Don't Take Me Seriously - Book - Page 266
The ‘Freudian Post’
Unlimited online ways to ‘out’ your true thoughts
am either fallible, which I refuse to
admit, or diabolical, which is probably
beyond me – or I recently made a
“Freudian Post.”
You see, as part of my job, I “post”
stories to the Internet. In this particular
case, I was belatedly posting a story about
a new restaurant that would soon open in
our town. As always, I was multitasking
at the time, doing the intricate and
highly-skilled, triple-time ballet that is
required of an editor, writer, page-maker,
photographer, videographer, website
manipulator, all-around-heavy-lifter and
people person, such as me. Specifically,
I was working with all four hands,
simultaneously manipulating photos of
both the soon-to-be-restaurant’s building
and photos for this week’s DVD releases.
You must also know that, because I was
belatedly posting the restaurant story, it
was going to go live online pretty much
the instant I hit save.
The miss-post occurred with a mental
collision between the DVDs and the
restaurant, when I somehow posted the
“Babe – Pig in the City” DVD photo with
the text for the restaurant.
Now, I don’t know about you, but
I could imagine how the restaurant’s
owners would take this piggy publicity
I
– not just as a “Huh?” but more as an
editorial attack on the quality of their
establishment. And I could picture their
phones ringing off the hook as the story
went live and all their relatives and friends
and various pot-stirrers started calling
with the bad news.
And, like a chuckle started in the
Principal’s office, I couldn’t stop laughing.
The more I worried, the harder I
laughed, as I tried feverishly to replace
the pig with the correct photo – which
just wouldn’t seem to work – which only
made me laugh harder. Like Chevy Chase
circling the roundabout in “European
Vacation,” it nearly brought me to
laughing-tears.
Now, if you think this an overlyemotional reaction, I plead exhaustion …
and also refer you to the brain tumor I
mentioned last week.
Anyway, I got the photo replaced, the
situation corrected and, hopefully, no
one noticed but God – who, I figure, was
laughing along with me.
As per usual, all of this got me to
thinking: Does not the Internet offer
unlimited opportunities to “Freudian
Post” – to “accidentally” put things
together incorrectly, and thereby reveal
the dark currents of your own psyche?
Well, certainly it does on Facebook,
where your private messages, and even
Web searches, can “accidentally” end up in
your status, for all to see, i.e. “Searching
for romance in Valencia this weekend.”
But let’s stick with news stories. And it
doesn’t have to be the photo that crosses
us up there. Sometimes, it’s just the
headline, and may be Freudian on the
part of the headline writer – or in the
mind of the reader. Here are some real
examples:
“Man accused of killing lawyer receives
a new attorney”
“Army vehicle disappears after being
painted with camouflage”
“Mayor to homeless: ‘Go home’”
“Homicide victims rarely talk to police”
“Most earthquake damage is caused by
shaking”
“Federal agents raid gun shop, find
weapons”
“Teen pregnancy drops off significantly
after age 25”
“Gator attacks puzzle experts”
“Milk drinkers turn to powder”
“Juvenile court to try shooting
defendant”
“Squad helps dog bite victim”
“Red tape holds up new bridge”
Video Link of the Week:
Opening a beer with an excavator
he Germans are noted for their precision – and it is demonstrated
here when the German operator of an excavator pops open a
beer using the machine’s scraper-bucket. This is a very valuable
skill. Interestingly there are many similar videos out there, which
might indicate that Precision Excavator Operation should become a
Summer Olympic sport. It’s certainly better than ribbon dancing. The
excavators could, oh, maybe, pop beers, stack cards and shave cats.
T
http://bit.ly/18ONXXR
14 | >>
WWW.CONNECTSCV.COM • MAY 8 - 14, 2013
Jim Walker
Don’t Take Me Seriously
In any case, it’s always best to doublecheck before you post.
Comment at jwalker@signalscv.com or at
http://Twitter.com/DontSeriously.
