Flashback Friday

CableGirl at 42 came up with this great idea.

I worked on a cruise ship as an entertainer when I was 19. We had one cruise that took us through the Panama Canal. I wasn't aware of this at the time, but it's apparently pretty common for people to die during this lengthy cruise. I think our total body count by the time we docked in Los Angeles was 19 - something like that. But that's not the story.

The night after we went through the Canal, all of a sudden, the ship started to list. We were turning around! Murmurs of "man overboard" were traveling through the ship faster than an "Obama is a Muslim" email trail!

Our crew, a bunch of Norwegian brutes, got that man on the ship. He was naked. That was weird. But we still celebrated late into the night in the OB (Officer's Bar) with everyone taking turns buying drinks for our life-saving crew.

By morning, word started to spread (mainly among the staff and crew) that this guy had not gone overboard from our ship. He wouldn't answer questions about his identity. The crew chaperoned him.

The following day, at lunchtime, we felt the listing again. What now?

Sure enough, that same man was overboard again! He had thrown off his clothes and jumped overboard!! The crew, a bit more grudgingly this time, went out to save him again.

This time, he fought them, saying "You are the Devil! I am swimming to God!" Eventually, they were only able to get him by shooting him up with a tranquilizer.

Once on board, he lost his stateroom privileges and was taken to the brig. His picture was sent to the Feds for identification. We never learned the name of our devil-fearing exhibitionist. He was taken off the ship in Los Angeles.

...so that's where all these people come from!!

P.S. Our photographer made a fortune that cruise, selling pictures of the man to all the passengers. You know they couldn't wait to add that to their scrapbook!