Just a coincidence? Here’s Gigetto on Lincoln on The Baader-Meinhof Phenomenon:
“Many years ago, I identified a phenomenon so startling and so broad in its application that it encompasses the current wonder surrounding the number 23, as well as many other forms of eerie coincidence.
“I have dubbed it The Baader-Meinhof Phenomenon – named after the notorious West German gang of terrorists. The phenomenon goes like this: The first time you learn a new word, phrase or idea, you will see that word, phrase or idea again in print within 24 hours. (This does not apply to topical things – just obscure words, etc.)
“As you might guess, the phenomenon is named after an incident in which I was talking to a friend about the Baader-Meinhof gang (and this was many years after they were in the news). The next day, my friend phoned me and referred me to an article in that day’s newspaper in which the Baader-Meinhof gang was mentioned. Quel surpris! [Bulletin Board notes: You may recall that on two occasions, The Wordsmith of St. Paul reported seeing a word a second time within a day after first encountering it and looking it up – but he didn’t give the phenomenon a cute name.]
“Within my circle of friends, the expression `Baader-Meinhof’ is now well known – as in: `I had the greatest Baader-Meinhof yesterday.’ It instantly communicates this complex and puzzling experience of seeing something in print so soon after learning about it.
“There are many corollaries to the B-M Phenomenon, only one of which I will alert you to now. I call it The Comics Page Corollary: No matter what newspaper you read (provided it has a comics page), four or five times a year, two comics will appear on the same day with the same punch line. Again, to qualify, it cannot be topical; raking leaves, back-to-school antics, Halloween – these references are to be expected. But every once in a while, completely out of the blue, two comics share the same joke. For example: On the same day, `Mother Goose & Grimm’ and `Garfield’ dealt with dogs drinking out of toilets.
“You are welcome to start using Baader-Meinhof to explain the inexplicable. I do.”
A thought for today: From Eileen O. of Maplewood: “My little boy, Miles, who’s 4, and I read the Bulletin Board every morning.
“Last night, his dog, Norm, got hit by a car and died. Unfortunately, Miles saw it.
“I’m calling just to let people know that although dogs can be great nuisances, at times … a year and a half ago, when we got Norm, I was pregnant with Maggie, and it was really hard to be patient with him; he was chewing toys and chewing furniture and making messes all over, but in a year and a half, he grew to be a member of our family.
“He was a funny dog that would check the kids at night when I did; he would bark in mute during the night if he heard something that he needed to warn us about, but he didn’t want to wake the children.
“We live in an area where there’s not any kids, and Norm was Miles’ best friend. Norm would let Miles ride him like a horse. He would let him put clothes on him. He would let him lie on him while he watched a movie. Norm was his best friend.
“He was just a really good dog – and you don’t realize how important they are until they’re gone. And it happened so quickly. And it was very painful to see.
“I associated that with the important people in your life – that they can irritate you, they can annoy you, but boy, can they be gone fast.
“Someday another dog or pet will come into our life, but we’ll never forget Norm.
“People: Remember how important not only animals are, but each other – because it can end quickly, and you just never think it will happen.”
23 skiddoo: From Lady Godiva of St. Paul:
“You know, this number thing is really getting to me, except it’s 94s I’m seeing everywhere.
“If I walk up to Randolph and Snelling in the morning, I have a choice of taking the 94J and the 94H to work; or if I drive up to I-94 and Snelling, I can take the 94B or the 94C. Any way I do it, I end up on Highway 94. When I go to the Mall of America, I take 494, and when I go to Golden Valley, I take 394.
“My Social Security number ends in 942, and in my last job, my direct phone line ended in 94.
“When my paychecks come, they always have a 94 on them, and when I’m writing out personal checks, I always find myself writing 94 on them. Bills come with a due date that always includes 94, and all of my mail is postmarked with a 94. One of my credit cards even says `Member since 1994.’
“My psychology assignment for this week includes Page 94, and last week’s Spanish assignment included Page 94, too.
“Oh, and all of us who used to work at Channel 23 and lost our jobs when Linda Rios Brook and her disciples bought the station still keep in touch in ’94.
“Scary, huh?”
The Permanent Neighbor Record: From Jan of Cottage Grove:
“My son is up in Alexandria for police training, and he’s renting the basement from an old couple.
“He’s down studying one night, and he hears the older woman up there: `Owww! Ohhh! Owww! Ouch! Ooooh! Oh, you’ve done this to me a hundred times, and it’s never hurt this bad! Oh, my gosh! Oww! Oh! Take it easy! Be careful!’
“After about 10 minutes of this, he decided to go upstairs and find out if anything was wrong. So he knocked on the door, and the older gentleman came to the door, and my son said: `Is everything all right up here?’
And he noticed the older lady sitting at the kitchen table with her foot up on a chair.
“And the older fellow said: `Yeah, it’s OK up here. I’m just cutting her toenails.’ ”
Annals of functional illiteracy: From Jesse of Mankato State:
“My roommate Jeff was making Hamburger Helper one time. It called for 1 pound of hamburger, and he had a 3-pound block.
“He asked me how much of his block he was going to be needing to use, and I said: `Well, you’ve got a 1-pound recipe here, and you’ve got 3 pounds.’ I said: `You need a third of it.’
“He whispered to me: `Jesse, how much is a third?’
“I said: `You know, just a third of what you’ve got there. You know, divide it up into three equal parts.’
“He stared at it, and about a minute later, he looked at me again and said: `Exactly how much is a third?’
“And I said: `Divide it up into three equal parts!’
“He said `OK,’ and he went back to what he was doing, and a minute later, he called to me again: `Jesse!’
“I said: `Yeah?’
“He said: `Do you got a ruler?’ ”
BULLETIN BOARD REPLIES: If that don’t say it all about the state of American education, we ain’t got a clue what do.
Immutable Laws of the Universe
Grandma Lu of West St. Paul, while watching an NFL game:
“It seems to be an Immutable Law that the announcers – and particularly the commentators – always know more than the coaches. And they never stop talking!
“Thank the Lord for the Mute button, which I have just pressed for about the 50th time.”
