# Not Any Phone in a Storm **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [August 27, 2004, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-any-phone-in-a-storm/261779 "2004-08-27T13:05:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Kat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b19c9b/32.png) [@Kat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kat)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2004, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-any-phone-in-a-storm/261779/21 "2004-08-29T00:12:53Z")
> [@Jake](#): > > Matt, not a good idea to use the word “Gaily”. (My middle name BTY), Galey) 😉 _blinks_ Why not? > [@](#): > > Cecil, a lousy telephone reciever cannot, by Decibles, fuck up you ear. It would blow out long befor that. A spark, on the other hand surely could. > > 🙂 Are you differentiating between “lousy” and “non-lousy” here, or describing all receivers as “lousy” (i.e. they’d all blow out, or lousy ones would blow out and good ones would have a chance at fucking up your ear by decibels)? ---
**Author:** ![rfgdxm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c0e974/32.png) [@rfgdxm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rfgdxm)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2004, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-any-phone-in-a-storm/261779/22 "2004-08-29T00:30:10Z")
> [@Cecil Adams](#): > > The lightning-related injuries reported in the medical journals mostly involve the telephone - maybe because they produce more interesting medical problems, I dunno. It has to do with the fact that when in the home, worst case scenario in a lightning strike involves holding something with a wire that the electricity from the lightning can travel through. This tends to be an unlikely scenario except in the case of using a non-cordless phone. ---
**Author:** ![rfgdxm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c0e974/32.png) [@rfgdxm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rfgdxm)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2004, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-any-phone-in-a-storm/261779/23 "2004-08-29T00:33:34Z")
> [@Oy!](#): > > BUt what about the shower? **Cecil** gave examples of wire conductors such as telephones/appliances, but not any of people actually getting struck by lightening because they were showering or bathing (obviously, I’m not talking about outdoor activites, but rather in the bathroom). > > Does anyone know if that is actually a hazard? > > Thanks. Not much of one. Electricity tends to travel via the shortest path to ground. Plumbing is _very_ well grounded, given that it enters the home from pipes in the ground. ---
**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:** [August 30, 2004, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-any-phone-in-a-storm/261779/24 "2004-08-30T19:41:21Z")
> [@](#): > > ``` > This is the part about the column that intrigued me the most: > > ``` > > Quote: > A glob of ball lightning–a rare, poorly understood phenomenon that behaves like a mixture of electricity and fire > > The anecdote about this phenomenon was incredible. In the fiction work Lonesome Dove, there is mention of lightning hopping along the horns of cattle, but I don’t remember if it was in the form of a ball. Maybe. Do we know any more about it, QED … or even … Cecil? > [@](#): > > I agree that ball lightning is a fascinating phenomenon and may write a column about it. _pant pant pant_ Only five years and a musing of mine has attracted the notice of **The Great Cecil Adams**! ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2004, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-any-phone-in-a-storm/261779/25 "2004-09-18T14:12:27Z")
More than that, **Ellen** , your post was the “trigger” question for Cecil’s column on [“Does ball lightning really exist?”](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/040917.html), appearing on our website and in Alternate Newspapers around the country! Congrats!! ---
**Author:** ![Dogzilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@Dogzilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dogzilla)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2004, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-any-phone-in-a-storm/261779/26 "2004-09-27T21:03:19Z")
You guys are so cool. 🆒 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-any-phone-in-a-storm/261779.md?page=1)