# RO: This is totally going to kill Bring Your Clock to School Day **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [September 16, 2015, 8:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ro-this-is-totally-going-to-kill-bring-your-clock-to-school-day/731454 "2015-09-16T08:35:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 15
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2015, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ro-this-is-totally-going-to-kill-bring-your-clock-to-school-day/731454/281 "2015-09-18T15:56:48Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > Then you think he’s a freakin’ genius. He is pretty clever. But it doesn’t take a genius to manipulate right-wing bigots or members of the left-wing PC outrage lobby. I do give him extra points for using a two-step process involving both camps, but it is pretty predictable how both sides would react. (Ironically, some here are insisting that it’s not predictable at all, yet others defend the engineering teacher by arguing that it _is_ predictable. Maybe you guys should sort that out among yourselves.) ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2015, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ro-this-is-totally-going-to-kill-bring-your-clock-to-school-day/731454/282 "2015-09-18T16:01:29Z")
> [@The\_Stainless\_Steel\_Rat](#): > > Which, as the quoted article noted, he did _until a teacher complained about it and he showed her to explain it._ That’s the way I previously thought it went down also, until I read that article in the process of looking up the engineering teacher’s quote. At which point I serendipitously learned that he did not actually get asked to open his bag when it beeped, but went up after class to show the teacher what it was. Still looks like he was trolling and finally got a bite. Now I don’t necessarily think his father was expecting the police to be involved. Just getting called to the principal’s office would have been enough for him to contact the media and set things in motion. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2015, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ro-this-is-totally-going-to-kill-bring-your-clock-to-school-day/731454/283 "2015-09-18T16:09:58Z")
> [@SlackerInc](#): > > [http://www.dallasnews.com/news/community-news/northwest-dallas-county/headlines/20150915-irving-ninth-grader-arrested-after-taking-homemade-clock-to-school.ece](http://www.dallasnews.com/news/community-news/northwest-dallas-county/headlines/20150915-irving-ninth-grader-arrested-after-taking-homemade-clock-to-school.ece) > > So much for “keeping it hidden”. Are you kidding? You’re saying that when his teacher said “what’s making that beeping noise” (or similar), he should have not obeyed his teacher? Also, I see nothing to point to the dad as a “publicity hound”. The Vox article doesn’t support this assertion – if you believe it does, then which parts of the article support this? ---
**Author:** ![simster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/simster/32/1047_2.png) [@simster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/simster)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2015, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ro-this-is-totally-going-to-kill-bring-your-clock-to-school-day/731454/284 "2015-09-18T16:11:05Z")
> [@SlackerInc](#): > > This was Ahmed’s _own_ recollection. If that’s not good enough for you, then sorry, no: I don’t have a recording of the conversation to link you to. But given your extremely strict standards of evidence, how do you know any of this happened at all? Does Texas even exist? I’ve never been there. Videotape doesn’t prove anything: it can be faked with CGI. :rolleyes: I’m asking for a quote/statement from the teacher- if that exists - so that we have more of that advice in context - what he thought the other teachers may think. He may have told Ahmed not to show them simply because it would be a distraction - not because it implied any ‘bomb’ - without the teachers statement - we can’t know that context. Having only Ahmed’s recall - in one sentence - simply doesn’t tell us enough about the thoughts behind it (from the teacher). The rest of your response is just bullshit. ---
**Author:** ![Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hentor_the_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2015, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ro-this-is-totally-going-to-kill-bring-your-clock-to-school-day/731454/285 "2015-09-18T16:13:42Z")
> [@SlackerInc](#): > > Now I don’t necessarily think his father was expecting the police to be involved. Just getting called to the principal’s office would have been enough for him to contact the media and set things in motion. Like most of your offerings, this is absurdly stupid. Of course that wouldn’t have motivated a reaction. The one reason why people have responded as they have is the single image of this scrawny kid in a NASA tshirt with a plaintive and confused look on his face, in handcuffs and with a cop looming behind him. Without that, people would not remotely have the sympathetic and affective reaction that they have had. ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2015, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ro-this-is-totally-going-to-kill-bring-your-clock-to-school-day/731454/286 "2015-09-18T16:18:45Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > Are you kidding? You’re saying that when his teacher said “what’s making that beeping noise” (or similar), he should have not obeyed his teacher? > > Also, I see nothing to point to the dad as a “publicity hound”. The Vox article doesn’t support this assertion – if you believe it does, then which parts of the article support this? Was he “obeying” his teacher in showing it after class? That’s possible, but you cannot conclude it from what was written: > [@](#): > > He kept the clock inside his school bag in English class, but the teacher complained when the alarm beeped in the middle of a lesson. Ahmed brought his invention up to show her afterward. The parts of the Vox article that support his dad being a publicity hound are the ones I quoted upthread. (He had a campaign website for president despite never actually filing the paperwork to run for president; he inserted himself in the Jerry Jones ridiculousness; he touted himself as regularly going to public events and “accidentally” upstaging the featured speakers.) If you can’t or won’t see it, I’m not sure what else I can say. ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2015, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ro-this-is-totally-going-to-kill-bring-your-clock-to-school-day/731454/287 "2015-09-18T16:22:10Z")
> [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](#): > > The one reason why people have responded as they have is the single image of this scrawny kid in a NASA tshirt with a plaintive and confused look on his face, in handcuffs and with a cop looming behind him. > > Without that, people would not remotely have the sympathetic and affective reaction that they have had. He certainly would not have gotten the invitation to the White House or to meet with Zuckerberg. But he would have gotten some Twitter and Facebook play from the usual suspects, and I think that’s all they were really hoping for initially. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2015, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ro-this-is-totally-going-to-kill-bring-your-clock-to-school-day/731454/288 "2015-09-18T16:22:49Z")
> [@SlackerInc](#): > > He is not going to invent any of those things. The level of technical skill he displayed is minimal. It looks obvious to me he made a gag bomb as a joke (I agree he is not a terrorist)–I don’t think in the age of smartphones he would be so naive as to think anyone would be impressed with something that large in a valise that only told the time. “That large?” [This thing?](http://www.dallasnews.com/incoming/20150916-0916ahmedclock.jpg.ece/BINARY/0916ahmedclock) That’s not a valise, it’s a [pencil box](http://www.staples.com/Vaultz-2-1-4-inch-x-8-1-4-inch-Locking-Pencil/product_1274076?cid=PS:GooglePLAs:1274076&ci_src=17588969&ci_sku=1274076&KPID=1274076&gclid=CjwKEAjw7O6vBRDpi7O-8OWSkwESJACNFsgx3TAB6fa5DY4pHhDNWcH4udb_NAT7lUUJahAYZppDWhoClhvw_wcB&kpid=1274076). It’s smaller than the alarm clock I have on my bedside table. ---
**Author:** ![Morgenstern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Morgenstern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgenstern)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2015, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ro-this-is-totally-going-to-kill-bring-your-clock-to-school-day/731454/289 "2015-09-18T16:24:17Z")
> [@SlackerInc](#): > > Like people who double down on this point even after everything I posted from the Vox article? > > But **Morgenstern** , dear: you are not a “thing”. No matter how intellectually challenged you may be, you are a _person_ and don’t let anyone ever tell you otherwise. I would like to thank you for pointing out what a douchebag you are in this thread. I might have gone years without realizing it otherwise. ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2015, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ro-this-is-totally-going-to-kill-bring-your-clock-to-school-day/731454/290 "2015-09-18T16:24:44Z")
Sorry: _Terry_ Jones, not Jerry. Different Southern blowhard. ---
**Author:** ![6ImpossibleThingsB4Breakfast](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/6/e19adc/32.png) [@6ImpossibleThingsB4Breakfast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/6ImpossibleThingsB4Breakfast)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2015, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ro-this-is-totally-going-to-kill-bring-your-clock-to-school-day/731454/291 "2015-09-18T16:24:48Z")
> [@Buck\_Godot](#): > > Yeah, you’re probably right. My rant really isn’t against Ahmed. I’m just bugged by the combination of [Citizen Ruth](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0115906/) and [Queen for a day](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queen_for_a_Day) that elevates any individual who’s story is not fundamentally different from many others across the country but somehow generates a critical mass of “buzz”, into a lottery winner or pariah depending on the whims of the public. > > For some reason it just doesn’t seem to me to be healthy for us as a society to have our attention an resources to be focused on an individual based primarily on emotional appeal, popularity and luck. > > In any case I’ll give an unironic “Way to go Ahmed! I wish you the best of luck”, and then shuffle off to go yell at a bunch of kids to get off my lawn. Get the other lawn chair out. I’ll be right over. ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2015, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ro-this-is-totally-going-to-kill-bring-your-clock-to-school-day/731454/292 "2015-09-18T16:26:42Z")
> [@Morgenstern](#): > > I would like to thank you for pointing out what a douchebag you are in this thread. I might have gone years without realizing it otherwise. You’re welcome. Happy to spare you years of strenuous mental effort discerning that we are not simpatico. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2015, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ro-this-is-totally-going-to-kill-bring-your-clock-to-school-day/731454/293 "2015-09-18T16:29:36Z")
> [@SlackerInc](#): > > Was he “obeying” his teacher in showing it after class? That’s possible, but you cannot conclude it from what was written: That seems to be the pretty clear implication. Weird noise in class; teacher says “what’s that”; no one answers, and teacher says “please show me what’s making the noise and you won’t get in trouble whoever has it” (or something to that affect); and the clock is produced. Also, when things make noise, it’s not hard to find them. And hiding something that a teacher is looking for is pretty clearly a form of deception – a good kid wouldn’t want to deceive his teachers, even if another teacher recommended hiding the clock-that-looks-nothing-like-a-bomb. > [@](#): > > The parts of the Vox article that support his dad being a publicity hound are the ones I quoted upthread. (He had a campaign website for president despite never actually filing the paperwork to run for president; he inserted himself in the Jerry Jones ridiculousness; he touted himself as regularly going to public events and “accidentally” upstaging the featured speakers.) If you can’t or won’t see it, I’m not sure what else I can say. Okay, I get what you’re saying. The father seemed to have aspirations of doing good (helping his home country politically, defending his religious beliefs, etc.) in a public way. But I think it’s entirely unfair to go from that to “this was engineered” without any actual evidence. Why not go with Occam’s Razor here? Isn’t the simplest explanation that this kid liked to tinker, brought his homemade clock (which looks absolutely nothing like a bomb) to school to show off, had to produce it when it beeped in class, and got treated very poorly by idiot school officials? Why is that harder for you to accept than “dad wanted publicity, had his son build a clock that looks nothing like a bomb but that he knew would somehow be mistaken for a bomb, bring it to school, make sure it beeped at an opportune time, and laugh as the chaos unfurled”? That second explanation just seems much more complicated and less likely than the first. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2015, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ro-this-is-totally-going-to-kill-bring-your-clock-to-school-day/731454/294 "2015-09-18T16:36:08Z")
**Slacker** , you’re coming across as either trolling or deliberately obtuse in this thread. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2015, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ro-this-is-totally-going-to-kill-bring-your-clock-to-school-day/731454/295 "2015-09-18T16:47:00Z")
> [@Morgenstern](#): > > Offspring of a female who believed dinosaurs and people coexisted are bound to have more than a few loose wires in their heads. Maybe it’s a bomb! :eek: ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2015, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ro-this-is-totally-going-to-kill-bring-your-clock-to-school-day/731454/296 "2015-09-18T16:50:33Z")
> [@SlackerInc](#): > > Sorry: _Terry_ Jones, not Jerry. Different Southern blowhard. [Terry Jones?](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terry_Jones) 😕 ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2015, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ro-this-is-totally-going-to-kill-bring-your-clock-to-school-day/731454/297 "2015-09-18T16:55:03Z")
[Terry Southern](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terry_Southern)?? ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2015, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ro-this-is-totally-going-to-kill-bring-your-clock-to-school-day/731454/298 "2015-09-18T16:55:59Z")
Not that Terry Jones. The one who pulled the publicity stunt of burning the Quran. Ahmed’s father tried to bask in the reflected glow of that media firestorm. > [@iiandyiiii](#): > > That seems to be the pretty clear implication. Weird noise in class; teacher says “what’s that”; no one answers, and teacher says “please show me what’s making the noise and you won’t get in trouble whoever has it” (or something to that affect); and the clock is produced. > > Also, when things make noise, it’s not hard to find them. And hiding something that a teacher is looking for is pretty clearly a form of deception – a good kid wouldn’t want to deceive his teachers, even if another teacher recommended hiding the clock-that-looks-nothing-like-a-bomb. > > Okay, I get what you’re saying. The father seemed to have aspirations of doing good (helping his home country politically, defending his religious beliefs, etc.) in a public way. But I think it’s entirely unfair to go from that to “this was engineered” without any actual evidence. Why not go with Occam’s Razor here? Isn’t the simplest explanation that this kid liked to tinker, brought his homemade clock (which looks absolutely nothing like a bomb) to school to show off, had to produce it when it beeped in class, and got treated very poorly by idiot school officials? Why is that harder for you to accept than “dad wanted publicity, had his son build a clock that looks nothing like a bomb but that he knew would somehow be mistaken for a bomb, bring it to school, make sure it beeped at an opportune time, and laugh as the chaos unfurled”? That second explanation just seems much more complicated and less likely than the first. My position doesn’t depend on his not being required to show his device to the English teacher. I thought he _was_ in fact required to do so until pretty late in this thread. But it just doesn’t say that the teacher asked him to produce and show what had been causing the beeping. The way I read it, it says the teacher complained about the beeping, asked it to be stopped, and then after class Ahmed voluntarily came up and said “look, this is what was causing the beeping”. That may not be the case, but I don’t think either version is a lock at this point. Are you quite sure Ahmed could not possibly have just ducked out when the bell rang? Anyway, I do appreciate that you recognize the father is not just some mild mannered engineer or falafel hawker. And maybe this is all just a strange coincidence. If I were on a jury and I had just the evidence I’ve seen so far, and was asked if I could conclude beyond a reasonable doubt that his father had ginned this up, I would vote “not guilty”. Even with a preponderance of evidence standard, I could not in good conscience rule against him. But I very much suspect he has gotten away with pulling a fast one here. I want to reiterate too that if more people were reserving judgment I would not find it so necessary to speak up for this side. In fact, if it were nearly unanimous to interpret it the way I am describing, I would probably speak up for the other side, because that’s how I roll and there is no proof. But within the left I’m not seeing much sign that people realize they may be getting played. BTW, I can’t prove this either, but people who know me personally know I have a good track record of sussing these things out. I knew instantly that Susan Smith was full of shit and killed her children; I knew in that Boston case the guy who killed his wife made up the black carjacker; and the moment Bill Clinton said “I did not have sexual relations with that woman, Ms. Lewinsky” I turned to my girlfriend and said “so he got a BJ or maybe a tug job”. I _can_ prove that I warned Democrats a year in advance that Reverend Wright would become a big controversy and threaten to capsize Obama’s candidacy: [Comments: Open Thread](http://www.dailykos.com/comments/329212/11230308#c62) And 10 years ago I predicted that John Roberts wasn’t going to be that bad for a Bush appointee: [http://www.boomantribune.com/comments/2005/7/21/222029/556/5#5](http://www.boomantribune.com/comments/2005/7/21/222029/556/5#5) Given that a segment of the GOP debate this week was dedicated to lamenting how Roberts is becoming another Souter, I think that prediction was pretty solid as well. ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2015, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ro-this-is-totally-going-to-kill-bring-your-clock-to-school-day/731454/299 "2015-09-18T16:59:21Z")
Sorry. My mistake. Around here “Monty Python reference” is the default assumption. ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2015, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ro-this-is-totally-going-to-kill-bring-your-clock-to-school-day/731454/300 "2015-09-18T17:10:32Z")
Regardless of when or why he showed the clock to his English teacher, I’m extremely skeptical that this thing was planned out by his father, if only due to the fact that it could have gone much worse than it did. The kid could have ended up in a jail cell or shot “resisting arrest” or who knows what. All that for some national recognition or a trip to Space Camp or whatever? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ro-this-is-totally-going-to-kill-bring-your-clock-to-school-day/731454.md?page=14) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ro-this-is-totally-going-to-kill-bring-your-clock-to-school-day/731454.md?page=16)