# Just When You Thought the VT Story Couldn't Get Any Weirder **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 25, 2007, 9:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-when-you-thought-the-vt-story-couldnt-get-any-weirder/401567 "2007-04-25T09:23:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2007, 9:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-when-you-thought-the-vt-story-couldnt-get-any-weirder/401567/1 "2007-04-25T09:23:45Z")
[It seems that he had a thing for rubber duckies.](http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/years/2007/0422071cho1.html) > [@](#): > > In addition to purchasing ammunition clips on eBay, Virginia Tech gunman Cho Seung-Hui last year bought an assortment of rubber duckies via the online auction giant. That’s right, the mass murderer paid a total of $21.50 in two February 2006 auctions that netted him **three dozen small squeaking toy ducks and one giant rubber duck.** _(emphasis mine)_ Okay, anyone want to guess what he wanted with all them? ---
**Author:** ![MerryMagdalen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c2a13f/32.png) [@MerryMagdalen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MerryMagdalen)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2007, 9:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-when-you-thought-the-vt-story-couldnt-get-any-weirder/401567/2 "2007-04-25T09:30:33Z")
Target practice? Creative skeet shooting? The pictures of that many rubber ducks lined up, all expectant, beaks open, are kind of creepy. ---
**Author:** ![Dragwyr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dragwyr/32/2855_2.png) [@Dragwyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dragwyr)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2007, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-when-you-thought-the-vt-story-couldnt-get-any-weirder/401567/3 "2007-04-25T17:34:57Z")
They all “spoke” to him and made him do it. ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2007, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-when-you-thought-the-vt-story-couldnt-get-any-weirder/401567/4 "2007-04-25T17:38:13Z")
[QUOTE=Dragwyr] They all “spoke” to him and made him do it. [/QUOTE] So we should start referring to him as “Son of Quackers”? ---
**Author:** ![descamisado](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@descamisado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/descamisado)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2007, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-when-you-thought-the-vt-story-couldnt-get-any-weirder/401567/5 "2007-04-25T18:05:37Z")
[QUOTE=MerryMagdalen] Target practice? Creative skeet shooting? The pictures of that many rubber ducks lined up, all expectant, beaks open, are kind of creepy. [/QUOTE] Sorta reminds me of [this](http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18183171/displaymode/1107/s/2/framenumber/7/) from another thread about the coincidence of there being 33 bullets in the frame. ---
**Author:** ![Litoris](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9f8e36/32.png) [@Litoris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Litoris)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2007, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-when-you-thought-the-vt-story-couldnt-get-any-weirder/401567/6 "2007-04-25T18:21:00Z")
Rubber ducks = the new Catcher in the Rye? ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2007, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-when-you-thought-the-vt-story-couldnt-get-any-weirder/401567/7 "2007-04-25T19:16:04Z")
On the floor above me at work, nearly every cubicle has an assortment of seasonally-dressed rubber duckies on the top of their wall. I think it might be some sort of bizarre recognition system, but it’s just plain creepy. ---
**Author:** ![Hal\_Briston](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9a28c/32.png) [@Hal\_Briston](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hal_Briston)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2007, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-when-you-thought-the-vt-story-couldnt-get-any-weirder/401567/8 "2007-04-25T19:24:43Z")
Woah. I’m pretty sure I’ve mentioned Eric The Questioner in the past. He’s the guy in my office that you _never_ want to be in a training class or staff meeting with. You know at the end, when whoever is running the show says “Does anyone have any questions”? Eric does. He’s got questions. He’s got a fucking million of them. And they’re not good ones, either – it’s like he knows this is the only opportunity he has that people _must_ acknowledge him. Bosses know that placing you a class with Eric is viewed as a form of punishment. Classes finally end when the instructor says “Does anyone _other than Eric_ have any questions?”. The thing is, Eric is…ummm…undesirable to be around. When it comes to knowing our products and services, he’s brilliant – he quite literally knows more than anyone else in the company, as far as I can tell. Unfortunately for him, he’s also a slovenly, lumbering, foul lummox. There is no time that anyone spends one more second than is absolutely necessary with him. He’s also the guy that I’ve long said is Most Likely To Snap And Gun Down Half The Company’s Staff. And all over his cubicle? Rubber duckies. At least fifty of them. \ Damn glad I telecommute. Frightening update on preview: Eric has never, ever phoned me. He and I have not exchanged one word since I started telecommuting over a year ago. The fricking guy just called me up. _Eep!_ ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2007, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-when-you-thought-the-vt-story-couldnt-get-any-weirder/401567/9 "2007-04-25T19:29:36Z")
Been nice knowing you, **Hal**. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2007, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-when-you-thought-the-vt-story-couldnt-get-any-weirder/401567/10 "2007-04-25T19:50:50Z")
This thread prompted me to look around my desk for my own rubber duckie. It is a little one dressed like Dracula. It is gone. I kid you not. I don’t know what I should do now. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2007, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-when-you-thought-the-vt-story-couldnt-get-any-weirder/401567/11 "2007-04-25T20:26:57Z")
[QUOTE=Shagnasty] This thread prompted me to look around my desk for my own rubber duckie. It is a little one dressed like Dracula. It is gone. I kid you not. I don’t know what I should do now. [/QUOTE] Duck. ---
**Author:** ![Bobotheoptimist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/919ad9/32.png) [@Bobotheoptimist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bobotheoptimist)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2007, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-when-you-thought-the-vt-story-couldnt-get-any-weirder/401567/12 "2007-04-25T20:35:56Z")
Rubber ducky, you’re the one You make bathtime so much fun. Rubber ducky, I’m awfully fond of you. Doo doo doot da doo. ---
**Author:** ![Litoris](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9f8e36/32.png) [@Litoris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Litoris)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2007, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-when-you-thought-the-vt-story-couldnt-get-any-weirder/401567/13 "2007-04-25T20:35:59Z")
Funny enough, my 7 year old son has a small collection of rubber ducks that he has been given over the years. He has a “devil” ducky – it is red and has horns, he has a mickey mouse one (no description necessary, I hope), a coupla yellow ones, a blue one and a teeny weeny one. He doesn’t ask for them, they’ve always been gifts. Hmmmm. ---
**Author:** ![Garfield226](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Garfield226](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Garfield226)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2007, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-when-you-thought-the-vt-story-couldnt-get-any-weirder/401567/14 "2007-04-25T20:50:40Z")
No, NOW it’s weirder. > [@](#): > > Cho also had an imaginary girlfriend whom he called Jelly, former roommates told CNN. Cho reportedly described her as a supermodel from outer space whose pet name for Cho was Spanky. from [abcnews.com](http://abcnews.com): [Report: Cho hired an escort before rampage](http://abcnews.go.com/US/VATech/story?id=3071730&page=1) (and to correct the misleading headline, it was a month before, not RIGHT before) I gotta think people are either screwing with the reporters or just trying to make him look bad or something…this can’t be for real. ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2007, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-when-you-thought-the-vt-story-couldnt-get-any-weirder/401567/15 "2007-04-25T20:57:33Z")
Were the ducks, by chance, sitting down? ---
**Author:** ![Jelymag](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d2c977/32.png) [@Jelymag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jelymag)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2007, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-when-you-thought-the-vt-story-couldnt-get-any-weirder/401567/16 "2007-04-25T21:02:38Z")
I think there is a hotel chain that gives out rubber ducks to its patrons. Best Western, maybe? ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2007, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-when-you-thought-the-vt-story-couldnt-get-any-weirder/401567/17 "2007-04-25T21:03:17Z")
[QUOTE=Garfield226] No, NOW it’s weirder. from [abcnews.com](http://abcnews.com): [Report: Cho hired an escort before rampage](http://abcnews.go.com/US/VATech/story?id=3071730&page=1) (and to correct the misleading headline, it was a month before, not RIGHT before) I gotta think people are either screwing with the reporters or just trying to make him look bad or something…this can’t be for real. [/QUOTE] Erm… this is interesting - escorts take credit cards now? > [@ABC Article](#): > > She got a call from the FBI, which she said tracked her down through Cho’s credit card receipts. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2007, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-when-you-thought-the-vt-story-couldnt-get-any-weirder/401567/18 "2007-04-25T21:04:18Z")
[QUOTE=Happy Lendervedder] Duck. [/QUOTE] [Why a duck?](http://www.hottubessentials.com/spa_celebriduck_Groucho_Marx.asp) And before you ask, yep, I’ve got one. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![WarmNPrickly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/d78d45/32.png) [@WarmNPrickly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WarmNPrickly)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2007, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-when-you-thought-the-vt-story-couldnt-get-any-weirder/401567/19 "2007-04-25T21:10:51Z")
> [@](#): > > I’m pretty sure I’ve mentioned Eric The Questioner in the past. He’s the guy in my office that you never want to be in a training class or staff meeting with. You know at the end, when whoever is running the show says “Does anyone have any questions”? Eric does. He’s got questions. He’s got a fucking million of them. And they’re not good ones, either – it’s like he knows this is the only opportunity he has that people must acknowledge him. Bosses know that placing you a class with Eric is viewed as a form of punishment. Classes finally end when the instructor says “Does anyone other than Eric have any questions?”. I admit that this behavior is annoying and probably an attention getting device, it hardly qualifies as nuts. He sounds like he is an antisocial, but relatively smart if excentric individual. This VT guy on the otherhand, was clearly nuts and not very intelligent at all. My guess is that he had some weird thing in mind with these ducks that is unrelated to the shootings. He wasn’t thinking through all of the consequences of his rampage. I mean he filed off the serial numbers on his gun! There was some part of his brain that thought he might not get caught despite the fact that it was clearly a suicide mission. This guy had a broken brain that did not make connections well. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2007, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-when-you-thought-the-vt-story-couldnt-get-any-weirder/401567/20 "2007-04-25T21:44:29Z")
[QUOTE=Rigamarole] Erm… this is interesting - escorts take credit cards now? [/QUOTE] Escorts have been advertising on craigslist for a while now. I’d venture that they accept PayPal. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-when-you-thought-the-vt-story-couldnt-get-any-weirder/401567.md?page=2)