Re: Teens think the darndest things
I was reading this column by Keith Smith in Wednesday’s paper. The beginning of the column states:
Boy, I don’t know whether to laugh or cry. A former teacher of mine (whom until recently I kept calling “sir”) until he pointed out that almost 50 years had gone by since we were teacher and student, both of us having entered life’s departure lounge, at around the same time sent me this seta howlers with the preamble that:“The following questions and answers were collected from last year’s junior exam results… These are genuine responses, from some Caribbean 16-year-olds, that were read on a local morning show!
The answers might seem funny but the reality behind it is scary… let’s do our best to help our country’s future
Mr. Smith then proceeds to give a list of responses to questions that that were fielded to Caribbean students in some exam. From the time I started reading these I thought it was a little familiar and therefore a little suspicious. In fact it sounded like a bunch of lame jokes. Here are a few:
Q: Name the four seasons.
A: Salt, pepper, mustard and vinegar.Q: What guarantees may a mortgage company insist on?
A: If you are buying a house, they will insist you are well endowed.Q: In a democratic society, how important is elections?
A: Very important. Sex can only happen when a male gets an election.Q: What are steroids?
A: Things for keeping carpets still on the stairs.
After reading this I’m thinking this can’t be for real. So I Google one of the jokes. As it turns out, these exact same jokes are word for word all over the internet. For example here, here and here. Is something wrong with this picture? I reread Keith Smith’s column just to make sure I wasn’t missing out on something, but the only conclusion I can come to is that Keith Smith meant what he said literally i.e. an old teacher friend gave him this list of answers from some Caribbean exam or the other. So how is it that a list of over-circulated Q&A jokes becomes a selection from “last year’s junior exam results…genuine responses, from some Caribbean 16-year-olds”? I can’t tell you. My best guess was that it somehow became an e-mail forward and a West Indian put his or her stamp on it. But regardless of it happened, someone along the line someone got duped.
15 Responses to “Re: Teens think the darndest things”
By Warren on Jun 25, 2007 | Reply
Poor Keith…still don’t know how to Google suspicious information…is it a generational thing? older colleagues of mine also seem to be a bit naive when it comes to circulating works of “urban legend”….but this from a seasoned journalist is a little surprising. But doh worry about ol’ Keith…I hear he got another email where he won $100 million euros in some lottery he eh enter, so he go retire soon!
By Chennette on Jun 25, 2007 | Reply
as much as I like Keith Smith, he has included such forwards in his columns before - maybe he really doesn’t get it, or he’s on pseudo-vacation
By SexyGirl on Jun 26, 2007 | Reply
I think this problem is indicative of the fact that internet users EVEN in 2007 are not the least bit internet savvy. I’ve recently taken to following up and replying to forwards with dubious information by checking out snopes.com and other related website before forwarding the relevant information (even sending it back with a link that debunks what the person just sent). Time consuming yes… but I am soooo sick of the same crap circling back to me every few months that I figured it was my duty to educate my friends AND save me the hassle of deleting the garbage! I mean, in an age where information is so readily available we seem to be willing to believe just about anything…. The “i read it on the internet, so it MUST be true” syndrome abounds. Even those who we consider to be seasoned journalists, people who we depend on to combine critical thinking and objectivity, with a healthy dose of skepticism before ‘reporting’ on anything are falling victim to this set of horse manure that has been circulating the internet from time immemorial. I figure we just need to THINK sometimes.
OR it may have just been a slow week for him…. with nothing else to talk about.
By The TriniGourmet on Jun 26, 2007 | Reply
maybe he’s really a bot o.O !
By Mani on Jun 26, 2007 | Reply
lol, Warren, I hear he also got an e-mail from an Ivory Coast widow who needs someplace to put her millions of Euros….I hope he doh fire he wuk just yet. But yes, surprising that he would print that. Maybe he though no one would be bothered to check.
Chennette, so he does this all the time? jeez.
Sexygirl, very true. The amount of fowards I get with some urban legend or the other protesting some foolish action by some company that never happened. I don’t know why people just swallow anything they find on the net. But yeah I think it was a slow week for him.
LOL, trinigourmet, maybe he is a bot…I never thought about that.
By Afro Chic on Jun 26, 2007 | Reply
OMG Sexy Eyes I do the exact same thing!!
Snopes or urbandlegends.about.com and I send it back to them one time! Kill the rumours and senseless emails.
Mani, from the time my friend started reading the article to me the morning I was like, That is not true. That’s an old email joke.
She say, “No…Keith Smith say…”
I said, “Keith Smith musbe was bereft of ideas this week and he copy and paste dat.”
By D Trini in Me on Jun 27, 2007 | Reply
Shame on you Keith Smith
By Anonymous on Jun 27, 2007 | Reply
The first thing that jumps out is why is there a CXC question on the four seasons? As far as I’m concerned, when I go home it’s either mango season, or it’s not mango season.
But, seriously, really, this is what happens when one hits the “departure lounge”, a confined sterile space, completely devoid of any information on what is going on in the outside world.
Trini Down Under
By Mani on Jun 28, 2007 | Reply
LOL, Afro Chick, I wanted to say that eh, but I wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt.
D trini, poor old man, didn’t know the powers of Google.
Trini Down Under, lol, you and my mother is the same thing, oh gorm. From King Lear: “Old fools are babes again”.
By Mani on Jun 28, 2007 | Reply
By the way, Trini Down Under, if you choose “Other” under “Choose an Identity, you could post as “trini Down Under” as opposed to Anonymous, on the other hand, what you doing quite there breds?
By Trini Down Under on Jun 28, 2007 | Reply
Well Sar, I’m at the end of the world doing my bit to push back the frontiers of science, having had the best possible foundation back home when I was ah u-wee student from donkey years ago.
By TriniObserver on Jul 2, 2007 | Reply
I consider forwards to be a sign of low intelligence.
Few of my friends ever send that nonsense to me.
That is how you know that technology is being underused.
By Mani on Jul 4, 2007 | Reply
lol, trini down under, I hope you’re not picking up an Aussie accent.
By Hottie Hottie on Jul 5, 2007 | Reply
Somebody was in a hurry to run out and get they box a Chinese food. Assuming that was his first lunch. If it was his second it would have been Royal Castle. All I can say is that this doesn’t surprise me at all.
By Mani on Jul 5, 2007 | Reply
lol, so how many lunches does this guy eat a day? Apparently a lot of people aren’t surprised by this.