# Add this to the list of ways I do not want to go **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 1, 2010, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/add-this-to-the-list-of-ways-i-do-not-want-to-go/530920 "2010-03-01T21:25:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2010, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/add-this-to-the-list-of-ways-i-do-not-want-to-go/530920/1 "2010-03-01T21:25:49Z")
I thought [this](http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2010/03/01/national/a125332S34.DTL&tsp=1) sort of thing was an urban legend, but: [QUOTE=AP] (The sherriff) says (the man) apparently urinated into a roadside ditch but didn’t see the live wire. The urine stream likely served as a conductor, allowing the electricity to reach his body. (The sherriff) says there will be an autopsy but burn marks indicated the way the electricity traveled through Messenger’s body. [/QUOTE] ::cringes just thinking about it:: Roddy ---
**Author:** ![Beerman1963](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/2acd7d/32.png) [@Beerman1963](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beerman1963)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2010, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/add-this-to-the-list-of-ways-i-do-not-want-to-go/530920/2 "2010-03-01T23:46:04Z")
Man that is a bad way to go. way bad . way way bad ---
**Author:** ![racer72](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/racer72/32/3075_2.png) [@racer72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racer72)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2010, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/add-this-to-the-list-of-ways-i-do-not-want-to-go/530920/3 "2010-03-02T01:02:48Z")
As a kid I use to pee on a neighbor’s electric fence wire. Only got zapped a few times. Wonder if I was just lucky. ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2010, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/add-this-to-the-list-of-ways-i-do-not-want-to-go/530920/4 "2010-03-02T03:14:33Z")
[slight hijack] Reminds me: I should really start a thread on why hotdogs should never be cooked on a BBQ grill… [/slight hijack] ---
**Author:** ![RalfCoder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f1d935/32.png) [@RalfCoder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RalfCoder)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2010, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/add-this-to-the-list-of-ways-i-do-not-want-to-go/530920/5 "2010-03-03T14:56:40Z")
> [@racer72](#): > > As a kid I use to pee on a neighbor’s electric fence wire. Only got zapped a few times. Wonder if I was just lucky. Slo-mo film or still pictures usually show that what looks like a solid, continuous stream of fluid is actually a series of discrete droplets. (I’m just saying, here… I’m not out filming anyone whizzin’ on nature, mkay?) An electric current usually needs a solid connector to flow through. The multiple air gaps in the stream will serve as insulators. Unless you were up close and personal to the fence, I’d be a little surprised that you got zapped. ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2010, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/add-this-to-the-list-of-ways-i-do-not-want-to-go/530920/6 "2010-03-03T15:00:42Z")
I also doubt that, outside of James Bond films, the average electric fence is designed to kill. They’re usually designed to keep in animals. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2010, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/add-this-to-the-list-of-ways-i-do-not-want-to-go/530920/7 "2010-03-03T15:06:52Z")
> [@racer72](#): > > As a kid I use to pee on a neighbor’s electric fence wire. Only got zapped a few times. Wonder if I was just lucky. Er…why did you keep doing it after you got zapped the first time? ---
**Author:** ![Trom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/958977/32.png) [@Trom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trom)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2010, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/add-this-to-the-list-of-ways-i-do-not-want-to-go/530920/8 "2010-03-03T15:30:23Z")
There was a Mythbusters where they showed this was very, very unlikely. The stream isn’t actually continuous and thus electricity shouldn’t be able to reach one’s body. They showed the only way it could happen would be if one were to get extremely close (a couple inches) to the source of the electricity while urinating. :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Ellen\_Cherry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellen_cherry/32/3600_2.png) [@Ellen\_Cherry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellen_Cherry)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2010, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/add-this-to-the-list-of-ways-i-do-not-want-to-go/530920/9 "2010-03-03T15:31:07Z")
> [@Freudian\_Slit](#): > > Er…why did you keep doing it after you got zapped the first time? We wonder because we’ve never been 8-year-old boys, **FS**. Several years ago my son lingered for quite a long time at the aquarium interactive exhibit, experiencing what it would be like to be zapped by an electric eel over … and over … and over again. We were like WTF? Later that summer, he wanted to try on a neighbor’s dog’s “shock collar” after they installed the invisible fence. Again, WTF? We tease him about it to this day. ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2010, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/add-this-to-the-list-of-ways-i-do-not-want-to-go/530920/10 "2010-03-03T15:37:52Z")
Add [this](http://www.snopes.com/horrors/freakish/hotspring.asp) to the list of ways I do not want to go. > [@Snopes](#): > > Kirwan was indeed in very bad shape. He was blind, and when another park visitor tried to remove one of his shoes, his skin (which was already peeling everywhere) came off with it. He sustained third-degree burns to 100% of his body, including his head, and died the following morning at a Salt Lake City hospital. ---
**Author:** ![smiling\_bandit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@smiling\_bandit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smiling_bandit)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2010, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/add-this-to-the-list-of-ways-i-do-not-want-to-go/530920/11 "2010-03-03T16:10:02Z")
> [@Ellen\_Cherry](#): > > We wonder because we’ve never been 8-year-old boys, **FS**. Several years ago my son lingered for quite a long time at the aquarium interactive exhibit, experiencing what it would be like to be zapped by an electric eel over … and over … and over again. We were like WTF? Later that summer, he wanted to try on a neighbor’s dog’s “shock collar” after they installed the invisible fence. Again, WTF? We tease him about it to this day. Men may actually have an instinctual urge to experience danger from a young age. Any who get killed don’t breed, so on average the species gets tougher and stronger. Plus, we mostly lose this trait by our 30’s, so the survivors are smarter, wiser, and tougher for it. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2010, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/add-this-to-the-list-of-ways-i-do-not-want-to-go/530920/12 "2010-03-03T16:16:31Z")
> [@](#): > > (The sherriff) says there will be an autopsy but burn marks indicated the way the electricity traveled through Messenger’s body. Well, at least nobody _shot_ Messenger. Ya gotta give 'em that. ---
**Author:** ![corkboard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e9bcb4/32.png) [@corkboard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/corkboard)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2010, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/add-this-to-the-list-of-ways-i-do-not-want-to-go/530920/13 "2010-03-03T16:35:08Z")
> [@Ellen\_Cherry](#): > > We wonder because we’ve never been 8-year-old boys, **FS**. Several years ago my son lingered for quite a long time at the aquarium interactive exhibit, experiencing what it would be like to be zapped by an electric eel over … and over … and over again. We were like WTF? Later that summer, he wanted to try on a neighbor’s dog’s “shock collar” after they installed the invisible fence. Again, WTF? We tease him about it to this day. You don’t have to be an 8-year-old boy- just being a boy is usually enough. My brother-in-law and I took turns one day trying on his dog’s electric collar and seeing how high either of us could stand being zapped. I think we were in our late 30’s. ETA: Of course, alcohol was likely involved. ---
**Author:** ![BetsQ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/fbc32d/32.png) [@BetsQ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BetsQ)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2010, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/add-this-to-the-list-of-ways-i-do-not-want-to-go/530920/14 "2010-03-03T16:43:34Z")
> [@Ellen\_Cherry](#): > > Several years ago my son lingered for quite a long time at the aquarium interactive exhibit, experiencing what it would be like to be zapped by an electric eel over … and over … and over again. We were like WTF? My son has been repeatedly licking a 9v battery this week. Weird. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2010, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/add-this-to-the-list-of-ways-i-do-not-want-to-go/530920/15 "2010-03-03T16:44:32Z")
Were his last words, “Hold my beer and watch this!”? I don’t understand the part about a live wire in a ditch - why would there be a live wire in there? ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2010, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/add-this-to-the-list-of-ways-i-do-not-want-to-go/530920/16 "2010-03-03T16:49:39Z")
> [@Joe Frickin Friday](#): > > Add [this](http://www.snopes.com/horrors/freakish/hotspring.asp) to the list of ways I do not want to go. I love how the ads that came up with that page were for dog food. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2010, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/add-this-to-the-list-of-ways-i-do-not-want-to-go/530920/17 "2010-03-03T17:13:05Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > I don’t understand the part about a live wire in a ditch - why would there be a live wire in there? The article says that his car hit a pole, so I’m assuming the collision put the power line there. We had a downed wire less than a half-block away after a big storm, and the electric company was out with trucks, area was cordoned off with barricades, wire lying in the middle of the street, hole in the asphalt where it was sparking like mad in the rain earlier, etc. My husband was watching the scene from our front porch. Some passerby walked around a barricade and was moving to touch the wire when an astonished worker yelled to stop and get out of there. IIRC the person was at least middle-age or older, but I’d have to ask my husband to remind of me of the gender. ---
**Author:** ![Doughbag](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@Doughbag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doughbag)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2010, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/add-this-to-the-list-of-ways-i-do-not-want-to-go/530920/18 "2010-03-03T18:09:56Z")
Yikes what a fucked up way to die. Surviving a car accident, just to die by pissing on a power line straight afterwards. Interessting thing is, this thing made it all the way to Germany. [http://www.express.de/news/vermischtes/unfall-ueberlebt---beim-urinieren-gestorben/-/2192/1196634/-/index.html](http://www.express.de/news/vermischtes/unfall-ueberlebt---beim-urinieren-gestorben/-/2192/1196634/-/index.html) > **[Authorities believe Wash. man electrocuted by urinating on downed power line...](https://calamities.gaeatimes.com/2010/03/01/authorities-believe-wash-man-electrocuted-by-urinating-on-downed-power-line-after-car-crash-10257/)** > > Wash. man electrocuted by urinating on power line ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2010, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/add-this-to-the-list-of-ways-i-do-not-want-to-go/530920/19 "2010-03-03T18:19:04Z")
They may sometime call it a rod, but that doesn’t mean you want to use it as a lightning rod. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_the\_Turtle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_the_turtle/32/2926_2.png) [@Fear\_the\_Turtle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_the_Turtle)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2010, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/add-this-to-the-list-of-ways-i-do-not-want-to-go/530920/20 "2010-03-03T18:25:30Z")
> [@Joe Frickin Friday](#): > > Add [this](http://www.snopes.com/horrors/freakish/hotspring.asp) to the list of ways I do not want to go. I thought this thread was going to be about [http://news.ninemsn.com.au/world/1018984/teen-drowns-in-dunkin-donuts-sewage-pit](http://news.ninemsn.com.au/world/1018984/teen-drowns-in-dunkin-donuts-sewage-pit) > [@Linked Story](#): > > A teenager has drowned after falling into an open sewage pit outside a Dunkin’ Donuts store in New York. I’d prefer not to go this way as well. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/add-this-to-the-list-of-ways-i-do-not-want-to-go/530920.md?page=2)