The 'Midnight' Joke of the Century
3 Comments Published by JM on Monday, August 27, 2007 at 5:20 PM.
*ding*
"You've got mail!"
That is how it always starts. One person sends it to some friends, those to their friends, and on and on it goes.
This one stated that on August 27, 00:32 AM, Mars would be so close to the Earth that it will look like the Earth has two moons! And that the next time an event like this would happen it will be the year 2080ish. (All of this was written in big blue text!)
So naturally Silas (the one who received the email) sent it to all of the home members, and even some friends who live here in São Paulo.
Sitting beside him when he read the email out loud, I held in the desire to scoff him, and instead tried to reason with him.
Me: "Do you know basic astronomy?"
Silas: "Oh you mean those guys who stay up all night to look at stars?"
Me: "Yeah yeah! I don't know as much as them but I know for sure that Mars won't look as big as the moon!"
Silas: "You mean those weirdos who believe that we came from monkeys and give the billions and billions of light-years away speeches?"
Me: "Forget it."
Nah. It wasn't like that, but I did try to 'politely' tell him (2 inches from his face) that an astrological phenomenon like that would have been big news by now.
So Sunday rolls by and it is all but forgotten in my head. But at night most of the people are hanging around. Finding it rather suspicious I 'discreetly' inquired why they were still awake. Kind of like this:
"WHAT IN THE NAME OF THE GOD ALMIGHTY ARE YOU FOLKS STILL DOING AWAKE?!?!?!"
So they kindly reminded me about the email (which by now had world-wide circulation apparently) which stated all that I enumerated in the first couple of paragraphs of this post. Well! I had to see this for my own eyes, half of the home awake staring at the sky.
So midnight rolled around and people started wandering outside trying to see Mars in all of its 'moon-like' glory. Hilarity ensued.
Person 1: "What is that there on the horizon behind those trees?"
Person 2: "Is it red?"
Person 1: "Yes it is! I think it is Mar...."
Me: "It is a cell-phone tower."
Person 1: "I knew that."
But as funny as that was, (It was so funny I nearly doubled over in laughter) the night wasn't over.
Person 3: "Wow look at the moon!"
Person 4: "Yes. A clear sky. Perfect for looking for Mars."
Person 3: "What are we looking for again? The moon?"
Person 4: "Mars. The email said that it is going to be as big as the moon! So I guess we just have to wait."
Me: "Oh look at the time. It is already 12:15, I guess we just have to wait 15 more minutes before 'POP' Mars will appear in all of its greatness!"
Person 4: "Maybe we are looking in the wrong direction."
*everybody turns to look at the other side of the sky*
Person 4: "Nope."
*everybody turns back to look at the moon*
15 Minutes pass...
Person 3: "I don't think Mars is going to come out. Who sent that email?"
Me: "Someone in France."
Person 5: "Oh no!"
Person 6: "Maybe Mars is showing up there? You know the whole rotation of the earth and all that stuff."
Me: *stifling a laugh*
Person 3: "Whoever sent that email is going to be soooooo sorry! I have to wake up early tommorrow!"
Me: "Everyone who is here came out of their own free will. That is what makes it so funny!" *bursts into laughter*
Everyone: "What is so funny?"
Me: "You!!" *rolls on the floor*
Everyone ended up walking off complaining loudly that they had been tricked into staying up late. I just could help myself but I haven't had something that funny happen in a long time.
No offense to all of you who still believe those kinds of things can happen. I have just seen one to many forwarded email to read them.
Later on I was discussing with John C. how people believe in anything they read online (Or anywhere for that matter). So much so that we even thought of coming up with a prank like that one again, just for another round of laughter.
But keep on believing folks! One day one of those emails might actually prove to be true. *snicker*
I have some pictures from a party, but both my computer, and another one caught a virus, so I spent all day fixing it.
I'll post pictures tomorrow.
"You've got mail!"
That is how it always starts. One person sends it to some friends, those to their friends, and on and on it goes.
This one stated that on August 27, 00:32 AM, Mars would be so close to the Earth that it will look like the Earth has two moons! And that the next time an event like this would happen it will be the year 2080ish. (All of this was written in big blue text!)
So naturally Silas (the one who received the email) sent it to all of the home members, and even some friends who live here in São Paulo.
Sitting beside him when he read the email out loud, I held in the desire to scoff him, and instead tried to reason with him.
Me: "Do you know basic astronomy?"
Silas: "Oh you mean those guys who stay up all night to look at stars?"
Me: "Yeah yeah! I don't know as much as them but I know for sure that Mars won't look as big as the moon!"
Silas: "You mean those weirdos who believe that we came from monkeys and give the billions and billions of light-years away speeches?"
Me: "Forget it."
Nah. It wasn't like that, but I did try to 'politely' tell him (2 inches from his face) that an astrological phenomenon like that would have been big news by now.
So Sunday rolls by and it is all but forgotten in my head. But at night most of the people are hanging around. Finding it rather suspicious I 'discreetly' inquired why they were still awake. Kind of like this:
"WHAT IN THE NAME OF THE GOD ALMIGHTY ARE YOU FOLKS STILL DOING AWAKE?!?!?!"
So they kindly reminded me about the email (which by now had world-wide circulation apparently) which stated all that I enumerated in the first couple of paragraphs of this post. Well! I had to see this for my own eyes, half of the home awake staring at the sky.
So midnight rolled around and people started wandering outside trying to see Mars in all of its 'moon-like' glory. Hilarity ensued.
Person 1: "What is that there on the horizon behind those trees?"
Person 2: "Is it red?"
Person 1: "Yes it is! I think it is Mar...."
Me: "It is a cell-phone tower."
Person 1: "I knew that."
But as funny as that was, (It was so funny I nearly doubled over in laughter) the night wasn't over.
Person 3: "Wow look at the moon!"
Person 4: "Yes. A clear sky. Perfect for looking for Mars."
Person 3: "What are we looking for again? The moon?"
Person 4: "Mars. The email said that it is going to be as big as the moon! So I guess we just have to wait."
Me: "Oh look at the time. It is already 12:15, I guess we just have to wait 15 more minutes before 'POP' Mars will appear in all of its greatness!"
Person 4: "Maybe we are looking in the wrong direction."
*everybody turns to look at the other side of the sky*
Person 4: "Nope."
*everybody turns back to look at the moon*
15 Minutes pass...
Person 3: "I don't think Mars is going to come out. Who sent that email?"
Me: "Someone in France."
Person 5: "Oh no!"
Person 6: "Maybe Mars is showing up there? You know the whole rotation of the earth and all that stuff."
Me: *stifling a laugh*
Person 3: "Whoever sent that email is going to be soooooo sorry! I have to wake up early tommorrow!"
Me: "Everyone who is here came out of their own free will. That is what makes it so funny!" *bursts into laughter*
Everyone: "What is so funny?"
Me: "You!!" *rolls on the floor*
Everyone ended up walking off complaining loudly that they had been tricked into staying up late. I just could help myself but I haven't had something that funny happen in a long time.
No offense to all of you who still believe those kinds of things can happen. I have just seen one to many forwarded email to read them.
Later on I was discussing with John C. how people believe in anything they read online (Or anywhere for that matter). So much so that we even thought of coming up with a prank like that one again, just for another round of laughter.
But keep on believing folks! One day one of those emails might actually prove to be true. *snicker*
* * *
I have some pictures from a party, but both my computer, and another one caught a virus, so I spent all day fixing it.
I'll post pictures tomorrow.
oh! thats a laugh
quite the comedy...I bet people were grumbling about that afterwards...perhaps they should have looked it up at an astronomy site just to make sure that 'factual' e-mail was true...
but sadly it seems people don't always think of these things
hahahahaha.
best story i've heard in awhile... definately made my day.
me
I wonder if some people who have too much time on their hands, ie. the ones who come up with this stuff in the first place, would post something as an 'professional astronomer' to back up the claims, just for another good laugh, so people are checking and double-checking with all the wrong information. ..........JM, aren't you glad I don't have so much time...? :p
But it was funny. Thanks for sharing the joke! XOXOX