. . . and s/he happens to have heard of that joke before, what can s/he do? I imagine it’s a bad idea for him/her to call bullshit and refuse to follow the order, right?
ETA: Also, in addition to what s/he’s allowed to do, what is advisable for him or her to do? Stories welcome, of course . . .
When my mom worked rotation on OR as a new nurse, she was often sent on errands like “bring back a sterilized fallopian tube.” Once she figured out what was going on, she took it as permission to take a coffee break.
Then she got sent out to get a pair of left-handed trauma scissors. So, she went and got coffee. After a few minutes, the circulating nurse came looking for her. Where were the scissors? You mean there’s such a thing as left-handed trauma scissors?! Mom would have been in deep trouble, except the circulating nurse glared at the surgeon and told him he was the one who started it, so he’d better suck it up and behave.
I’m sure the military guys will chime in, but I think you can’t give a legitimate order to do something impossible. If it were me I’d say ‘Yes sir’, and disappear for hours. But I’d probably be in the stockade already unless that was the first order I was ever given.
In the U.S.A.F., we’d send the junior birdmen out to get five yards of flightline.
As a new kids at the gas station, got sent accross the street to borrow the other station’s sky-hook.
As the new kid at the oil refinery, I spent a whole morning chasing a steam bucket.
I was both very naive and eager, then, a particularly vulnerable combination as far as these pranks are concerned…
I was sent for a gallon of checkered paint and three feet of waterline.
I went… and returned with two gallons (one white, one black) of paint and the news that Supply was out of waterline…
My dad was oiling on a ship when the wiper asked the Third assistant “What is this” pointing to the key to the kilson. (the wrench for removing the nut holding the screw on the propeller shaft.) The third told him it is the Key to the kilson. The wiper asked him where he should put it. The third tole him " ah just take up to the bridge."
The wipper thought what the heck and began to end over end the wrench, they are 5 to 6 feet long. When he got it up to the flying bridge and it hit the deck with a bang the Third Mate turn and asked “what is that.” The wiper answered the key to the kilson, where do you want me to put it. The third mates answered just throw the dam thing overboard. The wiper did.
End result. Wipper fired, Third Assistant Engineer and Third Mate had their liciences permanently revoked by the commerce department.
I don’t quite get it, was that a practical joke that backfired, or a simple misunderstanding/screwup?
And why would the wiper be fired for doing what two superiors told him to do?
Joe
Summer of 1966 I was a counselor at Mataguay Boy Scout Camp (San Diego). The traditional gag was to send an innocent younger scout to the Commissary Building to get a “left-handed smoke bender.”
(Reportedly. Supposedly. I don’t know how many times the trick was actually pulled.)
.
It was still in use when I was a scout 20 years later. One of the adult leaders in my troop actually fabricated a left handed smokeshifter (complete with “LEFT ONLY” labels on the single handle and a “Property of Troop xxx” stamp) to bring to camp with us. The damn thing was bigger and heavier than most of the poor kids sent out to get it.
Heh, OS1 Smith sent me to find RM1 Jones (radioman first class) and “tell him I sent you to get an ‘rm punch’ asap.” I found RM1 and told him OS1 sent me to get an rm punch asap. All he said was ok, then he punched the shit out of my left arm.
I should have seen it coming.
Many years ago, when my buddies and I had fun working on our cars as Saturday Morning Mechanics, we’d go the the auto parts store. If there was a new kid on the parts desk, we’d tell him we needed a water pump for a '68 VW Bug. A few times, the kid got really frustrated at being unable to find it in his catalogue.
I remember in school - yes that long ago - the teachers would send troublesome students along to another class - usually the techy classes for a something to put in the bottom of a shakey cupboard something long and heavy - like a Long Wait! - after about an hour the other teacher would report they could not find one and sent the kid back to class.
I would definitely just call them out. The last time a sergeant told me to go get some grid squares (a reference to the grid squares on a map) I just told him “fuck you” but I had known thr guy a couple years and was pretty sure he wouldn’t smoke me and he didn’t. Anoher favorite in the motorpool is telling some private to go get some exhaust samples.
I had the same problem once. The first mate sent me for a “long weight” (may have been “long wait”). I knew it was a fool’s errand when the engineer told me it was on the shelf next to the prop wash, but I didn’t know the best way to get out of it. I eventually went back to the first mate and told him I couldn’t find a long weight, but asked if he could use a left-handed spanner instead.
Someone told me later that the best response is to go get some food or coffee or something, and if anyone asked what I was doing I could say I was on an important job for the first mate.
When I joined the fire department, I knew about the “go get…” jokes, but they did get me baptized. A perfectly timed command to shut off the fill valve on the tanker just as the overhead tank overflow blew open.
In the navy, one might be asked to retrieve batteries for the ship’s sound-powered phones.
Also if the ship were passing 0 degrees latitude, first-timers might be invited to report topside if they wished to see the equator.
Were newbies expected to head up or could they say “Nah, I’ll stay where I am?”