Tuesday, February 12, 2013

A Great Wit

I have mentioned in the past that what we know today as Daylight Savings Time was perpetuated by a comment Ben Franklin made while in France about them saving their candles by changing the time. That wasn't the only hoax good old Ben was responsible for,it was only one of many. His first was at the age of 16 while working for his brother who was a printer. Ben started writing a soon to be popular series of letters supposedly by a middle aged widow named Silence Dogood. She poked fun at various things,drunkenness,religious hypocrisy,the persecution of women,hoop petticoats and the pretensions of Harvard College. She received several offers of marriage through the paper. After Ben confessed to his brother his brother was quite angry. Not long after his confession he ran away to Philadelphia to seek his fortune. One only has to look at a picture of Franklin to see that spark of mischief.
That is one thing I miss about work,I managed to pull several hoaxes over the years and found that success comes easily if the hoax is something people want to believe. My best one had to do with telling all my customers that the toll bridge was all paid for,so it would soon be a toll free bridge. After the DOT office was flooded with calls it turned out it was indeed paid for and the toll was removed. The moral is good can come from less that noble means!
poe

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