JANUARY 20th - Weirdness has Explanations



On this day in 1949, J. Edgar Hoover gave Shirley Temple a fountain pen. That in and of itself would be weird--head of the FBI and the most famous child actor of the time (possibly ever), not exactly a garden variety friendship. But just to ratchet up the weirdness, that fountain pen emitted tear gas if activated. Weirdness, though, usually has some underlying reasoning behind it. That kid in grammar school who ate his/her own boogers may have inherently believed the study that says eating one’s own boogies can lead to a stronger immune system. Or maybe he/she was just a weird little booger eater. But in the case of Shirley and the G-men leader, Shirley had been dealing with kidnapping threats and sleazy Hollywood producers throughout most of her life, and the FBI had been called in multiple times giving the two an opportunity to strike up the unlikely friendship. Shirley was also around 21 when J. Edgar gave her that special little pen so it wasn’t like he was giving a weapon to a small child. And it is a nifty little device. “Oh you want my autograph. Sure thing. Oh you want me to get in the back of your van? Say hello to my little friend.” Dispenses tear gas, crisis averted. I wonder if she ever had to use it. Anywho, you can see that some situations, while seemingly random or confoundingly eccentric, actually have some logic behind them. So next time you see somebody doing something weird like wearing underwear over the rest of his/her clothes, take a beat and remember that usually weirdness has an explanation. I can’t imagine one that wouldn’t make outer-underwear-wearer not seem crazy, but craziness is an explanation.

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