Could there be some margin of truth?  Who knows?

Have any of you heard of these? 

Zach, A Tennessee Squire

3 comments:

  1. Yes, both made the rounds in Giles County back in the day.

    You know, we grew up on Sun Drop there. Urban legend said if you drank enough Sun Drop you would get drunk.

    Speaking of that, I remember hearing people say -- after someone would have a wreck, "If he wasn't drunk, it would've killed him." I was never too sure what that meant.

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  2. As any doctor will tell you, semen has to be pumped out of the stomach. You can't induce vomiting.

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  3. Heard of that car? I BEGGED for that car. Someone put a bug in my ear about it in HS. Sight unseen I asked my dad his thoughts - maybe he could help me look into it, help finance it, brainstorm how to de-funk it. He didn't move from his recliner. He didn't drop his newspaper. He simply said one word - No. I countered, argued, and pleaded using more words and higher octave voice. Again, No. So I moved on and later learned the whole thing was an urban legend. Dang it I hated when my parents knew best.

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