You’ve got to love the imagination of people. It never takes long before someone figures out how to do something the inventor never thought of, along with an amusing result.
Reminds me of my girlfriend, putting her violin through the x-ray at a small underused airport, muttering ‘wonder what it looks like?’ - the security guy says ‘well, it looks like a violin, come round and have a look if you want’, and we stand there for 5 minutes watching other peoples stuff getting examined. And yes, this was post 9/11.
Man, I always miss out on all the fun. I’ve never gotten to see what my brain looks like.
So, is it wrong to take my Christmas presents to the airport and use the machine to find out what I’m getting?
A few years ago, I was getting something of the top of a bookcase. I had recently gotten a new dining room set. My old chairs were covered in fabric. The new ones are wood. Thus, socks no longer provided enough traction when standing on a chair.
When I started falling, I managed to twist and hop to the floor landing on my feet instead of my face. However, I whacked my right foot into one of the chair’s arms with a great deal of force. I knew immediately my over 20 year streak of unbroken bones was over.
I decided to get an x-ray to be sure it wasn’t serious. I also brought along a wooden puzzle I’d had for over a decade. Neither I or anybody I’d shown it to, had any clue how to take it apar. Weaker, less patient folks had begged for permission to cut through a dowel and discover the secret. But now, if only I could convince the technician to x-ray the puzzle, I would finally know. How to convince them? What would I say? What would it cost?
I asked politely and the technician x-rayed the puzzle-from two angles, at no charge. Unfortunately, the x-ray was no help at all.
A few months later, I was attempting to solve the puzzle using an old theory. The thing came apart in my hands. Now that I know what to look for, the x-ray clearly shows how to solve the puzzle.
So far though, none of my friends has managed to solve it.