The following incident won the runner-up prize in the 1999 Darwin Awards:
A Vermont native, Ronald Demuth, found himself in a difficult position. While
touring the Eagle's Rock African Safari (Zoo) with a group of thespians from St.
Petersburg, Russia, Mr. Demuth went overboard to show them one of America's many
marvels. He demonstrated the effectiveness of "Crazy Glue"... the hard way.
Apparently, Mr. Demuth wanted to demonstrate just how good the adhesive was, so
he put about 3 ounces of the adhesive in the palms of his hands, and jokingly
placed them on the buttocks of a passing rhino. The rhino, a resident of the zoo
for the past thirteen years, was not initially startled as it has been part of
the petting exhibit since its arrival as a baby.
However, once it became aware of its being involuntarily stuck to Mr. Demuth, it
began to panic and ran around the petting area wildly making Mr. Demuth an
unintended passenger.
"Sally [the rhino] hasn't been feeling well lately. She had been very
constipated. We had just given her a laxative and some depressants to relax her
bowels, when Mr. Demuth played his juvenile prank," said James Douglass,
caretaker. During Sally's tirade two fences were destroyed, a shed wall was
gored, and a number of small animals escaped. Also, during the stampede, three
pygmy goats and one duck were stomped to death.
As for Demuth, it took a team of medics and zoo caretakers' to remove his hands
from her buttocks. First, the animal had to be captured and calmed down.
However, during this process the laxatives began to take hold and Mr. Demuth was
repeatedly showered with over 30 gallons of rhino diarrhoea.
"It was tricky. We had to calm her down, while at the same time shield our faces
from being pelted with rhino dung. I guess you could say that Mr. Demuth was
into it up to his neck. Once she was under control, we had three people with
shovels working to keep an air passage open for Mr. Demuth. We were able to
tranquilize her and apply a solvent to remove his hands from her rear," said
Douglass. "I don't think he'll be playing with Crazy Glue for a while."
What in the world was Mr. Demuth thinking???? I believe it is safe to say that
he wasn't thinking at all! Lest I be too harsh and critical, though, I have to
remember all the times in my life when I have "attached" myself to something
sinful. The results were just as disastrous, and I have often found myself
wondering, "What was I thinking?" The truth is, I really wasn't thinking at all.
That's the very nature of sin. We "attach" ourselves, thinking we can always
quit whenever we want to. We don't even consider what the consequences will be.
I appreciate this quote by an Author unknown. If anyone has a proprietary
interest in this story please authenticate and I will be happy to credit, or
remove, as the circumstances dictate..: "Sin will take you further than you want
to go, keep you longer than you want to stay and cost you more than you want to
pay."
I almost didn't use the story above because of it being so disgusting. But then
I realized that it is nothing compared to the disgusting things that sin leads
us to do in our own lives. Perhaps we need to be reminded every now and then of
just how disgusting the results of sin can be.
"But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed.
Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is
full-grown, brings forth death." (James 1:14-15).
To what (or whom) have you attached yourself?
Alan Smith thought-for-the-day-unsubscribe@egroups.com
www.TFTD-online.com
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