Anotated links from a Cleveland area obsessive coffee drinker, avid quotation collector, voracious internet content consumer, amatuer social network analyzer, and armchair economic developer. Recently referred to as a "web activist".
This is a true story told to me by my usual straight-laced friend
Don. I laughed so hard my sides hurt when I read it!
"The year was 1972. I had just moved to Cleveland from Tucson, Arizona. I was a student at Cleveland State University, and as usual was running behind to get to my evening industrial engineering job at UPS. I jumped into the car, which was parked in front of my East 120th Street apartment in Little Italy. As I started the car, I noticed that lots of trash was piled on the curb next to my car. Being in a hurry, I thought nothing of it."
"I drove away from the curb and was making my way down Mayfield Road, when I started noticing that other drivers were honking their horns at me. I thought this was strange, but being in a hurry I continued on my way. I reached the University Circle area and had just made a left turn onto Euclid Avenue. The guy in the car next to mine rolled down his window and shouted at me "Hey buddy, you should have left your easy chair in your living room." I looked behind my car and in horror saw a 300-pound stuffed chair dragging behind my car. I stopped for the light in front of Severance Hall and pounded on the chair until it finally loosened from my VW Beetle bumper. I looked in amazement at the pathetic chair, whose smoking legs were worn down to nubs."
"Meanwhile, close to twenty people at the bus stop in front of Severance watched in astonishment as I wrestled the huge green chair to the curb next to the bus shelter. One nearby man was in tears because he was laughing so hard. He says to me: 'Brother, this beats all. You leaving this baby at the concert hall?' I breathlessly yelled back to the man: 'It's yours for a dollar', jumped back into my car and quickly sped away."
"For nearly two weeks the hopelessly stupid chair was parked in front of Severance Hall. Then one morning as I was reading the newspaper, I saw an article with a photo of the jolly green giant chair in front of the home of the Cleveland Orchestra. The caption under the photo read:
World-class Cleveland Orchestra Looks for Funds to Endow New Musical Chair."
"Now you know how world-class institutions in Cleveland raise money during tough economic times. Maybe the a creative idea like that would work now."
