Hunsecker
05-04-2000, 02:13 PM
Yesterday morning I was listening to the radio, when they read the following story that one of the guys on the radio had faxed to him (I've abbreviated it).
The story is presented as an insurance company memorandum, a bricklayer is justifying his insurance claim. He was laying bricks on a 6 story building, and hoisting the bricks up to the top with a barrel on a pulley. When he was done for the day, he untied the rope at ground level, and the barrel, at the 6th floor, started lowering. He forgot to let go of the rope, so was pulled skyward, hitting the barrel of bricks on his way up, and jamming his fingers in the pulley. Then as the barrel hits ground, the bottom (and all the bricks) falls out, so he falls again, again hitting the bucket on his way down, and landing on the pile of bricks. Of course then, he finally lets go of the rope...
Even in my semi-groggy still waking up state, I was able to recognize the story as being from a chapter in the novel Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace (I looked it up, its pps 138-140, but the radio stations wording was different).
Now, I'm not all that surprised that that particular radio station would read something like that, considering that the morning crew seems to be staffed entirely by dumbasses (all the more reason for me to wake up and turn the radio off). But I wonder if this story is original to Infinite Jest, and has just recently started making the rounds, or if it was older than that (book was published in 96, I believe)?
I checked snopes, and didn't see anything there.
The story is presented as an insurance company memorandum, a bricklayer is justifying his insurance claim. He was laying bricks on a 6 story building, and hoisting the bricks up to the top with a barrel on a pulley. When he was done for the day, he untied the rope at ground level, and the barrel, at the 6th floor, started lowering. He forgot to let go of the rope, so was pulled skyward, hitting the barrel of bricks on his way up, and jamming his fingers in the pulley. Then as the barrel hits ground, the bottom (and all the bricks) falls out, so he falls again, again hitting the bucket on his way down, and landing on the pile of bricks. Of course then, he finally lets go of the rope...
Even in my semi-groggy still waking up state, I was able to recognize the story as being from a chapter in the novel Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace (I looked it up, its pps 138-140, but the radio stations wording was different).
Now, I'm not all that surprised that that particular radio station would read something like that, considering that the morning crew seems to be staffed entirely by dumbasses (all the more reason for me to wake up and turn the radio off). But I wonder if this story is original to Infinite Jest, and has just recently started making the rounds, or if it was older than that (book was published in 96, I believe)?
I checked snopes, and didn't see anything there.